Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Horizon

Horizon #1. Scott Westerfeld. 2017. Scholastic. 256 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "Next question," Molly said. "How many miles of wire are in this airplane?"

Premise/plot: A plane is on its way to Japan and goes down over the Arctic circle. There are survivors--eight, I believe. But of the survivors, none are adults. Four of the survivors are the members of a school team on its way to a robots competition. The others are strangers to Molly, Javi, Anna, and Oliver. Yoshi is on his way home to his father. He doesn't really get along with either parent. And the fact that he's returning something--a sword--he stole from his father's house during the last visit doesn't make him that thrilled to be on the plane. Caleb is the odd one out. Two young girls, two sisters, speak Japanese and French but no English: Kira and Akiko. The other passengers--hundreds of them--were sucked out of the plane--seats and all, I believe--when the ceiling was ripped open. The crash site is strange. It's a JUNGLE, a jungle with strange animals and plants. Within hours of the crash, the kids stumble across a remote control device with alien-like symbols. This remote control does strange things to the law of nature. For example: changes the law of gravity.

My thoughts: In some ways it's all action and mystery and science fiction. In other words, a lot like LOST. (Well, if you switch out the fog monster with killer birds and killer vines. Also no flashbacks so far!!!) But this place is strange and unpredictable. It is a place that invites millions of questions but provides very few--if any--answers.

There is a game--an app, I believe, for readers who get really invested in this survivor story.

© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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