Diadem: Book of Names
(Diadem series, Book 1)
John Peel
Scholastic
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: The Diadem is a network of worlds, each tied in eternal circuits around the central core of magic. So long as the Triad is in control of the center, magic
and the worlds are secure. But lately things have started to come undone. Someone must go the center of the Diadem and set the worlds right again.
Score is a street-tough punk from New York City. Product of a broken home and an abusive crime-boss father called Bad Tony, he has little to look forward to but an early death in
the back alleys and underworld of the city. Pixel comes from a computer-run world where the only human contact he knows is in VR. He has never even been outside his own house,
and his parents are distant memories. Helaine is the child of a lord in a medieval-style world. Using the name Renald, she learns to fight with the other boys, but to her parents
she is but a pawn in the game of politics, to be married off to the most suitable ally. All three are plagued by vivid dreams of a book and a jewel. Soon, each are pulled from
their worlds by powers and magics beyond their control. They have been selected for a dangerous quest, one on which all worlds depend.
REVIEW: This is a different idea for a fantasy, with puzzles and riddles the reader can figure out along with the characters. Peel's writing style isn't as smooth as it could be, tending to tell readers how characters feel instead of showing it in their actions. Still, I enjoyed it, and was intrigued enough to pick up the second title in the series.
You might also enjoy:
Demons Don't Dream (Piers Anthony, Fiction - A computer game pulls two players into the magical world of Xanth to settle a bet between bickering demons)
The Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are pulled into another world, where elder gods and magic rule)
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum, YA Fiction - A tornado drops a Kansas girl and her dog in a magical land)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - After finding a faerie prince in the garden, a boy becomes part of an interdimensional war in the making)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold! (Terry Brooks, Fiction - A burned-out lawyer buys an idyllic magic kingdom from a catalog, but finds that advertizing can be deceptive)
Dragon Companion (Don Callander, Fiction - A librarian finds himself inexplicably transported to a magical world of elves and dragons)
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll, YA Fiction - Includes Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, in which an English girl explores surreal dreamlands)
The Wiz Biz books (Rich Cook, Fiction - A Silicon Valley programmer is whisked into a magical world)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - A bookbinder and his daughter share the ability to read characters out of - and into - books)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman, YA Fiction - A girl finds a doorway to a mirror image of her London flat, where a deceptive, hungry creature awaits)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman, Fiction - Helping a wounded homeless girl plunges an ordinary man into a bizarre neverworld)
The Lives of Christopher Chant (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A boy can travel to other worlds in his dreams)
The Merlin Conspiracy (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A stranger pushes a boy into another world)
Beyond the Open Door (Andrew Lansdown, YA Fiction - A boy finds a peculiar knife that lets him cut windows into another world)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis, YA Fiction - Children from our world visit the magical land of Narnia, creation of the benevolent Lion Aslan)
Pendragon: The Merchant of Death (D. J. MacHale, YA Fiction - A boy's odd uncle leads him through a wormhole to help a primitive world)
Un Lun Dun (China Miéville, YA Fiction - A girl and her best friend find their way to the surreal "abcity" mirror of everyday London, where their arrival has been long anticipated)
Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday (Garth Nix, YA Fiction - A dying teen boy is handed a key to God's own vast house, where Chaos has run amok)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three young London men, soon to be famed authors, are entrusted with a strange atlas, leading them to a fantastic world that has inspired myth and story since time began)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A strange light transports a boy to an alien wilderness, where his survival skills are put to the ultimate test)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - An ancient artifact transports two teen siblings to a lost world)
The War of the Flowers (Tad Williams, Fiction - A man finds himself abducted into the fairy world, where magic mirrors technology and a war with humanity is brewing)
The 100 Cupboards trilogy (N. D. Wilson, YA Fiction - A boy finds magical cupboard doors leading to other worlds behind the plaster of his room)
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Diadem: Book of Signs
(Diadem series, Book 2)
John Peel
Scholastic
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: As they travel from the outer worlds through the Middle Circuit of the Diadem, the three questing kids feel their powers growing stronger. As their magic grows, however, so do the dangers. They are quickly learning that magicians are by and large greedy, selfish creatures, whom the locals have long learned to avoid or distrust. If they are ever to succeed in their quest, however, they must find the Wizard of Signs... assuming the wizard can be trusted.
REVIEW: More puzzles, more action and more clues to the kids and their quest fill this book. A good sequel to a good book, even if it's hard to review without giving away spoilers.
You might also enjoy:
Demons Don't Dream (Piers Anthony, Fiction - A computer game pulls two players into the magical world of Xanth to settle a bet between bickering demons)
The Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are pulled into another world, where elder gods and magic rule)
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum, YA Fiction - A tornado drops a Kansas girl and her dog in a magical land)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - After finding a faerie prince in the garden, a boy becomes part of an interdimensional war in the making)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold! (Terry Brooks, Fiction - A burned-out lawyer buys an idyllic magic kingdom from a catalog, but finds that advertizing can be deceptive)
Dragon Companion (Don Callander, Fiction - A librarian finds himself inexplicably transported to a magical world of elves and dragons)
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll, YA Fiction - Includes Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, in which an English girl explores surreal dreamlands)
The Wiz Biz books (Rich Cook, Fiction - A Silicon Valley programmer is whisked into a magical world)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - A bookbinder and his daughter share the ability to read characters out of - and into - books)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman, YA Fiction - A girl finds a doorway to a mirror image of her London flat, where a deceptive, hungry creature awaits)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman, Fiction - Helping a wounded homeless girl plunges an ordinary man into a bizarre neverworld)
The Lives of Christopher Chant (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A boy can travel to other worlds in his dreams)
The Merlin Conspiracy (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A stranger pushes a boy into another world)
Beyond the Open Door (Andrew Lansdown, YA Fiction - A boy finds a peculiar knife that lets him cut windows into another world)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis, YA Fiction - Children from our world visit the magical land of Narnia, creation of the benevolent Lion Aslan)
Pendragon: The Merchant of Death (D. J. MacHale, YA Fiction - A boy's odd uncle leads him through a wormhole to help a primitive world)
Un Lun Dun (China Miéville, YA Fiction - A girl and her best friend find their way to the surreal "abcity" mirror of everyday London, where their arrival has been long anticipated)
Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday (Garth Nix, YA Fiction - A dying teen boy is handed a key to God's own vast house, where Chaos has run amok)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three young London men, soon to be famed authors, are entrusted with a strange atlas, leading them to a fantastic world that has inspired myth and story since time began)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A strange light transports a boy to an alien wilderness, where his survival skills are put to the ultimate test)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - An ancient artifact transports two teen siblings to a lost world)
The War of the Flowers (Tad Williams, Fiction - A man finds himself abducted into the fairy world, where magic mirrors technology and a war with humanity is brewing)
The 100 Cupboards trilogy (N. D. Wilson, YA Fiction - A boy finds magical cupboard doors leading to other worlds behind the plaster of his room)
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Diadem: Book of Magic
(Diadem series, Book 3)
John Peel
Scholastic
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: At last, after much hardship, the three kids have almost reached the center of the worlds. Jewel, the center of the Diadem, awaits - but first they must pass the challenges of the inner worlds. Once at Jewel, they will discover the answer to an even greater riddle, and face their true enemy in a fight to the finish.
REVIEW: This brings the story of the first three books to a great conclusion, and shows that the characters have in fact grown in their travels. I docked it one point for a weak cliffhanger ending - trademark of the series until now, true, but with the main quest wrapped up it seemed unwarranted.
You might also enjoy:
Demons Don't Dream (Piers Anthony, Fiction - A computer game pulls two players into the magical world of Xanth to settle a bet between bickering demons)
The Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are pulled into another world, where elder gods and magic rule)
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum, YA Fiction - A tornado drops a Kansas girl and her dog in a magical land)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - After finding a faerie prince in the garden, a boy becomes part of an interdimensional war in the making)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold! (Terry Brooks, Fiction - A burned-out lawyer buys an idyllic magic kingdom from a catalog, but finds that advertizing can be deceptive)
Dragon Companion (Don Callander, Fiction - A librarian finds himself inexplicably transported to a magical world of elves and dragons)
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll, YA Fiction - Includes Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, in which an English girl explores surreal dreamlands)
The Wiz Biz books (Rich Cook, Fiction - A Silicon Valley programmer is whisked into a magical world)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - A bookbinder and his daughter share the ability to read characters out of - and into - books)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman, YA Fiction - A girl finds a doorway to a mirror image of her London flat, where a deceptive, hungry creature awaits)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman, Fiction - Helping a wounded homeless girl plunges an ordinary man into a bizarre neverworld)
The Lives of Christopher Chant (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A boy can travel to other worlds in his dreams)
The Merlin Conspiracy (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A stranger pushes a boy into another world)
Beyond the Open Door (Andrew Lansdown, YA Fiction - A boy finds a peculiar knife that lets him cut windows into another world)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis, YA Fiction - Children from our world visit the magical land of Narnia, creation of the benevolent Lion Aslan)
Pendragon: The Merchant of Death (D. J. MacHale, YA Fiction - A boy's odd uncle leads him through a wormhole to help a primitive world)
Un Lun Dun (China Miéville, YA Fiction - A girl and her best friend find their way to the surreal "abcity" mirror of everyday London, where their arrival has been long anticipated)
Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday (Garth Nix, YA Fiction - A dying teen boy is handed a key to God's own vast house, where Chaos has run amok)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three young London men, soon to be famed authors, are entrusted with a strange atlas, leading them to a fantastic world that has inspired myth and story since time began)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A strange light transports a boy to an alien wilderness, where his survival skills are put to the ultimate test)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - An ancient artifact transports two teen siblings to a lost world)
The War of the Flowers (Tad Williams, Fiction - A man finds himself abducted into the fairy world, where magic mirrors technology and a war with humanity is brewing)
The 100 Cupboards trilogy (N. D. Wilson, YA Fiction - A boy finds magical cupboard doors leading to other worlds behind the plaster of his room)
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Diadem: Book of Thunder
(Diadem series, Book 4)
John Peel
Scholastic
Fiction, YA Fantasy
***
DESCRIPTION: The unicorns of Dondar are in trouble. Thunder, the old herd leader, has been displaced by the mysterious Tychus. The biggest problem is, nobody seems to be able to remember that Thunder was the old herd leader. Something bigger and stronger than a simple unicorn turf war is going on here, and it will take three young, powerful mages to help set things to rights.
REVIEW: This isn't a bad story, it just seems a little weak. Not as many puzzles to solve, and the main thrust of the series' plotline seems to have ended after the third volume. This book felt forced, less a continuation of the Diadem series for the sake of the heroes than a marketing tactic to get more money out of fans by artificially extending the storyline.
You might also enjoy:
Demons Don't Dream (Piers Anthony, Fiction - A computer game pulls two players into the magical world of Xanth to settle a bet between bickering demons)
The Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are pulled into another world, where elder gods and magic rule)
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum, YA Fiction - A tornado drops a Kansas girl and her dog in a magical land)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - After finding a faerie prince in the garden, a boy becomes part of an interdimensional war in the making)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold! (Terry Brooks, Fiction - A burned-out lawyer buys an idyllic magic kingdom from a catalog, but finds that advertizing can be deceptive)
Dragon Companion (Don Callander, Fiction - A librarian finds himself inexplicably transported to a magical world of elves and dragons)
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll, YA Fiction - Includes Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, in which an English girl explores surreal dreamlands)
The Wiz Biz books (Rich Cook, Fiction - A Silicon Valley programmer is whisked into a magical world)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - A bookbinder and his daughter share the ability to read characters out of - and into - books)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman, YA Fiction - A girl finds a doorway to a mirror image of her London flat, where a deceptive, hungry creature awaits)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman, Fiction - Helping a wounded homeless girl plunges an ordinary man into a bizarre neverworld)
The Lives of Christopher Chant (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A boy can travel to other worlds in his dreams)
The Merlin Conspiracy (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A stranger pushes a boy into another world)
Beyond the Open Door (Andrew Lansdown, YA Fiction - A boy finds a peculiar knife that lets him cut windows into another world)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis, YA Fiction - Children from our world visit the magical land of Narnia, creation of the benevolent Lion Aslan)
Pendragon: The Merchant of Death (D. J. MacHale, YA Fiction - A boy's odd uncle leads him through a wormhole to help a primitive world)
Un Lun Dun (China Miéville, YA Fiction - A girl and her best friend find their way to the surreal "abcity" mirror of everyday London, where their arrival has been long anticipated)
Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday (Garth Nix, YA Fiction - A dying teen boy is handed a key to God's own vast house, where Chaos has run amok)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three young London men, soon to be famed authors, are entrusted with a strange atlas, leading them to a fantastic world that has inspired myth and story since time began)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A strange light transports a boy to an alien wilderness, where his survival skills are put to the ultimate test)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - An ancient artifact transports two teen siblings to a lost world)
The War of the Flowers (Tad Williams, Fiction - A man finds himself abducted into the fairy world, where magic mirrors technology and a war with humanity is brewing)
The 100 Cupboards trilogy (N. D. Wilson, YA Fiction - A boy finds magical cupboard doors leading to other worlds behind the plaster of his room)
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
Diadem: Book of Earth
(Diadem series, Book 5)
John Peel
Scholastic
Fiction, YA Fantasy
***
DESCRIPTION: Sickened by a powerful spell, Score is compelled to return to Earth to find its source. Bad Tony, his father, wants his kid to take his place in the crime world. He doesn't know the full extent of Score's new powers, nor does he fully realize the scope of the struggle he has become part of. In order to save his life, Score's friends Helaine and Pixel must take him home to New York City, a place that may be enough of a challenge without magic.
REVIEW: Personally, I have a very low tolerance for outsiders-confused-by-mundane-modern-America storylines, which is what this mostly boils down to. Maybe that's why I had such limited patience with this book, or maybe I was just getting tired of feeling strung along by what was essentially a trilogy drawn out to double the natural length. By this point, the cliffhanger endings and breakneck pace (in relative time, only a couple weeks have passed since Book 1 of this series) have worn out their welcome completely. The challenge and the puzzles that were so unique about the first three books are almost entirely absent now, being not nearly as integral to the plot. At the end, I found myself wondering just how long they intend to keep this pace up. The characters ought to be dropping dead of exhaustion by this point. Even if the characters weren't dropping off, I certainly was. The series does continue after this point, but I haven't pursued it.
You might also enjoy:
Demons Don't Dream (Piers Anthony, Fiction - A computer game pulls two players into the magical world of Xanth to settle a bet between bickering demons)
The Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are pulled into another world, where elder gods and magic rule)
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum, YA Fiction - A tornado drops a Kansas girl and her dog in a magical land)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - After finding a faerie prince in the garden, a boy becomes part of an interdimensional war in the making)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold! (Terry Brooks, Fiction - A burned-out lawyer buys an idyllic magic kingdom from a catalog, but finds that advertizing can be deceptive)
Dragon Companion (Don Callander, Fiction - A librarian finds himself inexplicably transported to a magical world of elves and dragons)
The Best of Lewis Carroll (Lewis Carroll, YA Fiction - Includes Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, in which an English girl explores surreal dreamlands)
The Wiz Biz books (Rich Cook, Fiction - A Silicon Valley programmer is whisked into a magical world)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Funke, YA Fiction - A bookbinder and his daughter share the ability to read characters out of - and into - books)
Coraline (Neil Gaiman, YA Fiction - A girl finds a doorway to a mirror image of her London flat, where a deceptive, hungry creature awaits)
Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman, Fiction - Helping a wounded homeless girl plunges an ordinary man into a bizarre neverworld)
The Lives of Christopher Chant (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A boy can travel to other worlds in his dreams)
The Merlin Conspiracy (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - A stranger pushes a boy into another world)
Beyond the Open Door (Andrew Lansdown, YA Fiction - A boy finds a peculiar knife that lets him cut windows into another world)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis, YA Fiction - Children from our world visit the magical land of Narnia, creation of the benevolent Lion Aslan)
Pendragon: The Merchant of Death (D. J. MacHale, YA Fiction - A boy's odd uncle leads him through a wormhole to help a primitive world)
Un Lun Dun (China Miéville, YA Fiction - A girl and her best friend find their way to the surreal "abcity" mirror of everyday London, where their arrival has been long anticipated)
Keys to the Kingdom: Mister Monday (Garth Nix, YA Fiction - A dying teen boy is handed a key to God's own vast house, where Chaos has run amok)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three young London men, soon to be famed authors, are entrusted with a strange atlas, leading them to a fantastic world that has inspired myth and story since time began)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A strange light transports a boy to an alien wilderness, where his survival skills are put to the ultimate test)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - An ancient artifact transports two teen siblings to a lost world)
The War of the Flowers (Tad Williams, Fiction - A man finds himself abducted into the fairy world, where magic mirrors technology and a war with humanity is brewing)
The 100 Cupboards trilogy (N. D. Wilson, YA Fiction - A boy finds magical cupboard doors leading to other worlds behind the plaster of his room)
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2099: Doomsday
(2099, Book 1 of 6)
John Peel
Scholastic
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
***
DESCRIPTION: In the future, all the world is united under one government, with one Net as the presiding power. Only a few, the forgotten cast-offs of the Underground,
still live without Implant Chips, home Terminals, holo-vacations and other technological perks. There are also a few elite individuals who live above the current system,
undetected and immeasurably powerful. So dependent are the majority of people on the Net and Net-controlled things that, should it ever collapse, billions would die. Such a
catastrophe should be impossible, but is in truth dangerously close to coming true.
Tristan Connor is the son of the vice-president of one of the world's largest banks... or so he thought. An accident at the birthday party of his girlfriend Mora's sister reveals
the sinister truth that Tristan is not who he thinks he is. Genia is a girl from the Underground whose computer savvy has enabled her to carve out a surprisingly high living
standard among the crumbling buildings and rampant crime of her home. Devon is the twisted, evil genius whose Doomsday virus may bring the world to its knees. These three lives
are about to cross in the year 2099, in a planned Apocalypse from which nobody is safe.
REVIEW: Having become suspicious of Peel after his young-adult fantasy series Diadem (reviewed in the Fantasy section), I nevertheless decided to give this book a shot. I was moderately impressed. Initially weak and shallow, the action picks up toward the end. I put it on the border between Okay and Good. I'm not sure how far I'll follow the series yet, but I might give the next book or two a try.
You might also enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams, Fiction - The irreverent adventures of Earthman Arthur Dent, who survived his planet's destruction by hitching a ride on a passing spacecraft with an alien friend)
The Remnants series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Five centuries after life on Earth was destroyed, the survivors aboard a retrofitted space shuttle awake to find themselves in an impossible world)
The Ender books (Orson Scott Card, YA? Fiction - Child prodigies are trained to fight interstellar wars, winning humanity a foothold in space)
The X-Files: Fight the Future (Chris Carter, adapted by Elizabeth Hand, Fiction - Two FBI agents seek evidence of a global conspiracy to silence the truth about an impending alien invasion)
The Dragon quartet (Marjorie B. Kellogg, Fiction - Elemental dragons and their human companions travel around the world and through time to avert a global disaster in the making)
The Watchers series (Peter Lerangis, YA Fiction - Six tales of ordinary kids who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances)
Life as We Knew It (Susan Beth Pfeffer, YA Fiction - A teen girl's diary chronicles life after a global catastrophe collapses civilization)
The Otherland quartet (Tad Williams, Fiction - A dark and deadly danger, part of a conspiracy by the world's most powerful people, hides on tomorrow's amped-up internet)
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2099: Betrayal
(2099, Book 2 of 6)
John Peel
Scholastic
Fiction, YA Sci-Fi
****
DESCRIPTION: The Doomsday Virus has been released, and New York is in ruins. Tristan, barely surviving an attempt on his life by Devon, is now being hunted by the police for the virus's creation. Knowing nobody will believe that the real culprit was his clone twin Devon, who for all intents and purposes doesn't officially exist, Tristan must survive on his own while trying to find a way to destroy the Doomsday Virus before it spreads beyond the city. Meanwhile, Genia and Inspector Shimoda are also working to figure out the device, finding ominous traces of a much larger conspiracy that may even be affecting Shimoda's boss. Devon himself is finding his position with the terrorist group who created him increasingly rocky after the premature virus release, and for the first time is wondering just what lies outside the walls of his room.
REVIEW: I liked this better than the first book, as noted by my rating, because by now things are up and running, without some of the awkward moments of the previous story. Many unexpected plot developments occur in this, the second installment in a series of undetermined length. (Unfortunately, the series seems to have vanished completely. Oh, well... could've been interesting...)
You might also enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams, Fiction - The irreverent adventures of Earthman Arthur Dent, who survived his planet's destruction by hitching a ride on a passing spacecraft with an alien friend)
The Remnants series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Five centuries after life on Earth was destroyed, the survivors aboard a retrofitted space shuttle awake to find themselves in an impossible world)
The Ender books (Orson Scott Card, YA? Fiction - Child prodigies are trained to fight interstellar wars, winning humanity a foothold in space)
The X-Files: Fight the Future (Chris Carter, adapted by Elizabeth Hand, Fiction - Two FBI agents seek evidence of a global conspiracy to silence the truth about an impending alien invasion)
The Dragon quartet (Marjorie B. Kellogg, Fiction - Elemental dragons and their human companions travel around the world and through time to avert a global disaster in the making)
The Watchers series (Peter Lerangis, YA Fiction - Six tales of ordinary kids who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances)
Life as We Knew It (Susan Beth Pfeffer, YA Fiction - A teen girl's diary chronicles life after a global catastrophe collapses civilization)
The Otherland quartet (Tad Williams, Fiction - A dark and deadly danger, part of a conspiracy by the world's most powerful people, hides on tomorrow's amped-up internet)
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
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