Book Review: Andrew Lane - Lost Worlds - Published by Macmillan Children's

                                     

Arthur Conan Doyle has been a great influence on many writers both past and present, but none more so than on Andrew Lane, who was greatly inspired to write his first series for children entitled "Young Sherlock Holmes". This has now been published in thirty seven different languages - highlighting the ever increasing popularity of the series with over 200,000 copies having been sold so far. Book six, "Knife Edge", is due to be published in the UK in September, so it is certainly not the end of this brilliant series.

Andrew has kept the Conan Doyle connection alive in spirit through his new epic adventure series. The main character in the book, Calum Challenger, is the grandson of Doyle's protagonist, Professor George Edward Challenger. He is featured in a similarly titled book 'The Lost World' hence a new name is born. It is certainly a fantastic opening book which I'm sure you will all be eager to read - just like I was.

Calum's character is very stereotypical in many ways apart from the fact that he is paralysed. The author portrays Calum in a rather unique and endearing way as a teenage boy coping with a disability. Whilst this is featured as only a small part of the story, it certainly added an unexpected outlook. Calum Challenger is on a quest to find a cure to help him walk again and to live a normal life. His mission is to track down the supposedly mythological creatures that are so rare, that most people don't believe that they even exist. However Calum does. It is imperative that he finds them for two reasons: to take their DNA to use it to help protect these species and also to search for a cure for his paralysis. The only problem is that he's confined to the high-tech virtual world where he lives on his own in a converted warehouse. 

As the story unfolds, the solution literally falls from the sky as Calum finds an unlikely team of friends. He finds some by luck and others by circumstance. There is a goth computer hacker, a freerunner, an ex-marine and a girl with a chip on her shoulder. Together they set off on an expedition to the Caucasus Mountains in search of a mysterious creature, which has supposedly been sited. However, when a pharmaceutical corporation called Nemor have conflicting interests, the team find themselves both under pressure and in danger. Can they locate the mysterious creature first and stay one step ahead of their enemy.

This is a fast-paced, high-tech story full of great characters that teenagers will easily engage with and relate to. Gecko was easily my favourite character in the book. He certainly brought a new dimension to the story with his free running - this is a really cool sport to watch if you ever get the chance to do so. 

In my head, I was confidently certain that I knew how this story would end. Surprisingly, it took a very different route. A turn of events proved to be very unpredictable and kept me guessing right up until the very end.

I found this a very refreshing story to read. Both the ideas and the creativity transpose well into the story. They keep the reader hooked in a fantastic bubble of action and plot line. The literary influence of Willard Price, in my opinion, helped to lead the author to deliver a slice of both factual and historical writing which again made the story shine out proud like a host of golden daffodils.   

I absolutely loved this book - it is a brilliant and enjoyable read. Full of old-style action, within a hi-tech world, it is hair raising (just like the cover!) You can check this out with the free app that you can download. This book has easily sky rocketed to being my favourite book of the year so far. It is an amazing start to a fantastic new series......... I'm lost now for any further words! 

An extract of the first chapter, will be also be available to read later this week. Thanks for reading all.

Published by Macmillan Children's Books; 25 April 2013

Book Review Classic: Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators In The Mystery of the Talking Skull By Robert Arthur

                                                   

I'm always keen to read new books from the past, especially a series of books that have passed me by. In this case I have Darren to thank from the Book Zone Blog for boys. I picked up this recommendation from one of his tweets a few weeks ago. This is a real hidden gem - I always find it interesting to look back and notice the difference. In this case, the time frame in which it was written is before the internet and the rapidly changing digital world. 

Book one was published in 1964 and, 43 books later, the very last book was published in 1987. Due to legal issues (with publishers and such) nothing has happened since 1990 and this may still remain the case in the future.

Whilst I would love to read more books in this series, I don't think this is going to be an easy task - some books appear to be out of print and some were published in the US as part of another series. However, I do feel slightly hopeful that I might be able to find another example as I found this book in a local charity shop. Therefore, I  think you know where I'll be looking and what I'll be doing in the next week or so!

Many different authors are featured in this series such as William Arden, Nick West and Robert Arthur (the creator). Robert penned many of the original ideas and edited most of the early books. In fact the book that I've just read was written by the master himself. It is a fantastic introduction to the books. It would appear that all of the authors have written their own introductions and epilogues. These were reportedly dictated by Hitchcock in the early books. 

This book entails a classic mystery for three boys to sort out. Centered around their uncle's scrapyard, an absolutely brillant idea, Jupiter Jones buys an unusual old-fashioned trunk in an auction. Looking through the contents of the trunk, they discover a talking skull which sets them off an epic adventure of sinister proportions. It's a classically well told story that every young boy, and even every old boy, would still love to read today.

This is an example of when books were based on pure imagination. Full of good creative ideas which have been told in a simplistic way. By the time I had finished this book, I felt about ten years old. Let the search commence for the next book. 

If you remember reading these books, then please leave a comment on the post. I would love to hear what you've got to say.