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Pod
Surviving a massive alien siege is one thing-surviving humanity is another. I'm all cried out. I'm still alone. The sky is full of giant spinning black balls that kill anyone stupid enough to go outside. I've only been out of the car twice - once to pee and once to look at the sky. That one look was enough for me. Now I sit alone in the car, staring out the window like a rat in a cage. But I don't have anyone to look at. The parking garage is empty, except for twisted-up cars, broken glass and the smell of leaking gasoline. POD is the story of a global cataclysmic event, told from the view points of Megs, a 12-year-old streetwise girl trapped in a hotel parking garage in Los Angeles; and 16-year-old Josh, who is stuck in a house in Prosser, Washington, with his increasingly obsessive compulsive father. Food and water and time are running out. Will Megs survive long enough to find her mother? Will Josh and his father survive each other?
192 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2009
About the author
Stephen Wallenfels
7 books133 followers I wrote freelance in the health and fitness industry for twelve years before re-committing myself to my first love - writing fiction. After publishing several short stores for kids, I wrote and published my first novel, POD (namelos.com | Penguin/Ace), a YA scifi survival story set in Prosser, Washington and Los Angeles, California.
My second novel, BAD CALL (2017 with Disney/Hyperion) is a YA survival thriller set in one of my favorite stomping grounds, Yosemite National Park.
My third novel, DEADFALL, December 2018 - Disney/Hyperion) is another YA survival thriller set in the Pacific Northwest.
I grew up in the northeast and enjoyed backpacking and later, during my college years in California and Montana, rock climbing and wilderness survival.
My favorite books to read (and write) are centered around real characters dealing with extraordinary circumstances and how they rise to meet those challenges.
My passions are my family, reading, writing, cooking, racquet sports, and the environment--particularly climate change. The basic rule in wilderness survival is shelter first.
My second novel, BAD CALL (2017 with Disney/Hyperion) is a YA survival thriller set in one of my favorite stomping grounds, Yosemite National Park.
My third novel, DEADFALL, December 2018 - Disney/Hyperion) is another YA survival thriller set in the Pacific Northwest.
I grew up in the northeast and enjoyed backpacking and later, during my college years in California and Montana, rock climbing and wilderness survival.
My favorite books to read (and write) are centered around real characters dealing with extraordinary circumstances and how they rise to meet those challenges.
My passions are my family, reading, writing, cooking, racquet sports, and the environment--particularly climate change. The basic rule in wilderness survival is shelter first.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews
August 24, 2011
Many thanks to UK Book Tours for allowing me to participate in the tour of this book.
It is with regret that I have to say I would not have finished this book if it hadn't been sent to me for review as part of a blog tour. However, I ploughed on through to the very end and I was thoroughly disappointed with the book as a whole. The worst thing about it was that the story was rather boring and I didn't care for any of the characters. At one point I went online to check whether the book was self-published because the quality of writing left something to be desired as well, but the book shares it's publisher with novels such as Cut and Keturah and Lord Death.
Science-fiction is a weird genre. It's produced some of my favourite and least favourite novels over the years and it continues to go both ways even now. Pod is very much like The War of the Worlds, there's this big dramatic alien invasion that could have made a really interesting story... then comes this whole waiting game of nothing really happening. What will the PODs do next? Answer: not that much.
I will say that this novel attempted to do what The War of the Worlds never did, and that's to fill up the in-between bits with family troubles and squabbles over food rations and whatnot. In fact, Pod's main story was the in-between bits and not the alien invasion. I thought the whole thing read like a boring subplot, like we were always waiting for something to happen and it never managed to reach any major levels of excitement or drama.
June 9, 2010
POD by Stephen Wallenfels is a gripping story told in alternating first person chapters by a teenage boy and a twelve-year-old girl. Earth has been invaded by alien, gigantic spheres that hover in the air and destroy any human who ventures outside.
Josh is trapped in his house with his engineer dad in Washington state, while Megs is alone in her mother’s car in a hotel parking garage in Los Angeles. Each of these main characters is distinctly portrayed. Josh’s voice sounds authentic whether he’s talking about normal teenage feelings or life and death issues. Megs reports her fears and extraordinary, brave actions with simple clarity. Day by day, these two kids tell their devastating stories as their situations deteriorate. Josh worries as his father becomes compulsive about cleaning house, organizing their dwindling food supply, and talking to Josh about things he can’t even bear to contemplate. Which death is best – zapping by aliens, slow starvation, or suicide? Megs must contend with the violent thugs who’ve taken over the hotel and are trying to find her – and the gun she’s discovered in an abandoned car. Should she trade the gun for the tiny hostage kitten she loves or risk her tenuous hold on life to attempt a rescue mission?
Although the Pearls of Death (PODs) are the cause of their terrifying conditions, Josh’s story focuses on the dynamics of a small family within the confines of home; Megs’ story features the reactions of a slice of humanity in a wider world. These two well told survival stories, side-by-side, make a very appealing novel for both boys and girls, twelve and older.
No clear explanation is offered for the alien invasion, but there are plenty of hints to generate readers’ speculation and desire for a sequel.
Josh is trapped in his house with his engineer dad in Washington state, while Megs is alone in her mother’s car in a hotel parking garage in Los Angeles. Each of these main characters is distinctly portrayed. Josh’s voice sounds authentic whether he’s talking about normal teenage feelings or life and death issues. Megs reports her fears and extraordinary, brave actions with simple clarity. Day by day, these two kids tell their devastating stories as their situations deteriorate. Josh worries as his father becomes compulsive about cleaning house, organizing their dwindling food supply, and talking to Josh about things he can’t even bear to contemplate. Which death is best – zapping by aliens, slow starvation, or suicide? Megs must contend with the violent thugs who’ve taken over the hotel and are trying to find her – and the gun she’s discovered in an abandoned car. Should she trade the gun for the tiny hostage kitten she loves or risk her tenuous hold on life to attempt a rescue mission?
Although the Pearls of Death (PODs) are the cause of their terrifying conditions, Josh’s story focuses on the dynamics of a small family within the confines of home; Megs’ story features the reactions of a slice of humanity in a wider world. These two well told survival stories, side-by-side, make a very appealing novel for both boys and girls, twelve and older.
No clear explanation is offered for the alien invasion, but there are plenty of hints to generate readers’ speculation and desire for a sequel.
November 7, 2020
A great debut novel by Stephen Wallenfels, his story was gripping enough that I read almost all of it straight through in one sitting. It's a survival story told from the viewpoints of two young people in two different situations. The aliens have come--and their black spheres fill the sky. Anyone caught out in the open disappears in a flash of light... What they'll do next is anyone's guess, as those people who remained indoors have to find a way to survive. Would it surprise you that this book does not finish the story--and that there is a sequel??
December 13, 2019
Let me start out by saying that I'm sure that this novel has its fans and is loved by many of them. And I believe that the writer did an excellent job of telling this story.
But, I didn't like it...
Generally, I am not a fan of first-person narratives. I find them to be entirely too limiting and I don't enjoy spending that much time in a single person's head. The author did something I've rarely seen in that he told the story from two different perspectives, with two different characters and their first-person narratives, alternating from chapter to chapter, and he did a good job of making it rather seamless and not too jarring...but, since I didn't really like either character, I didn't enjoy going on their particular journey.
Also, I hate mysteries. Or rather, I hate mysteries that don't end up being solved and/or never really have any type of resolution. I can kind of gather what was meant to be happening at the end, but without it being expressly said and/or told, who knows...and the end result of this can only be bad, in spite of how "good" it initially appears. One of the antagonists (barely) even mentions at the end that world is now in the hands of chaos and disorder...and he's not incorrect.
I also dislike tragic, meaningless deaths...and this book is full of them.
Again...if you like Young Adult Science Fiction...and if you like unresolved mysteries, you will probably like this book. And I'm giving it 3 Stars because the author definitely has skills and abilities (just not the kind I like), so I'm not going to unfairly judge it.
For me, however; it was a nice diversion for a few hours...but I'd rather have read something else.
But, I didn't like it...
Generally, I am not a fan of first-person narratives. I find them to be entirely too limiting and I don't enjoy spending that much time in a single person's head. The author did something I've rarely seen in that he told the story from two different perspectives, with two different characters and their first-person narratives, alternating from chapter to chapter, and he did a good job of making it rather seamless and not too jarring...but, since I didn't really like either character, I didn't enjoy going on their particular journey.
Also, I hate mysteries. Or rather, I hate mysteries that don't end up being solved and/or never really have any type of resolution. I can kind of gather what was meant to be happening at the end, but without it being expressly said and/or told, who knows...and the end result of this can only be bad, in spite of how "good" it initially appears. One of the antagonists (barely) even mentions at the end that world is now in the hands of chaos and disorder...and he's not incorrect.
I also dislike tragic, meaningless deaths...and this book is full of them.
Again...if you like Young Adult Science Fiction...and if you like unresolved mysteries, you will probably like this book. And I'm giving it 3 Stars because the author definitely has skills and abilities (just not the kind I like), so I'm not going to unfairly judge it.
For me, however; it was a nice diversion for a few hours...but I'd rather have read something else.
November 21, 2011
In case you hadn't noticed, aliens have plenty of options when it comes to finally invading Earth. In POD, they opt to drop in via millions of black orbs, which stay suspended over populated areas, systemically zapping any poor unfortunate person that happens to wander outside (or be outside when they land). Yet for some reason, they opt not to attack buildings or the people within them. And so it is that 15 year old Josh becomes trapped in his house with his dad, and 12 year old Megs becomes trapped in a car park with no one for company except some rather sinister security personnel from a neighbouring hotel.
Given that the title of the book is POD (which is the acronym that Josh gives to the orbs, standing for Pearls of Death), at first glance you would perhaps expect a story of desperate survival as Josh and Megs face the mysterious alien onslaught from within precarious shelter. You may expect that, but you would be wrong, because that isn't really what the book is about. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely an undeniable alien menace, but the book isn't about the aliens. In fact, the book is about the stories of Josh and Megs as they attempt to survive on limited resources within their individual environments. The aliens, whilst no doubt threatening, are simply a way to trap these children within their environment, and very little more. Yes, the aliens do more than zap as the book progresses, but at no point is anything explained or discovered about them. Whilst this may be a matter left to the imagination, I found it disappointing that the aliens were descended to nothing more than a convenient way to keep the main characters indoors. In all honesty, it made me think that the author himself doesn't know enough about the aliens and hadn't fully thought them through, which is always an ominous sign in a book like this.
And against this backdrop, what we have is two essentially unconnected stories playing out in alternating chapters. In fact, Megs' story doesn't need the aliens at all except for there needing to be a reason why she can't leave the car park, as the villains in her plot are the security personnel. Josh faces the classic 'limited resources' scenario, but there is little to grip here other than a constant wave of clichés. There are some adult themes dealt with and some marginally risque moments for a teen fiction book, but nothing that announces itself as particularly original. And ultimately the way that the book ends, and the culmination of the plot as regards the aliens, is so lazy and dissatisfying that it just highlights how distinctly mediocre the rest of the book is.
The thing is, this sort of desperate survival story has been done many times before. If you're looking for a teen fiction version, I would recommend Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer, which plays the story out following a catastrophic natural disaster. Because in that book the big event is something which can actually directly affect the characters, and which equally intertwines with the plot itself. In POD, the aliens don't do that. Which means that what we have is two separate stories where the glaring hole in each is plugged by an under developed and ultimately underwhelming plot mechanic.
And that's it. There are a few nice touches, and the book is certainly readable. It's just that by the end the overwhelming feeling is of anti climax and 'is that it?'. Because when all is said and done, the lack of information about the aliens and the use of them as little more than a reason why the kids can't go outside, undermines the authenticity of the stories. Megs' story has some redeeming features of its own, and is certainly the better tale, but by the end Josh's story needed context that never arrives. The thing that should be the most interested from an imagination perspective, the aliens themselves, are not given nearly enough attention by the author, and the two stories become dissatisfying as a result.
It's not a terrible book by any means, but all in all it is difficult to recommend given the strength of the sci-fi genre.
Given that the title of the book is POD (which is the acronym that Josh gives to the orbs, standing for Pearls of Death), at first glance you would perhaps expect a story of desperate survival as Josh and Megs face the mysterious alien onslaught from within precarious shelter. You may expect that, but you would be wrong, because that isn't really what the book is about. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely an undeniable alien menace, but the book isn't about the aliens. In fact, the book is about the stories of Josh and Megs as they attempt to survive on limited resources within their individual environments. The aliens, whilst no doubt threatening, are simply a way to trap these children within their environment, and very little more. Yes, the aliens do more than zap as the book progresses, but at no point is anything explained or discovered about them. Whilst this may be a matter left to the imagination, I found it disappointing that the aliens were descended to nothing more than a convenient way to keep the main characters indoors. In all honesty, it made me think that the author himself doesn't know enough about the aliens and hadn't fully thought them through, which is always an ominous sign in a book like this.
And against this backdrop, what we have is two essentially unconnected stories playing out in alternating chapters. In fact, Megs' story doesn't need the aliens at all except for there needing to be a reason why she can't leave the car park, as the villains in her plot are the security personnel. Josh faces the classic 'limited resources' scenario, but there is little to grip here other than a constant wave of clichés. There are some adult themes dealt with and some marginally risque moments for a teen fiction book, but nothing that announces itself as particularly original. And ultimately the way that the book ends, and the culmination of the plot as regards the aliens, is so lazy and dissatisfying that it just highlights how distinctly mediocre the rest of the book is.
The thing is, this sort of desperate survival story has been done many times before. If you're looking for a teen fiction version, I would recommend Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer, which plays the story out following a catastrophic natural disaster. Because in that book the big event is something which can actually directly affect the characters, and which equally intertwines with the plot itself. In POD, the aliens don't do that. Which means that what we have is two separate stories where the glaring hole in each is plugged by an under developed and ultimately underwhelming plot mechanic.
And that's it. There are a few nice touches, and the book is certainly readable. It's just that by the end the overwhelming feeling is of anti climax and 'is that it?'. Because when all is said and done, the lack of information about the aliens and the use of them as little more than a reason why the kids can't go outside, undermines the authenticity of the stories. Megs' story has some redeeming features of its own, and is certainly the better tale, but by the end Josh's story needed context that never arrives. The thing that should be the most interested from an imagination perspective, the aliens themselves, are not given nearly enough attention by the author, and the two stories become dissatisfying as a result.
It's not a terrible book by any means, but all in all it is difficult to recommend given the strength of the sci-fi genre.
February 14, 2012
First thing's first. I don't like cliffhangers. I especially don't like when they sneak up on me until I'm two chapters from the end and I realize there's waaaay too much to resolve.
Ladies and gentlemen, POD.
A well-written novel, Wallenfels tells two separate stories after giant spheres dropped from the sky and begin zapping people in the streets, essentially locking survivors inside their homes. As the days unfold, there's the developing relationship between a boy and his father and his ball-licking dog. There's also the story of the young girl left waiting for her mother in a parking garage that eludes the looting "peacekeepers".
It all unfolds quite nicely. Each day brings something a little different from the spheres, or Pearls of Death, as the boy calls them. And the catharsis reached between the boy and his father is moving. The girl is a regular Bruce Willis crawling through ventilation ducts to save a kitty. The only flaw, the girl felt more like a seven year old, not twelve. But the characters were authentic, becoming desperate and, in a state of survival, animalistic.
But then there's that cliffhanger.
There's resolution in the boy and girl's stories, but you won't find out anything about the PODs. You'll just get dropped off on the day they disappear and people can finally leave their shelter. Now they're heading for LA. The end.
If you're okay with that, I recommend this YA Sci-fi novel.
3.5 stars.
Ladies and gentlemen, POD.
A well-written novel, Wallenfels tells two separate stories after giant spheres dropped from the sky and begin zapping people in the streets, essentially locking survivors inside their homes. As the days unfold, there's the developing relationship between a boy and his father and his ball-licking dog. There's also the story of the young girl left waiting for her mother in a parking garage that eludes the looting "peacekeepers".
It all unfolds quite nicely. Each day brings something a little different from the spheres, or Pearls of Death, as the boy calls them. And the catharsis reached between the boy and his father is moving. The girl is a regular Bruce Willis crawling through ventilation ducts to save a kitty. The only flaw, the girl felt more like a seven year old, not twelve. But the characters were authentic, becoming desperate and, in a state of survival, animalistic.
But then there's that cliffhanger.
There's resolution in the boy and girl's stories, but you won't find out anything about the PODs. You'll just get dropped off on the day they disappear and people can finally leave their shelter. Now they're heading for LA. The end.
If you're okay with that, I recommend this YA Sci-fi novel.
3.5 stars.
January 13, 2016
Ignore that ugly ass cover and read it. Ending was a bit incomplete, but I otherwise liked this a lot. I read about half of Pods when it was first published, but didn't get round to finishing it, and I kept thinking about it for, I guess, years. Megs' parking garage was just such a vivid setting. And then Josh's story was equally intriguing, so the dual narrative actually worked! I guess the ending couldn't really have gone the other way, but I think I would have totally given it 5 stars if it had. Write me a sequel, OP! (Edit: okay, there is one, yessssss.)
November 22, 2012
A good little Sci-fi novel about people struggling to survive, which is just the kind of thing I like to read.
While I loved being in the lives of Megs and Josh, seeing how they survived and struggled for food in both of their immensely different situations, I kind of wished we saw more of the aliens. They don't really play much of a role other than floating in the sky and keeping people inside. The second a person step outdoors, they get zapped and we never find out where they go. Doesn't matter where you are, the PODs are all-seeing. If you walk outside, they get you. Just seemed a bit too juvenile a way to bring in aliens. It may as well have been a storm or nuclear blast. But I'm willing to admit that as a 24 year old woman, I probably wasn't the target market. I am big on Sci-fi and aliens, so I offer my views as that as a fan of the genre.
First off, I'll start with Meghan's story.
One thing that bugged me throughout was Megs' clear ignorance to her mother being a prostitute. It's early morning, she leaves her daughter in the car, slathers on makeup, tells her daughter this "job interview" won't take long and then they'll have money to eat breakfast, then gets in a car with some guy and they drive around a corner.
That in itself didn't bother me, she's just a young twelve-year-old girl unaware what her mother has to do to make a living. But the more we find out about Megs, the more she seems like the kind of girl who would be very aware that her mother was at least a part-time hooker. Megs manages to survive on her own in a multi-storey car park and is savvy enough to search for food under seats, finds water in the water section of a carpet cleaning van, rescues a kitten whom she keeps safe, hides in the trunks of cars to avoid some Bad Mofos who have taken over the hotel that the car park is attached to, and she even steals a gun and leaves them a taunting note. She then sneaks through vents to get into the hotel to save her kitten and instead saves some other woman who, when she finds her, it is mentioned that Megs knows her but I forget how she came up earlier. She sneaks in and out of the hotel, has a scuffle with a few guards that she manages to get free from; and throughout all of this we get hints at her past, the way her mother's boyfriend drank and beat her up, the way they were always moving and having to leave their items behind. My conclusion was that Meghan is very smart and resourceful, and she WOULD know what her mother was really doing in these job interviews. But again I'm pretty sure any 12 year old would be.
Perhaps it's because the author is male, but I don't want to get gender bias into this. I felt the authors grasp of a twelve year old girl was a little muddled. At the start she seems almost like a seven/eight year old, but her actions and vocabulary are one of fourteen year old. She doesn't come off as a twelve-year old at all. Perhaps that's the author being unsure how to write a female, another point in the novel he writes about two teenage friends one of whom claims the worst thing about the alien invasion is that she's still fat, following up with the completely non-insulting nod to the female gender when she says "Like, no duh, this is, like, the worst vacation ever."
I would like to think that even the vainest of stereotypical teenage girls would recognize the desperation of an alien invasion, lack of food/water/safety. Maybe I'm just being too feminist about it..
Anyway, onto Josh's story. I preferred it to Megan's, but it was unnecessarily gross at times.
Family dog, Dutch, loves to lick his balls. We're told that in those words exactly, and we're told them often. Including one unsavory scene where Josh recounts listening to the dog lick his balls as he's trying to sleep. Add in a father in sweatpants who reaches down to scratch his own balls in front of a window and you have quite an image.
It's father and son living alone, and I get that when you're alone with family during some sort of panic, you don't give a shit who scratches what where or when. But as a reader, we don't like to read that. The same way we don't want to hear about people squatting over buckets to go to the bathroom, and tossing the contents into their backyards. Or the way one guy whistles while he's squatting over a bucket. It's unnecessary to go into that much detail about crap, as a reader we figure that would be taken care of; we don't need the mechanics of it. But hey, maybe the guy was just going into the specifics would really say in this type of scenario.
All in all, POD is a quick, easy read (though it did take me a week 'cos I was busy) and quite engaging. The story is always moving forwards, and there's no time for a lull or dump of information. It's a well written novel but I would imagine it's for younger readers around 10-16.
If you like the genre and can find it at your local library, pick it up and give it a read. :)
While I loved being in the lives of Megs and Josh, seeing how they survived and struggled for food in both of their immensely different situations, I kind of wished we saw more of the aliens. They don't really play much of a role other than floating in the sky and keeping people inside. The second a person step outdoors, they get zapped and we never find out where they go. Doesn't matter where you are, the PODs are all-seeing. If you walk outside, they get you. Just seemed a bit too juvenile a way to bring in aliens. It may as well have been a storm or nuclear blast. But I'm willing to admit that as a 24 year old woman, I probably wasn't the target market. I am big on Sci-fi and aliens, so I offer my views as that as a fan of the genre.
First off, I'll start with Meghan's story.
One thing that bugged me throughout was Megs' clear ignorance to her mother being a prostitute. It's early morning, she leaves her daughter in the car, slathers on makeup, tells her daughter this "job interview" won't take long and then they'll have money to eat breakfast, then gets in a car with some guy and they drive around a corner.
That in itself didn't bother me, she's just a young twelve-year-old girl unaware what her mother has to do to make a living. But the more we find out about Megs, the more she seems like the kind of girl who would be very aware that her mother was at least a part-time hooker. Megs manages to survive on her own in a multi-storey car park and is savvy enough to search for food under seats, finds water in the water section of a carpet cleaning van, rescues a kitten whom she keeps safe, hides in the trunks of cars to avoid some Bad Mofos who have taken over the hotel that the car park is attached to, and she even steals a gun and leaves them a taunting note. She then sneaks through vents to get into the hotel to save her kitten and instead saves some other woman who, when she finds her, it is mentioned that Megs knows her but I forget how she came up earlier. She sneaks in and out of the hotel, has a scuffle with a few guards that she manages to get free from; and throughout all of this we get hints at her past, the way her mother's boyfriend drank and beat her up, the way they were always moving and having to leave their items behind. My conclusion was that Meghan is very smart and resourceful, and she WOULD know what her mother was really doing in these job interviews. But again I'm pretty sure any 12 year old would be.
Perhaps it's because the author is male, but I don't want to get gender bias into this. I felt the authors grasp of a twelve year old girl was a little muddled. At the start she seems almost like a seven/eight year old, but her actions and vocabulary are one of fourteen year old. She doesn't come off as a twelve-year old at all. Perhaps that's the author being unsure how to write a female, another point in the novel he writes about two teenage friends one of whom claims the worst thing about the alien invasion is that she's still fat, following up with the completely non-insulting nod to the female gender when she says "Like, no duh, this is, like, the worst vacation ever."
I would like to think that even the vainest of stereotypical teenage girls would recognize the desperation of an alien invasion, lack of food/water/safety. Maybe I'm just being too feminist about it..
Anyway, onto Josh's story. I preferred it to Megan's, but it was unnecessarily gross at times.
Family dog, Dutch, loves to lick his balls. We're told that in those words exactly, and we're told them often. Including one unsavory scene where Josh recounts listening to the dog lick his balls as he's trying to sleep. Add in a father in sweatpants who reaches down to scratch his own balls in front of a window and you have quite an image.
It's father and son living alone, and I get that when you're alone with family during some sort of panic, you don't give a shit who scratches what where or when. But as a reader, we don't like to read that. The same way we don't want to hear about people squatting over buckets to go to the bathroom, and tossing the contents into their backyards. Or the way one guy whistles while he's squatting over a bucket. It's unnecessary to go into that much detail about crap, as a reader we figure that would be taken care of; we don't need the mechanics of it. But hey, maybe the guy was just going into the specifics would really say in this type of scenario.
All in all, POD is a quick, easy read (though it did take me a week 'cos I was busy) and quite engaging. The story is always moving forwards, and there's no time for a lull or dump of information. It's a well written novel but I would imagine it's for younger readers around 10-16.
If you like the genre and can find it at your local library, pick it up and give it a read. :)
August 9, 2014
What the FUCKING hell is this?? Talk about a story that goes nowhere this is worse than Matched!
This is to anyone who claimed this as their favorite book, it was worse than shit! I loved that it was set from two points of view, I loved the realistic survival themes, I loved the mystery surrounding the aliens, I loved all the action scenes and the controlling hotel manager so what could I hate? The ending and the fact that overall NOTHING happens!
If you want to read the story briefly click here.(trust me it's a lot cheaper than buying the book and a lot less hassle)
So that's about it really . But Megs so what was the point? Plus we never find out who the aliens really were. Were they a government experiment? Or were they real extraterrestrials looking to conquer the planet? If so why did they disappear? And what happened to those who were zapped? Were they whisked off to some slave camp or experiment lab? Or were they simply destroyed?
All I can say is what a fucking disappointment. This was definitely the foundation for an epic series, there could of at least been a sequel! But nooo the author decided to just leave it there. I haven't been this fucking disappointed since reading the Matched trilogy!
This is to anyone who claimed this as their favorite book, it was worse than shit! I loved that it was set from two points of view, I loved the realistic survival themes, I loved the mystery surrounding the aliens, I loved all the action scenes and the controlling hotel manager so what could I hate? The ending and the fact that overall NOTHING happens!
If you want to read the story briefly click here.(trust me it's a lot cheaper than buying the book and a lot less hassle)
So that's about it really . But Megs so what was the point? Plus we never find out who the aliens really were. Were they a government experiment? Or were they real extraterrestrials looking to conquer the planet? If so why did they disappear? And what happened to those who were zapped? Were they whisked off to some slave camp or experiment lab? Or were they simply destroyed?
All I can say is what a fucking disappointment. This was definitely the foundation for an epic series, there could of at least been a sequel! But nooo the author decided to just leave it there. I haven't been this fucking disappointed since reading the Matched trilogy!
February 28, 2020
This book was not that interesting to me I didn't really like the story of it and how it switched from two different characters. I did not like the characters which made it even worse I thought it could have been better if they tried to make it interesting. The book was just really about them sitting in their houses trying to live off scraps but one is in a parking garage. She just sits in the parking garage and doesn't move much the whole book. It has no backstory and no explanation of what is happening in the book. The only theory is that its the government and that's what they think it is. This book is not special and I didn't like it that much. I think it could have been better if they knew what the explanation for them there was. It doesn't even show the things or people in the pods and It didn't explain how they got there it just started there. I think it would be better if it showed them out of the pods or something.
October 27, 2020
Wow, this was intense. If I would've read this in 6th grade, I would've been terrified. This novel talks about how harrowing it would be if we were stuck inside with fear of the otherworldly beings outside our homes. It is a major "wrong place at the wrong time" tale, and it gets really dark. I'm talking killing-and-eating-kittens-dark. I don't know if I'd recommend it to my students as much as I'd recommend it to young adults. It only lost a star due to the anticlimactic ending, that shut down the book without tying any loose ends. Was it written for a sequel to follow it? Maybe. Did a sequel follow it? No.
February 26, 2012
I saw this in the bookshop a couple of months ago, the cover, although quite plain and simple drew me in. The synopsis on the back doesn't tell you much but I was intrigued. I decided to request it from the library and it came in a couple of weeks ago.
From the little I knew about this book I expected a Sci-Fi sort of thriller, but when I started reading it I realised that it was actually more of a Dystopian novel with a sci-fi twist.
This book is told in first person from two different characters. (each character has a chapter each). Josh is 16 and is stuck at home with his Dad who is slightly obsessive. They are running out of food and water and driving each other up the wall. Megs is 12 and was left in the back of her mums car in the carpark of a hotel. She has very little with her, a couple of bottles of water and some beer. She must scavage round the car park to find resources to survive.
Alien 'POD's are hovering in the skies above. They have absorbed all cars, motorbikes, planes and trains in strobes of blue light and if anyone steps outside they too are taken, or 'deleted' as Josh refers to it. This creates a world where everyone is trapped in their own little bubble, doing what they can to survive.
Josh and Megs story is very different, Josh has resources for a while and doesn't really see the seriousness of the situation, he has his dad to rein him in and keep him in order, whereas Megs has nothing and has to fight for herself, not only does she have to avoid the aliens outside, she must search for food and water whilst avoiding a group of 'security guards' turned thugs from finding her. The hotel has turned into a prisoner camp run by these thugs and Megs wants to avoid it at all costs.
I really enjoyed this book, I started reading just before lunch and got about 40 pages in when I had to put it down. I ended up going out with my parents in the afternoon and round my grandad's house etc so I didn't get back til about 5. The whole time I couldn't stop thinking about the book, it was running through my mind, it was almost like Josh and Megs were calling me to come back and help them and I had to get back to it.
I then sat and read until I had finished, I couldn't put it down.
I liked Megs as a character more, it's almost like she had more to prove, and even though she had it so hard she was still very compassionate towards others and did her best to help. I thought Josh was a bit self-centered at times and I felt sorry for his dad, but I suppose in that situation it pushes you to the limit and I can see why he acted like he did.
Overall I was totally absorbed by the book, to be honest the aliens were more of a side-line to the book, apart from teh fact that they are there which stops the characters from going out, the aliens really don't actually do that much, but it didn't take anything from the book in my opinion. The plot idea was well thought out and the pacing is fantastic, each chapter is quite short which helps it move well.
The only thing I felt that let this book down a bit was the ending, to be honest, for me it was a bit of a deflation, it's almost like the author didn't know how to finish it and so just stopped. There were quite a few things that weren't tied up and events that still hung in the air. I was expecting some great big revelation or attack or wipeout but none of that happened. I mean the ending was OK, but I felt it could have offered so much more, however I have looked up his website and he says he is working on book 2 which makes me feel a little better about the ending, clearly more to come so I will look out for that.
A quick easy read that will keep you hooked. Definitely worth a read.
From the little I knew about this book I expected a Sci-Fi sort of thriller, but when I started reading it I realised that it was actually more of a Dystopian novel with a sci-fi twist.
This book is told in first person from two different characters. (each character has a chapter each). Josh is 16 and is stuck at home with his Dad who is slightly obsessive. They are running out of food and water and driving each other up the wall. Megs is 12 and was left in the back of her mums car in the carpark of a hotel. She has very little with her, a couple of bottles of water and some beer. She must scavage round the car park to find resources to survive.
Alien 'POD's are hovering in the skies above. They have absorbed all cars, motorbikes, planes and trains in strobes of blue light and if anyone steps outside they too are taken, or 'deleted' as Josh refers to it. This creates a world where everyone is trapped in their own little bubble, doing what they can to survive.
Josh and Megs story is very different, Josh has resources for a while and doesn't really see the seriousness of the situation, he has his dad to rein him in and keep him in order, whereas Megs has nothing and has to fight for herself, not only does she have to avoid the aliens outside, she must search for food and water whilst avoiding a group of 'security guards' turned thugs from finding her. The hotel has turned into a prisoner camp run by these thugs and Megs wants to avoid it at all costs.
I really enjoyed this book, I started reading just before lunch and got about 40 pages in when I had to put it down. I ended up going out with my parents in the afternoon and round my grandad's house etc so I didn't get back til about 5. The whole time I couldn't stop thinking about the book, it was running through my mind, it was almost like Josh and Megs were calling me to come back and help them and I had to get back to it.
I then sat and read until I had finished, I couldn't put it down.
I liked Megs as a character more, it's almost like she had more to prove, and even though she had it so hard she was still very compassionate towards others and did her best to help. I thought Josh was a bit self-centered at times and I felt sorry for his dad, but I suppose in that situation it pushes you to the limit and I can see why he acted like he did.
Overall I was totally absorbed by the book, to be honest the aliens were more of a side-line to the book, apart from teh fact that they are there which stops the characters from going out, the aliens really don't actually do that much, but it didn't take anything from the book in my opinion. The plot idea was well thought out and the pacing is fantastic, each chapter is quite short which helps it move well.
The only thing I felt that let this book down a bit was the ending, to be honest, for me it was a bit of a deflation, it's almost like the author didn't know how to finish it and so just stopped. There were quite a few things that weren't tied up and events that still hung in the air. I was expecting some great big revelation or attack or wipeout but none of that happened. I mean the ending was OK, but I felt it could have offered so much more, however I have looked up his website and he says he is working on book 2 which makes me feel a little better about the ending, clearly more to come so I will look out for that.
A quick easy read that will keep you hooked. Definitely worth a read.
June 3, 2011
Surviving a massive alien siege is one thing-surviving humanity is another.
I'm all cried out. I'm still alone. The sky is full of giant spinning black balls that kill anyone stupid enough to go outside. I've only been out of the car twice-once to pee and once to look at the sky. That one look was enough for me. Now I sit alone in the car, staring out the window like a rat in a cage. But I don't have anyone to look at. The parking garage is empty, except for twisted-up cars, broken glass, and the smell of leaking gasoline.
POD is the story of a global cataclysmic event, told from the viewpoints of Megs, a twelve-year-old streetwise girl trapped in a hotel parking garage in Los Angeles; and sixteen-year-old Josh, who is stuck in a house in Prosser, Washington, with his increasingly obsessive-compulsive father. Food and water and time are running out. Will Megs survive long enough to find her mother? Will Josh and his father survive each other?
My Thoughts!
I was really surprised when I started reading POD and I found I couldn't put it down. I'm not a massive lover of Sci-Fi. I will read it but there has been few I have loved. I loved POD. If your expecting lots of Alien action think again. The book is a story of survival. Its so heart wrenching at times. Megs is such an amazing strong little girl and Josh is a typical teenager, Aliens land and he misses his Ipod!! The book goes from Josh, stuck in his house with his OCD dad and dog, to Megs, whos stuck in a hotel garage with little resources.Its told like a diary from both view points, which I really liked. Josh has to deal with his dad and dwindling food and water and Meg has to deal with violent men who think they know best and are looking for her and the gun she found.
Both stories are distinctive but Meg has the real survival issue. My heart went out to her so much. I would highly recommend this book, not just to Sci-Fi fans but anyone who loves a fast paced, compelling, suspense filled book.
I'm all cried out. I'm still alone. The sky is full of giant spinning black balls that kill anyone stupid enough to go outside. I've only been out of the car twice-once to pee and once to look at the sky. That one look was enough for me. Now I sit alone in the car, staring out the window like a rat in a cage. But I don't have anyone to look at. The parking garage is empty, except for twisted-up cars, broken glass, and the smell of leaking gasoline.
POD is the story of a global cataclysmic event, told from the viewpoints of Megs, a twelve-year-old streetwise girl trapped in a hotel parking garage in Los Angeles; and sixteen-year-old Josh, who is stuck in a house in Prosser, Washington, with his increasingly obsessive-compulsive father. Food and water and time are running out. Will Megs survive long enough to find her mother? Will Josh and his father survive each other?
My Thoughts!
I was really surprised when I started reading POD and I found I couldn't put it down. I'm not a massive lover of Sci-Fi. I will read it but there has been few I have loved. I loved POD. If your expecting lots of Alien action think again. The book is a story of survival. Its so heart wrenching at times. Megs is such an amazing strong little girl and Josh is a typical teenager, Aliens land and he misses his Ipod!! The book goes from Josh, stuck in his house with his OCD dad and dog, to Megs, whos stuck in a hotel garage with little resources.Its told like a diary from both view points, which I really liked. Josh has to deal with his dad and dwindling food and water and Meg has to deal with violent men who think they know best and are looking for her and the gun she found.
Both stories are distinctive but Meg has the real survival issue. My heart went out to her so much. I would highly recommend this book, not just to Sci-Fi fans but anyone who loves a fast paced, compelling, suspense filled book.
April 3, 2012
4.5 Stars
This is definitely my kind of book! I really enjoyed it.
The story story begins with an alien invasion, where hundreds of strange spheres hover in the sky zapping any human that ventures outside. Josh is stuck in his house with his father, and Megs has been left alone in a hotel parking garage. Both have to find a way to survive...
I loved that this wasn't all about the alien invasion. Yes, it's an important (and intriguing) part of the story but the main focus in on how these characters survive. What they have to face and the decisions they make. I found myself equally invested in both stories. Josh comes across as a typical 15 year old boy - I liked how witty he was, and how nonchalant he was in the beginning and then how he slowly started to see the seriousness in what was happening around him - plus I loved how his relationship with his dad became really strong over the course of the story. Megs was a great character too - she has a grit and determination about her that you have to admire. I did find it hard to believe she was just 12 years old though, but that is explained in the story. Her family background makes me think she would have had to grow up quick!
I really enjoyed the author's writing too. He did a great job at giving both Josh and Megs distinct voices - I love dual narration and in this case it really makes the story work. While Meg's part is more 'action packed' I found Josh's story really hits a mark. One other thing I really liked was that we aren't really given that much information about the PODs. We only know what the characters know and I thought that was really clever.
I understand the author is working on a second book and I'm very interested to see where he takes the story from here. Great stuff!
This is definitely my kind of book! I really enjoyed it.
The story story begins with an alien invasion, where hundreds of strange spheres hover in the sky zapping any human that ventures outside. Josh is stuck in his house with his father, and Megs has been left alone in a hotel parking garage. Both have to find a way to survive...
I loved that this wasn't all about the alien invasion. Yes, it's an important (and intriguing) part of the story but the main focus in on how these characters survive. What they have to face and the decisions they make. I found myself equally invested in both stories. Josh comes across as a typical 15 year old boy - I liked how witty he was, and how nonchalant he was in the beginning and then how he slowly started to see the seriousness in what was happening around him - plus I loved how his relationship with his dad became really strong over the course of the story. Megs was a great character too - she has a grit and determination about her that you have to admire. I did find it hard to believe she was just 12 years old though, but that is explained in the story. Her family background makes me think she would have had to grow up quick!
I really enjoyed the author's writing too. He did a great job at giving both Josh and Megs distinct voices - I love dual narration and in this case it really makes the story work. While Meg's part is more 'action packed' I found Josh's story really hits a mark. One other thing I really liked was that we aren't really given that much information about the PODs. We only know what the characters know and I thought that was really clever.
I understand the author is working on a second book and I'm very interested to see where he takes the story from here. Great stuff!
June 10, 2017
Este libro es uno de los que me regalaron hace un tiempo. No tenía en mente leerlo pronto, pero me apetecía una lectura ligerita y entretenida, entonces decidí aventurarme con este título. Y bueno, fue toda una sorpresa.
Esta historia no creo que pueda catalogarla completamente, porque combina lo posapocalíptico y algo como estilo de supervivencia. Esta historia intercambia dos puntos de vista de dos jovencitos, Josh de quince años y Megs de doce. Ellos están en distintas ciudades de Estados Unidos, pero algo los une: un día normal, unas enormes bolas negras y brillantes aparecen en el cielo y empiezan a matar a las personas que ven por ahí. Están invadiendo la tierra. Josh se esconde con su padre y su perro labrador Dutch en su casa. Megs se ha quedado sola, su mamá se fue antes de la invasión y se esconde lo mejor que puede en el destartalado auto de su madre en un garaje de un hotel. Si se atreven a salir a la calle las bolas espaciales los pulverizarán con un rayo y desaparecen al instante. El miedo apenas empieza, de la mano de las Esferas del terror, E.T. como las llama Josh.
¿Qué quieren esas esferas? ¿Porqué dañan a los humanos y no a los animales?
Reseña completa: http://rapsodia-literaria.blogspot.co...
Esta historia no creo que pueda catalogarla completamente, porque combina lo posapocalíptico y algo como estilo de supervivencia. Esta historia intercambia dos puntos de vista de dos jovencitos, Josh de quince años y Megs de doce. Ellos están en distintas ciudades de Estados Unidos, pero algo los une: un día normal, unas enormes bolas negras y brillantes aparecen en el cielo y empiezan a matar a las personas que ven por ahí. Están invadiendo la tierra. Josh se esconde con su padre y su perro labrador Dutch en su casa. Megs se ha quedado sola, su mamá se fue antes de la invasión y se esconde lo mejor que puede en el destartalado auto de su madre en un garaje de un hotel. Si se atreven a salir a la calle las bolas espaciales los pulverizarán con un rayo y desaparecen al instante. El miedo apenas empieza, de la mano de las Esferas del terror, E.T. como las llama Josh.
¿Qué quieren esas esferas? ¿Porqué dañan a los humanos y no a los animales?
Reseña completa: http://rapsodia-literaria.blogspot.co...
June 10, 2012
Si hay algo que me gusta es la ciencia ficción, las invasiones alienígenas (siempre y cuando queden en los libros o el cine) y c sobre todo, si son hostiles. En este libro encuentro todo lo que me encanta.
La estructura me ha gustado mucho, y la verdad, hace que se lea muy muy rápido. Hablo de un libro contado a dos voces, un joven encerrado en su casa con su padre y una niña que se ha quedado atrapada en el coche con su madre. Mientras tanto, unas esferas de origen extraterrestre están sobrevolando el mundo fulminando a todo ser humano que encuentran a su paso.
Mi favorita, la niña, es entrañable como esa niña hace lo imposible para apañárselas, cómo comparte su poca comida con un gatito que ha encontrado. Vamos, digno de leer.
Más: http://exlibri.blogspot.com.es/2012/0...
La estructura me ha gustado mucho, y la verdad, hace que se lea muy muy rápido. Hablo de un libro contado a dos voces, un joven encerrado en su casa con su padre y una niña que se ha quedado atrapada en el coche con su madre. Mientras tanto, unas esferas de origen extraterrestre están sobrevolando el mundo fulminando a todo ser humano que encuentran a su paso.
Mi favorita, la niña, es entrañable como esa niña hace lo imposible para apañárselas, cómo comparte su poca comida con un gatito que ha encontrado. Vamos, digno de leer.
Más: http://exlibri.blogspot.com.es/2012/0...
February 7, 2012
This book is so intense that it's hard to believe it's for teens rather than adults. I LOVED it! Alternating between the points of view of a homeless teenage girl in a parking garage and an angst-ridden teenage boy stuck at home with his father, this stark story takes place along the west coast during what appears to be an alien invasion. One day giant "pods" appear in the sky. Any human who steps outside immediately disappears. As the days go by, the electricity goes out, the water supply runs low and criminals become the ones in charge. This story of survival will leave you clinging to this slim paperback book, dying to know if the characters you grow to love will live or die.
May 22, 2012
Workmanlike oh-shit-aliens disaster novel. I would have liked it better if I had a sense that the author knew why the aliens were there - maybe that will come up in the sequel. Which I will probably read, because it looks like they'll be trekking through Oregon and possibly even foraging for food and I am a sucker for that sort of thing.
(Hilarious jacket copy from the Australian edition: apparently Washington State and LA are on opposite sides of the country. I also find it just as distracting when American teens talk about their mums as when Lord Peter Wimsey speaks in US spelling.)
(Hilarious jacket copy from the Australian edition: apparently Washington State and LA are on opposite sides of the country. I also find it just as distracting when American teens talk about their mums as when Lord Peter Wimsey speaks in US spelling.)
May 17, 2010
Ages 12+ for infrequent language and dark themes.
Totes amazing, darker than LAWKI but maybe not the dead and the gone, with lots of implications that would make for a great book discussion. Unputdownable.
Totes amazing, darker than LAWKI but maybe not the dead and the gone, with lots of implications that would make for a great book discussion. Unputdownable.
July 31, 2010
Aliens come, kill people. 12-year old girl in California and father-son combo in Washington must survive the invaders and other humans. About mid-way I thought it was a little lame, but it ended well. Sequel sounds possibly with the closing scene...
March 18, 2010
This was a great book. It kept me interested the whole way through. I can't wait for the sequel! I hope he ties up some major loose ends. Overall, a must-read.
June 22, 2011
YA alien invasion/survival story. There's talk of a sequel, which would be welcome.
May 8, 2013
Fun! Incredibly improbable, but fun!
February 25, 2018
Less drama
January 4, 2010
Interesting concept. Well written. I'm going to read it again.
May 20, 2016
One of the best.
February 21, 2013
Two things to quickly summarize the novel:
1) This book is like 8 parts survival horror & maybe 2 parts sci-fi. That might be generous to the sci-fi content.
2) 12-year old Megs has the survival skills of a trained marine, & 16 year old Josh is borderline (not quite, but close) too dumb to live.
There really isn't much of a plot to speak of for this particular novel, aside from: Find a way to live for 28 days while trapped in a house with your dad (Josh), or scavenging in a hotel parking garage full of bad men who want to hurt you (Megs). So I'll mostly be discussing the details, and how I more or less felt about them for the review.
The Aliens
They're a plot device. One of the blurbs in the beginning mentioned this was the first in a trilogy, which means they likely have a bigger role later & this was all set up, but in the context of Pods all on its lonesome: They're a plot device.
You could have replaced the aliens with anything that kept folks inside their houses, and I don't think it would have changed what happened survival or plot wise. Maybe minor details would have been different, but the overall core would have remained unchanged. Fog, armed guards, snow, flood, zombies--could have been any of them keeping Josh in his house, and Megs in that parking garage.
My only consolation, is that there was set up for future books with a few little plot points like how or what happens at the end.
Megs Story
Of the two, I think Megs had the better storyline, even if I spent a good deal of time debating whether or not spending your life avoiding and/or dealing with an abusive, drug-addicted step-parent would actually result in Megs' mad survival skills. Some of her actions, like learning how to hide in places that your attacker has already looked--yes. I could see her picking that up hiding from her Mother's abusive boyfriend. Some of the stuff she pulls off rationing food and water, knowing when to save things, when to leave them, maneuvering and making pathways through air conditioning ducts, and thinking ahead to put tape on the latch of a door to keep it from locking--that's a little different.
Megs is pretty hard core for a 12 year old, is what I'm saying. I'm sure there are real kids like this though, so its not that big of a deal. You just don't see it as much in more realistic story settings--so it was good. Definitely a plus.
She also got the lion's share of the action-based plot: Megs has to survive in a parking garage attached to a hotel run by a power-crazed security guard & his insane henchmen. The height of her storyline involves breaking into the hotel to save . Honestly, Megs story was worth reading the book for, so I'll avoid any spoilers and leave it at that.
Which leaves me with:
Josh's Story
The back of the book led me to believe that at least half of this novel would be about a kid trapped with a parent steadily going insane. That, really didn't happen (until like the last two chapters--don't get me wrong, Josh's dad has a breakdown--it just happens at like, the last possible moment). What I got, was a teenage boy who has absolutely no grasp of the situation, and a father who has survival skills up there with Megs.
Don't get me wrong, when Josh starts questioning why his dad is filling containers with water & rationing food, I agreed with his original "What's the point?" attitude. I had the same one when my folks prepared for hurricanes by doing the same thing. The difference is--when the power eventually went out, I stopped and went "Oh, right. That's why" - Josh sort of never quite gets to that point, and it's a little head-bang worthy.
His dad, for all intents and purposes handles things pretty darn well. Everything he did after realizing their situation was pretty normal survival stuff: Fill containers with water while you can, ration food, keep an eye on the enemy outside. He took charge, clearly tried to take care of his son first, and was reasonably paranoid considering the circumstances. He has a coping mechanism that hints at cracks in his sanity, but I'd be more worried for his sanity if he hadn't been doing something to ground himself. Really, up until .
I also pretty much hated how Josh's storyline ended. The following rant has spoilers, so read on if you like--or read the book and form your own opinion:
But, moving on.
Josh's half of the story was mostly around to make observations about the aliens since Megs' half was preoccupied with surviving Richie and co. So, pretty much all your sci-fi content is in this half of the book.
Conclusion
Overall? Despite my complaints, I enjoyed it. The writing is solid, the pacing was decent, and it doesn't pull its punches. More importantly, once I came to terms that the aliens were just there to move along the survival horror I enjoyed myself. There's some great moments, involving both sides. And my favorite was one toward the end that explains why Josh's Dad and I'm glad I can think fondly of when trying to block out what came immediately after.
I'll probably give the sequel a read, if only to see how our Plot Device alien friends progress.
1) This book is like 8 parts survival horror & maybe 2 parts sci-fi. That might be generous to the sci-fi content.
2) 12-year old Megs has the survival skills of a trained marine, & 16 year old Josh is borderline (not quite, but close) too dumb to live.
There really isn't much of a plot to speak of for this particular novel, aside from: Find a way to live for 28 days while trapped in a house with your dad (Josh), or scavenging in a hotel parking garage full of bad men who want to hurt you (Megs). So I'll mostly be discussing the details, and how I more or less felt about them for the review.
The Aliens
They're a plot device. One of the blurbs in the beginning mentioned this was the first in a trilogy, which means they likely have a bigger role later & this was all set up, but in the context of Pods all on its lonesome: They're a plot device.
You could have replaced the aliens with anything that kept folks inside their houses, and I don't think it would have changed what happened survival or plot wise. Maybe minor details would have been different, but the overall core would have remained unchanged. Fog, armed guards, snow, flood, zombies--could have been any of them keeping Josh in his house, and Megs in that parking garage.
My only consolation, is that there was set up for future books with a few little plot points like how or what happens at the end.
Megs Story
Of the two, I think Megs had the better storyline, even if I spent a good deal of time debating whether or not spending your life avoiding and/or dealing with an abusive, drug-addicted step-parent would actually result in Megs' mad survival skills. Some of her actions, like learning how to hide in places that your attacker has already looked--yes. I could see her picking that up hiding from her Mother's abusive boyfriend. Some of the stuff she pulls off rationing food and water, knowing when to save things, when to leave them, maneuvering and making pathways through air conditioning ducts, and thinking ahead to put tape on the latch of a door to keep it from locking--that's a little different.
Megs is pretty hard core for a 12 year old, is what I'm saying. I'm sure there are real kids like this though, so its not that big of a deal. You just don't see it as much in more realistic story settings--so it was good. Definitely a plus.
She also got the lion's share of the action-based plot: Megs has to survive in a parking garage attached to a hotel run by a power-crazed security guard & his insane henchmen. The height of her storyline involves breaking into the hotel to save . Honestly, Megs story was worth reading the book for, so I'll avoid any spoilers and leave it at that.
Which leaves me with:
Josh's Story
The back of the book led me to believe that at least half of this novel would be about a kid trapped with a parent steadily going insane. That, really didn't happen (until like the last two chapters--don't get me wrong, Josh's dad has a breakdown--it just happens at like, the last possible moment). What I got, was a teenage boy who has absolutely no grasp of the situation, and a father who has survival skills up there with Megs.
Don't get me wrong, when Josh starts questioning why his dad is filling containers with water & rationing food, I agreed with his original "What's the point?" attitude. I had the same one when my folks prepared for hurricanes by doing the same thing. The difference is--when the power eventually went out, I stopped and went "Oh, right. That's why" - Josh sort of never quite gets to that point, and it's a little head-bang worthy.
His dad, for all intents and purposes handles things pretty darn well. Everything he did after realizing their situation was pretty normal survival stuff: Fill containers with water while you can, ration food, keep an eye on the enemy outside. He took charge, clearly tried to take care of his son first, and was reasonably paranoid considering the circumstances. He has a coping mechanism that hints at cracks in his sanity, but I'd be more worried for his sanity if he hadn't been doing something to ground himself. Really, up until .
I also pretty much hated how Josh's storyline ended. The following rant has spoilers, so read on if you like--or read the book and form your own opinion:
But, moving on.
Josh's half of the story was mostly around to make observations about the aliens since Megs' half was preoccupied with surviving Richie and co. So, pretty much all your sci-fi content is in this half of the book.
Conclusion
Overall? Despite my complaints, I enjoyed it. The writing is solid, the pacing was decent, and it doesn't pull its punches. More importantly, once I came to terms that the aliens were just there to move along the survival horror I enjoyed myself. There's some great moments, involving both sides. And my favorite was one toward the end that explains why Josh's Dad and I'm glad I can think fondly of when trying to block out what came immediately after.
I'll probably give the sequel a read, if only to see how our Plot Device alien friends progress.
May 18, 2018
I give this book 4 stars because its a mysterious book right off the start. The author does not get caught up in the techy part of sci-fi books and focuses on the character. This book also puts the characters in situations that make the book more intense and tells their story in first person.
“The screeching wake me up, like metal on metal tearing and twisting and amplitude a thousands times”( Wallenfels 1) The first couple of lines in the book makes you wonder what the noise is from. A couple of pages in its revealed giant balls floating in the sky. Anyone or anything that moves explodes in to blue and white light and vanish.
The author does not focus on the tech in the book the book and focuses on building up the characters. The author switches from character to character every chapter to keep the book interesting. The to teens are also put into different situations ad are locked into certain areas.
The author puts these kids in bad situations as they both have little food. If Josh goes outside to get food you will die. Meg is trapped in a car in a parking garage by herself. To make it worse the hotel that the garage is at is being invaded by gang members.
I think this is well written book and it deserves 4 stars. I recommend this book to people who like sci-fi and a good story.
“The screeching wake me up, like metal on metal tearing and twisting and amplitude a thousands times”( Wallenfels 1) The first couple of lines in the book makes you wonder what the noise is from. A couple of pages in its revealed giant balls floating in the sky. Anyone or anything that moves explodes in to blue and white light and vanish.
The author does not focus on the tech in the book the book and focuses on building up the characters. The author switches from character to character every chapter to keep the book interesting. The to teens are also put into different situations ad are locked into certain areas.
The author puts these kids in bad situations as they both have little food. If Josh goes outside to get food you will die. Meg is trapped in a car in a parking garage by herself. To make it worse the hotel that the garage is at is being invaded by gang members.
I think this is well written book and it deserves 4 stars. I recommend this book to people who like sci-fi and a good story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2017
This book was a crazy amazing interpretation of the potential of alien takeovers. Although I found this book in the "Young Adult" section of my local library, this book faces some pretty serious (although fictional) situations that main characters must face in order to overcome the tragedy that the aliens plague them with. This book kept me interested page-by-page and highly satisfies the science-fiction lover within me. With themes such as prostitution, swear words, gun-pointing, knife-pointing, child starvation, adult starvation, child illness, adult illness, human captivity (via aliens)and even pet abandonment (and even worse stuff!) this book is a serious mental trip through the mechanisms of inner and outer chaos within a society forced to face the struggle of remaining indoors (or at least where the aliens can't see them). Although this is a short read, the author does a great job at simplifying plot lines, a great job of getting into the heads of our narrators, and a decent job of writing smooth transitions from one setting to another. This book will become one of my favorite What If? alien stories ever. Did I mention the fantastic ending?
Shelved as 'leídos-blog'
May 7, 2020La editorial La Galera nos ha cedido esta genial novela juvenil de ciencia ficción escrita por Stephen Wallenfels.
En su primera novela, Wallenfels nos narra la historia de Josh y Meg, dos niños de 15 y 12 años respectivamente que intentan sobrevivir a un ataque alienígena.
Además del ataque de las naves espaciales, Josh y Meg deben enfrentarse a la locura de la sociedad.
Cuando llegan los alienígenas, Josh se encuentra en su casa, desconoce donde se encuentra su madre y tiene que lidiar con las extrañas ideas y formas de enfrentarse a los problemas de su padre enfermo.
Por otro lado, Meg tiene que enfrentarse sola a un gran grupo de delincuentes que quieren apresarla.
Alternando en capítulos la vida de los niños, POD es una obra de 307 páginas, intrépida, divertida en ocasiones, en la que se muestra la valentía de dos pequeños y la sangre fría que tienen para conseguir sobrevivir.
En su primera novela, Wallenfels nos narra la historia de Josh y Meg, dos niños de 15 y 12 años respectivamente que intentan sobrevivir a un ataque alienígena.
Además del ataque de las naves espaciales, Josh y Meg deben enfrentarse a la locura de la sociedad.
Cuando llegan los alienígenas, Josh se encuentra en su casa, desconoce donde se encuentra su madre y tiene que lidiar con las extrañas ideas y formas de enfrentarse a los problemas de su padre enfermo.
Por otro lado, Meg tiene que enfrentarse sola a un gran grupo de delincuentes que quieren apresarla.
Alternando en capítulos la vida de los niños, POD es una obra de 307 páginas, intrépida, divertida en ocasiones, en la que se muestra la valentía de dos pequeños y la sangre fría que tienen para conseguir sobrevivir.
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