Deary takes a stab at extending the myth of Prometheus, carving a tale that, despite its satiric edge, manages to miss anything vital, such as an audience. Given a chance to escape the forcible daily removal of his liver while he searches for proof of this claim that humans can be as heroic as gods, Prometheus travels two million years forward, to a 19th-century Earth polluted by his gift of fire, but also corrupted by the “gifts” released from Pandora’s box. Flying into Eden City on borrowed wings, he hooks up with a con man and his young sidekick Jim, helps to engineer a prison escape after a robbery goes wrong and then goes off to continue his quest—with a liver-loving Fury hot on his heels. Jim narrates, taking continual, tiresome delight in snarky authorial asides; the tale spins dizzyingly from one literary allusion to the next, changing tone abruptly as it moves through sophisticated comedy to broad burlesque, savagely lampooning the upper class, then ending with a superficially optimistic epilogue. Self-consciously Dickensian in cast and theme, this pastiche is likely to leave readers as confused as they are unimpressed. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2005
ISBN: 0-7534-5818-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2005
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A low-wattage collection of original stories and poems, as unmemorable as it is unappealingly titled.
The collection was inspired by a perceived paucity of short science fiction for teen readers, and its production costs were covered by a Kickstarter campaign. The editors gather a dozen poems and 21 stories from a stable of contributors who, after headliners Jack McDevitt and Nancy Holder, will be largely unknown even to widely read fans of the genre. The tales place their characters aboard spacecraft or space stations, on other worlds or in future dystopias, but only rarely do the writers capture a credibly adolescent voice or sensibility. Standouts in this department are the Heinlein-esque “The Stars Beneath Our Feet,” by Stephen D. Covey & Sandra McDonald, about a first date/joyride in space gone wrong, and Camille Alexa’s portrait of a teen traumatized by a cyberspace assault (“Over It”). Along with a few attempts to craft futuristic slang, only Lavie Tidhar’s fragmentary tale of Tel Aviv invaded by successive waves of aliens, doppelgangers, zombies and carnivorous plants (“The Myriad Dangers”) effectively lightens the overall earnest tone. Aside from fictional aliens and modified humans, occasional references to dark skin (“Out of the Silent Sea,” Dale Lucas) are the only signs of ethnic diversity. Most of the free-verse poetry makes only oblique, at best, references to science-fictional themes.
A change of pace from the teeming swarms of fantasy and paranormal romance but too underpowered to achieve escape velocity. (author bios) (Science fiction/short stories. 12-14)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9847824-0-8
Page Count: 290
Publisher: Underwords
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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A rural, pleasantly ramshackle garage is the setting for this lively book. Each spread features the station and its forecourt, with a flurry of activity accompanying each turn of the page: The garage opens up for the day; a bashed-in car arrives; a brief squall soaks a lady, her swain, and their tony convertible. Over it all presides Mr. Fingers, a harmlessly gangsterish type in striped trousers and white jacket. Dupasquier (Andy's Pirate Ship, 1994, etc.) keeps the text quick, simple, and hand-in-glove with the illustrations (``Mick and Mack start to work on Mr. Walker's car. Pete serves the first customer''). These watercolors are equally nimble, deliberately cartoonish in the linework and saturated colors. The front and rear flap covers fold out with an array of questions and puzzles pertaining to the story. Bright, boisterous, fun; for children who take to the format, there are two companion volumes: A Busy Day at the Airport (ISBN 1-56402-591-8) and A Busy Day at the Building Site (592-6). (Picture book. 4+)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1996
ISBN: 1-56402-590-X
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1995
Categories: CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S
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