Light by Michael Grant
10 February 2014
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Light, Michael Grant, Perdido Beach, The Fayz
In keeping with my New Year’s resolution I’m finishing off some of the series that I started a number of years ago and Light is the sixth and final book in Michael Grant’s book about a bunch of teenagers and children (none older than 15) who, as the result of a strange occurrence are trapped inside a bubble in the coastal town of Perdido Beach, known as the FAYZ. As if this wasn’t strange enough in itself, a number of the children seem to have acquired strange mutated talents ranging from running as fast as a breeze or shooting white hot flames through their fingers. Of course this discrepancy in abilities leads to plenty of problems. Five books’ worth of adventures later as the children try to survive MG brings us a resolution in the form of Light. This has been a very entertaining series of books, a strange fusion of Lord of the Flies and X-Men with characters that you can’t help but become attached to along the way.
At the start of Light the barrier that separates the FAYZ from the rest of civilisation has become transparent turning this strange world into one gigantic fishbowl attracting media, authorities and parents to set up camp around the perimeter. The countdown is on – the barrier is coming down and it’s just a matter of time now to see who will survive until the end. This makes for a tense few hours. The Gaiphage – or the source of all evil – has been reborn!! And, is seeking a way out – she/it has huge plans of world domination (queue evil laughter!) The only flaw in her/it’s plan is she/it is restricted somewhat by being in a little girl’s body – plus has very little knowledge of the real world beyond the bubble – so the Gaiphage does need other people to help. Before we all start breathing a sigh of relief though – this little girl is one evil, crazy little so and so!
Now, it’s pretty difficult to get into a lot of details about the final plot in a series like this without actually ruining it. So, this will be a fairly short review on that score. What I can say is that in true Grant style there is plenty of action, tension, and body mash ups! Also, and I think quite rightly too, not everyone survives. Come on, it would be impossible for everyone to come out of this smiling.
So, a fairly light (no pun intended) review for the final in the series but the length of the review is not intended to reflect how I felt about the book or the series. This has definitely kept my attention and in fact I was worried to pick up the last one in case it all went belly up plus I just couldn’t see how the author was going to resolve things. Fortunately MG doesn’t fail – he’s managed to come up with a satisfying ending – okay, maybe a little apple pie in some respects but overall a good ending to a bizarre, strange and twisted series.
Hunger (Gone) by Michael Grant
14 December 2010
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Gone, Hunger, Michael Grant, The Fayz
This is the second book in the series picking up the story of Gone 3 months on. Gone is based on the children who live at Perdido Beach. Mysteriously all the adults, in fact anyone of the age 15 or above has disappeared and at the same time some of the remaining children are developing strange powers. The first book introduced us to Sam who, due to his level-headedness has become the Leader of the remaining children – well at least the children who are not living at the Academy. The children at the Academy are led by Caine who already understands his own special powers and wants to make the most of them to take control. And this gives an incredibly basic summary of the first novel.
Hunger, as it’s name implies, takes us three months down the line when all the food is starting to run out and the children are beginning to starve. Sam has unwittingly become the surrogate father to over 300 children (some very young) and is trying to keep things afloat whilst having to arbitrate over ‘silly’ everyday arguments such as which dvd is going to be watched that evening. Basically Sam has so many everyday duties to perform and constant worries to try and overcome that he has very little time to focus on the real problems that are swiftly heading his way. This story sees the further development of the characters and the addition of some new mutant powers. It also sees the breakdown of relationships between the children as the real hunger takes hold with the ‘normal’ children starting to feel resentful of the ones with powers who seem to run the show.
This book is an interesting concept – it reminds me of a cross between Lord of the Flies and the X-Men and demonstrates the way that circumstances can vastly alter a person’s nature, that bad can become good and that heros are sometimes least where you expect to find them. I like the way that MG writes, he makes you care about his characters and he packs in a lot of drama and action. I would think though that this book may not be suitable for a younger audience as MG certainly doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the fighting and conflict scenes.
The only criticism I would really have is that this is a long book – and I don’t particularly have a problem with long books – but in parts the story does seem to drag a little – and strangely enough not because of a lack of action because there seems to be always plenty going on. I think perhaps some of it could have been edited so that you cut to the chase a bit quicker. It almost feels sometimes that there is so much going on that you become almost bored with it – I know that sounds crazy but perhaps there should have been the odd chapter where things were less hectic. That said the ending is very gripping and I practically raced through it.
I’m looking forward to reading Lies which is already sat in wait however I’ll probably read a few other books first. So many books…
Rating B+
Hunger (Gone)
Books and travelling with Lynn 