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karireads's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
dancarey_404's review
3.0
All in all, I enjoyed the book and am likely to take up the sequel. My main quibble is that geniuses capable of solving the sort of mathematical knots with which Everett is presented are usually not as normal as Everett. But to make him fit into such a personality would decrease his likableness as a character. But I particularly liked the steampunky idea of Henry Cavendish creating the first electric motor in 1790, sparking (sorry!) an Industrial Revolution that completely bypassed steam and internal combustion.
jessgj's review
Okay, I get that "Too British" feels inadequate but I got 10 percent in before the "Yep, this is set in England"-Ism got too much for me.
amdame1's review
3.0
Everett's scientist father is kidnapped in front of his very eyes - and just 10 days before Christmas! When he goes to the police, his story is discounted and then his photos are altered as well. Everett is convinced he has the means to rescue his dad through the mysterious app his dad left on his computer. It allows him to travel throughout the multiverse - but everyone wants to get their hands on this thing so he has to be fast and clever.
First in a series. Interesting characters and the multiverse setting is fascinating to contemplate. For higher level Alex Rider fans.
First in a series. Interesting characters and the multiverse setting is fascinating to contemplate. For higher level Alex Rider fans.
venicechick's review
5.0
I have no qualms about reading YA Fiction, and I was already a fan of Ian McDonald after reading Desolation Road. (I think DR is one of the best recent Sci Fi books out there.) Sometimes YA fiction has the fast-paced storytelling that I need in my escapism lately. Grim despair and apocalypse require forward movement to give us hope.
Everett Singh is a young genius who lives with his father in modern day London. When his father is kidnapped, Everett sets out on a journey across the multiverse to rescue him. Everett is in danger immediately, and uses his wits (and soccer skills) to try to outwit and outrun the sinister group who has his father. As he learns about the project his father was working on with inter dimensional travel, he travels to a London that is driven by electricity and has no petroleum. It is Steampunk without the steam. He meets a crew on a dirigible that becomes his family. His new best friend is a young female dirigible pilot named Sen. The rhyming-slang sound of Palari, the secret language of the Airish, really adds to the feel of another world.
I am ready for the next book in the series!
Everett Singh is a young genius who lives with his father in modern day London. When his father is kidnapped, Everett sets out on a journey across the multiverse to rescue him. Everett is in danger immediately, and uses his wits (and soccer skills) to try to outwit and outrun the sinister group who has his father. As he learns about the project his father was working on with inter dimensional travel, he travels to a London that is driven by electricity and has no petroleum. It is Steampunk without the steam. He meets a crew on a dirigible that becomes his family. His new best friend is a young female dirigible pilot named Sen. The rhyming-slang sound of Palari, the secret language of the Airish, really adds to the feel of another world.
I am ready for the next book in the series!
cruelmilkshake's review
4.0
It's more like 3.5 stars, but I round up. I enjoyed the world that was created and I look forward to continuing the series.
pauliree's review
5.0
OMG, you must read this book!! Did I sound like a teen then? Even though this is YA, this is a mature SF book with a fantastic premise, and oh boy, what a ride. My only niggle (and it is a little one) is that at 14 I found the protagonist's knowledge of quantum mathematics to be a little out there for someone who is still in his normal grade at high school. Why wasn't he at uni if he was such a genius? Anyway, just something to pick at in an otherwise perfect book.
lordofthemoon's review
3.0
Everett Singh is a young geek whose physicist father is kidnapped before his eyes. But his father has left him something: an app on his tablet that turns out to be a map to the multiverse, something which some people would literally kill to get. A combination of skill and luck gets Everett to one of the parallel Earths where he falls in with the crew of the airship Everness. He must win their trust to help him in finding his father and escaping his enemies.
This was a pacey written book with lots going on to keep the reader interested. Everett is a likeable enough young protagonist and there are stacks of geek and pop culture references interspersed that would probably endear the book to the YA audience that it's aimed at.
I couldn't help thinking at times, however, that Everett is a bit too competent and calm under everything that happens. Or maybe that's just me projecting (I'd fall apart, I suspect).
A decent enough book but not one that made me immediately want to go and find the next in the trilogy.
This was a pacey written book with lots going on to keep the reader interested. Everett is a likeable enough young protagonist and there are stacks of geek and pop culture references interspersed that would probably endear the book to the YA audience that it's aimed at.
I couldn't help thinking at times, however, that Everett is a bit too competent and calm under everything that happens. Or maybe that's just me projecting (I'd fall apart, I suspect).
A decent enough book but not one that made me immediately want to go and find the next in the trilogy.
singinglight's review
4.0
I’m always happy to get proper YA scifi, which this is. It started out extremely strong–the story begins with Everett’s scientist father kidnapped before his eyes, and of course the police don’t believe him. I thought that the middle section was a little bloated–I got bogged down in the early time of Everett’s stay in the new plane, which lost the urgency of his search for his father. But I can see that McDonald essentially had to do all of his worldbuilding and character introduction at that point, and things picked up again at the end. Anyone else read this one? I haven’t seen many reviews so I’m curious if it’s flying a little under the radar, or if it’s just not the type of thing my blog friends tend to read.
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