Integrating games and narrative has potential, but shouldn’t saving humanity demand something more gripping than working a...
A young man is determined to save Earth from an alien invasion—with a few breaks for video games.
The fate of the planet hinges on readers’ successfully completing a series of simple (or at least simplistic) games between chapters. The planet watches in shock as an asteroid hurtles toward Earth, then slows, stops and proves to be an alien spaceship. The newcomers make friendly overtures to train humanity in its advanced technology, and teenage Vincent is one of a dozen youngsters chosen. Of course, the aliens have more nefarious intentions: They need youthful brains to help power the ship’s organic supercomputer. It’s a familiar but fun setup, and though the writing is generally flat, Cataldo gives Vincent an appealingly whip-smart attitude. (Echoes of Ender’s Game are strong.) But the weakness in the storytelling is exacerbated by the interstitial games, which have a stylish 1980s-arcade look but are dull to actually play when they’re not exasperating. One, involving landing a ship on the asteroid, requires maddeningly hyperprecise steering to complete; another, in which readers swipe to shoot down alien craft, is rock-simple. Have paper handy: There’s also an “intelligence test” with 24 questions of the SAT-prep variety (“If 20 swallows build 40 nests in 60 days…”). Though closing the app will bookmark the story, failing a mission sends users back to the very beginning, to work puzzles and games all over again—a serious flaw.
Integrating games and narrative has potential, but shouldn’t saving humanity demand something more gripping than working a Sudoku? (Requires iOS 6.0 & up.) (iPad science-fiction app. 10-16)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bruno Cataldo
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
A spectacular return to a magical world.
Following the events of Impossible Creatures (2024), a devoted Guardian teams up with a brave princess to fight her power-hungry uncle and save the Archipelago’s dragons from a strange new threat.
Jacques the dragon summons Christopher Forrester back to the Archipelago from the human world: Dragons are dying, and no one knows why. Meanwhile, on the island of Dousha, Princess Anya’s grandfather, King Halam, has been murdered, and her father accused—though she knows he’s innocent. When Christopher and Anya take refuge on the islet of Glimt, the Berserker Nighthand helps them see how their twin missions to save the dragons and free Anya’s father are connected. They work together to create an antidote for the poison that’s killing the dragons and to keep Anya and her father safe from her murderous uncle. Meanwhile, Nighthand and Irian, the part-nereid ocean scholar, pursue their own important secret mission. Divided into three parts—“Castle,” “Dragons,” and “Revenge”—and containing elements of fairy tales, fantasy, and Shakespeare, this story continues the storyline established in the series opener, yet because it introduces new characters and obstacles, it could also stand alone. Dark-blond Anya (“five feet tall and all of it claws”) is a match for white-presenting Christopher, who, though he still misses Mal, finds that “it made a difference to have someone to move through the world with again. A friend changed the feel of the universe.” Mackenzie’s delicate, otherworldly art adorns the text.
A spectacular return to a magical world. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593809907
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
PROFILES
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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