Thursday, April 24, 2014

Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet by Matthew Kadish

Jack doesn't realize just how much trouble having a crush on Anna is going to bring him.  I think even if he did, he wouldn't have acted any differently.

Privateer Press and Net Galley allowed to read this ebook for review (thank you).  It was published April 11th, and you should be able to find a copy at your local bookstore now.

This is a wild sci fi/fantasy read that is out of this world.  This is written for middle graders, but it works for all ages.  I enjoyed it.  It reminded me a bit of a movie I saw long ago titled:  The Last Starfighter.  A young man playing video games on a machine is asked to save the world.

Jack finds himself fighting REAL Deathlords instead of those in a video game.  It's a good thing he spent all those hours practicing techniques on the video games to go up levels.  Now he needs to reach the ultimate level or he'll die.

Mr. Kadish writes strong characters.  I liked all the "good" characters we met, no matter what world they were from.  They were strong, willing to fight, and Jack made a good rag tag team out of what he had left.  One was even a robot.

Once the action starts, it never stops.  Even at the end of the book, it's like the intermission between plays.  There will be another book and the Deathlords will be back again...

I grieved when characters died and when earth blew up but there's hope in the future that they may be able to bring them to life again.  I'll be watching for the next book.

One note:  this book is long.  It's right up there with the Harry Potter series for the number of words.  I think it could have been done a bit more concisely and wouldn't lose the flavor of the story.  However, I read the whole thing, so it was done well enough.  Just set some time aside or you'll be in agony waiting to get back to it.  When I got into it, I didn't want to quit reading.  Let me know if it did that you, OK?

No comments:

Bizard and the Big Bunny Bizness by Chrissie Krebs

When Bizard the Bear Wizard’s friends decide to try to help him grant wishes, it turns out that two magic wands are so much worse than one. ...