The Last Kids on Earth and the Monster Dimension

The Last Kids on Earth #9

by Max Brallier, Douglas Holgate (Illustrator)

The highly-anticipated ninth book in the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling series, with over ten million copies in print!

The last kids may have escaped the forbidden fortress by the skin of their teeth, but there isn't much to celebrate. Thrull has what he needs to complete the Tower, Rezzoch will most certainly come to Earth, and the world as they know it will cease to exist. Except Jack's Cosmic Hand is now even more powerful than he realized, and it might just be able to stop the inevitable from happening. To get the answers he seeks, he'll need to travel farther than he's ever been. He must go . . . to the monster dimension!

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Adventure, Childrens, Zombies, Horror, Dystopia

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2023

About the author

Max Brallier is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His books and series include The Last Kids on Earth, Eerie Elementary, Mister Shivers, Galactic Hot Dogs, and Can YOU Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? He is a writer and producer for Netflix's Emmy-award-winning adaptation of The Last Kids on Earth. Max lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. Visit him at MaxBrallier.com.

Reviews

[Robin Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably my least favourite so far. Great to see some characters return (briefly) and there were some decent revelations, but in the end it feels like we end up at the same spot as the end of book 8. Would have preferred the whole gang in the monster dimension. Quint also doesn't seem Quinty enough.

[XOX · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read. Jack got into a portal and Quint follows him.

They have an adventure. A road trip on a hand-taxi with Globlet. Before that point, they found humans being put in bubble, alive but sleeping.

So the adventure is how they go into the monster highways. They blended in by wearing six pairs of glasses. Kids stuff.

The question is, why Thrull is the bad guy now when he used to be the good guy.

And why the comic hand acting like it has a mind of its own.

Quint is being very supportive and seems they are having some fun.

4.5 stars read.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the ninth book in the series and I can’t wait for the tenth book!! Jack is sucked into a portal that takes him to the Monster Dimension. Quint and Goblet follow him, which leads to a bizarre adventure.

[Enya · Rating 3 out of 5]

hä sorry das buech hät mich eifach gnervt. What is happeningggg

[Niina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hirviöulottuvuus (WSOY 2024, suom. Aila Herronen) on jo yhdeksäs osa Max Brallierin kirjoittamista ja Douglas Holgaten kuvittamista Maailman viimeisten tyyppien seikkailuista maailmalopun jälkeisessä maailmassa ja tällä kertaa meininki on ällöttävämpää ja pelottavampaa kuin koskaan aikaisemmin.

"Kauhu ei kuitenkaan valitettavasti lopu tähän." (s. 225)

Jack Sullivan ystävineen on jo vuoden ajan selviytynyt zombien ja hirviöiden seassa. Onneksi osa hirviöistä on hyvisten puolella ja Jack pystyy kosmisella kädellään kontrolloimaan zombiarmeijaa - ainakin teoriassa, käden mukana kun ei tullut käyttöohjetta. Jack ja Quint pääsevät tutustumaan ulottuvuuteen, mistä hirviöt tulivat ja uudet miljööt ovat ihastuttavan iljettäviä. Lopun ajan merkit ovat ilmassa, siis tarinan lopun. Mutta vielä on luvassa ainakin yhden kirjan verran mähinää.

"Tie on täynnä hirviömäisten ajoneuvojen mätäneviä ruumiita. Vähän kuin ne hylätyt autot New Yorkissa. Rakennukset on sulaneet puoliksi kuin jäätelötötteröt kuumana kesäpäivänä. Ne kiljuu, kun me ajetaan ohi, ja mä muistan Skaelkan kertoneen, että monet rakennukset sen maailmassa on elossa." (s. 159)

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

The outer space stuff was very cool.

[Greg Barkham · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7

Really wanted more out of this book. :\

You can for sure tell Max is letting the graphics of this novel grow as he progresses - guts and gore and all that.

I have a theory that Quint in this dimension is NOT our ol' reliable Quint Baker. I also disliked how the book ended. Super weak.

[Nick Fillmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very great tale of monster fighting awesomeness. I recommend this book.

[ellie rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

ok so the first time i tried reading this, i got bored very quickly and gave up (mainly because i had just read the other 8 books within a week and wanted to read something else for once...)

BUT due to reading the graphic novel (which was goated btw) i suddenly felt the need to restart this book and get back on the grind.

so anyways; i have NO idea why i struggled so much with reading it the first time. this time around it was super easy and flowed really nicely (as all the other books in the series have so far) and the plot actually had me hooked.
i'm ashamed to admit that i had to jump back a bunch of times (even to older books at some point...) because i had forgotten SO MUCHHH like i KNOW i read june's wild flight, how did i forget that neon?? like existed???

the plot was great as always, characters also great (can't decide if i love or hate globlet now lowkey...) but i did miss june and dirk throughout the book :( especially because quint was SO WEIRD the whole time!!! what the hell is going on with himmmm!! why does he not care anymore rahhh

the ending killed me and the fact that i have to wait until NOVEMBER for the next book is killing me all over again... time to reread the whole series!!! and watch the show again for the 16th time!!!

(i'm actually watching it rn and let me tell you... when you've just read the book... and then
immediately watch the series... you can really tell how much BETTER the books are compared to the show.... it's really bugging me rn rahhh.... what happened to the character designs... what happened to my girl june.... what did they do to you... actually what did they do to ROVER....)

[Raphy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this series.I think this would have made five stars if it hadn’t been so short and had a cliffhanger. But overall it was a great book. I enjoyed the sense of action and the artwork. Also there was no cursing. And I could easily picture the scenes. I would however like it better if it had more monsters like rover.

[Kyden Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book, terrible ending

[Jj Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Towards the end it got better.. felt more like a side quest book then a last kid on earth story.. really looking forward to book 10..

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Fresh from their adventures in The Last Kids on Earth and the Forbidden Fortress Jack, Quint, and June are busy riding in the world's largest mall on the back of a Mallusk. They are on their way to the Tower, but are halted for a week by Thrull's army of skeletons. Even though Jack has the Cosmic Arm that will enable him to command Ghazt's army of zombies, he is struggling to understand how the control works. When Neon and Globlet show up, the kids are very glad, especially when they share the news that there are humans in a stadium in New York City. They travel there only to find that the humans are being kept in spheres, safe but imprisoned, and that the area around the city is devastated. They also see the Tower, which powers on. A door to another dimension opens, and Jack is sucked in. He has to fight Wracksaw and his goon platoon, and is knocked unconscious. Luckily, Quint and Globlet have followed him through the portal and save him. They all need to go to the Hidden City and find Shuggoth, but there are different rules and creatures in this new monsters dimension. They have to fight off Strayfurs, but snag a ride on a clumberthod, which is highly illegal. It doesn't help that Globlet steals the clumberthod's wallet! The group has all mannet of adventures on their way, but eventually have to face Wracksaw and Thrull. Stargrove is a big help, and Quint has been building a conjurer's canon, but is eventually attacked by masses of Wracksaw's rodents. The group realizes that Stargrove is undead, and creating more undead creatures. Luckily, Jack starts to understand how to operate the Cosmic Arm in order to control this army. Will Jack be able to get back to his own dimension in time to stop Thrull from bringing Rezzoch the Ancient, Devourer of Worlds back to Earth, thereby obliterating it? There's at least one more book to help answer these questions and complete this epic, dystopian saga.

The Last Kids on Earth series started in 2015, and has been a popular choice with young readers. There's lots of adventure, illustrations of a variety of monsters, and a host of spin offs, like a Netflix series, toys, a video game, and The Last Comics on Earth, a graphic novel version that includes brand new stories, which came out in April 2023. While many of the monsters are a bit on the goofy side, there is a decided feeling of fear and tension as well. Sure, the world may be ending and monsters may be attacking, but don't forget that all of the parents are out of the picture, so there's also some video game playing and forbidden snacks!

I have to admit that I had some trouble following the pell mell style of adventures, the onslaught of characters with quirky names, and the frenetic pace of traveling through other dimension on a variety on giant monsters, but my students seem to reread these frequently, so have no trouble keeping up with the adventures of Jack and his crew. The only problem with this series is that the paper-over-board covers wear out quickly from all of the rereading!

Readers who want somewhat goofy, action-packed adventures like Kloepfer's Zombie Chasers, Winnick's Hilo series, and Doom's Day Camp by Joshua Hauke will be thrilled to know that there will be at least one more book is this beloved series, because things are certainly not resolved at the end of this newest installment!

[Sophi ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finalmente, depois de quase quatro anos amando a série - depois de ver o filme em 2019, posteriormente a série em 2020/2021 e ter comprado o primeiro livro - a minha jornada para adquirir os livros principais chegou ao fim. Tenho todos na minha estante, lidas com muito carinho e participando de um fandom que eu mais me identifiquei entre tantas outras que participei. Como uma saga nem um pouco conhecida no Brasil pode me cativar tanto, não sei te dizer mas consigo descrever a minha felicidade de comprar o último livro da saga principal e perceber que conclui o meu objetivo q me coloquei com 13 anos. Falta só os quadrinhos das histórias da casa da árvore porém colecionei toda a saga principal.
Agora, eu com 17 anos, sinto a mesma felicidade e entusiasmo quando o autor anunciou o livro 10 e eu amo ver que eu - como criadora de conteúdo dessa saga maravilhosa - estou chegando e alcançando o público que também gosta. Esse é e sempre será o meu objetivo da conta quintstan.
Falando do livro, ele é bem curto porém o arco do Jack é bem trabalhado aqui. Vejo muita gente reclamando da June e Dirk sendo "jogados" de escanteio mas consigo até entender esse ponto. Esse é um momento de crescimento do Jack Sullivan, o garoto que acabou se tornando general dos mortos vivos e herdeiro de um poder que desconhece. Querendo ou não, ele precisa desse momento de redescoberta sobre si mesmo e se ele pode se tornar um monstro, e se vai se tornar igual ao Thrull.
O que mais me incomodou foi a participação da Globlet. Entendo que ela faz parte da dimensão monstruosa e que sim, ela ajudou demais Jack e Quint (sim, ele foi junto mas gostei de ver essa dupla de volta) mas acabou que ela mais atrapalhava do que ajudava, roubando coisas, mentindo pros dois que era procurada e mais outras coisas, invalidando os sentimentos e medos do Jack e acabou sendo bem babaca no final quando jogou na cara dele na hora que eles estão dentro do museu da batalha do Thrull (sim, esse escroto é considerado herói na dimensão) e ela ia roubar uma arma, Jack fica bravo pq eles estão passando por mais uma situação de vida ou morte e ela fala que entendia q aquilo era mais importante para ele do que a homenagem ao Thrull que matou o Bardle, melhor amigo monstro dele.
Achei essa parte muito insensível, já que o Bardle foi como uma figura paterna do Jack no livro 5. Se ela não tivesse sido chata e irresponsável algumas vezes, talvez teria gostado mais da inclusão dela.
Estou muito ansiosa para o livro 10 e que livro seja o estopim da saga!

[Gavin Hawkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was pretty good. Ever since I was in Elementary school (I'm in Highschool now and a freshman) I have loved this book series. I got this book not that long ago and I didn't start to read until that long ago. Usually, it's hard for me to sit down and get interested in a book, but this book series has always kept my interest. It has always made me wonder what's going to happen next with these characters. Okay now I have to start talking about the book.

It was cool how they brought the monster dimension into the book. I know some people have been wondering a little bit about how it looked. The way they set it up was pretty good because I would not have expected them to bring it in like that. It was also interesting with the ending of the book. I'm not going to lie, but it is very hard to not have spoilers on this because I want to talk about what happens in the book so much. I think it's cool how they brought back some characters from other books. Also, it's cool how they showed where their parents were.

Now to the book summary. Jack is slowly getting worried and realizing how powerful his Cosmic Hand really is. By what Ghazt said in the last book it could help save their whole dimension which is what all of them are striding for. In the last book Thrull finally got the rest of the plans for the almighty tower to bring the big bad Rezzoch into Jacks dimension, but Jack needs to learn how to harness his Cosmic Hand to help stop that from happening. When Jack saw an opening to get to the monster dimension, he took it because he knew that someone or something in there was his key to finding out how to get that hand to stop Rezzoch from coming over with his huge zombie army. In this whole book Jack and his friends get to see many old and new faces which some of them would have better not seeing again. It is killing me right now not to tell you some of the characters that come back because some of them where my favorite. I really think that you should read this book especially if you have read all the books (including the ones like June's Adventure) because there are many things in this book that you will love.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tower is finished and a portal to the Monster Dimension is open. The end is quickly coming. Jack wants to make sense of the weird vision he saw and Globlet thinks Shuggoth may be able to help him. So Jack and Dirk venture into the Monster Dimension with Globlet and try to find this Shuggoth to hopefully figure out how to stop the horrible end from coming.

Well, it is interesting to learn more about what the Monster Dimension is like. Jack and Dirk meet a whole host of weird and interesting creatures, some friendly, some not so much. Brallier really let his imagination loose on creating this new world. And progress is made in Jack figuring out how to use is arm to control zombies as well as Dirk leveling up his wand. And we learn Globlet is way more...yeah, can't tell you much without spoilers. We knew Globlet was crazy, but now we learn just how crazy. My guess is book 10 will be the big finale, but Brallier could draw things out to 12 books if he wanted.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Some battles with monsters, but most have weird abilities to regenerate and stuff. It is sometimes gross in gooey, slimy content but it seems more cartoon than realistic. A bad guy threatens to surgically modify Jack and has already done so to himself and others.
Ethnic diversity: Jack is White, Dirk is Black, and the others are a whole host of imaginary monster species.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: A bit of gross factor.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The series has become a bit unwieldy. I can't remember anyone beyond our four main characters, and I don't remember all of their arcs and stories. This one seems to crank up the returns on old enemies, old friends, and really rely on you remembering the last 8+ books with a pretty decent understanding of what happened and where it led.

I barely remember Bardle's death, which was a big moment in the series, but *shrug* that was a long time ago.

I'm glad we are back to things happening, the one with the vote was a slog, and at least it felt like our characters had agency and did something, as opposed to the one where they just stood there and watched the bad guys work.

Any sort of drama over a time crunch is a giant laughing stock. There is no hurry, the bad guys are truly in no rush to conquer the universe.

The connection with Thrull and Jack was interesting, but have we been worried about that before? Seems like that is a new one considering Jack has spent most of his time worried about his friends; I didn't realize him turning into Thrull was a concern.

We are mostly meandering. Even Quint seems to have lost a lot of charm.

They are milking this series for all it is worth, and it is starting to show. It's simply not as much fun as it once was.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 10-year-old grandson liked the ending of ‘Forbidden Fortress,’ vol. 8, so much that we bought ‘Monster Dimension’ on November 30, just days after it landed on bookstore shelves. Somehow, however, vol. 9 in the series didn’t hold him. The opening had a lot of resetting and the middle pages couldn’t get any purchase on my grandson’s attention to video games.

So here we are nearly a half a year later finishing the book on a cold day in spring while my now-11-year-old grandson is home sick, a captive audience.

About ten pages from the end, my grandson looked up and said, “They’re never going to get to Shuggoth before the end of the book.” Sure enough, on the next page Brallier wrote, “A quick conversation with Shuggoth. And then we’re done here” (275). We’ll believe it when we hear it.

Is what June calls a “cliff-hanger” really that or is it audience abuse (278)? During ‘Monster Dimension,’ Wracksaw is dispatched with Jack’s increased zombie-marshalling powers. Jack’s doppelgänger identity with Thrull is established. Did it really take 278 pages to do just that? Quint is less an effective nerd and thus less interesting. June and Dirk are MIA because they become the last of the last kids on earth after Jack and Quint get pulled into the title dimension along with Globlet who does her best to become Last Kids on Earth's version of Jar Jar Binks.

Fortunately, Brallier devoted enough to the character dynamics in previous books that we’ll probably read volume 10 to see if it makes good on the set up prior to volume 9.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

In fairness, there was a big gap from the time I read the book before this latest book so there were so many characters that just went over my head.

It got a little tiring after a while because, at some point, all the "bad guys" started to look the same, and there wasn't much refreshing of memories (The names are familiar but can't remember what happened to them in previous books.)

My son still read through it, but ...

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another great Last Kids on Earth book that I enjoyed with my 11 year-old son. The story was exciting and engaging. It was fun to see where the journey has taken these kids. I hope he writes the next book soon. My son and I will be waiting to purchase it. Thank you to my sister Lauren H from Long Island, New York for gifting us this special book.

[Daniel Pearse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack and Quint get sucked into the monster dimension and try and survive and find an oracle in order to figure out how to defeat the big bad. They get separated from June and Dirk who get left behind on Earth. We also find out where the other humans are. Great edition to the series, I thought this was the end but I am really happy this is still going.

[Dylan Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I didn't know what to rate it. Some parts are good, and some are not so good. It has a plot in the middle and then just throws it away.The first half was amazing, 5 stars and the second half 3 stars. Still recommend it well. it is but the best book in the series. It's actually 3.5

[Christa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow I missed this one coming out. I fell in love with this series when only the first book was out & I read it with my kid for a battle of the books competition. I have been a fan ever since & when a new book comes out, I eagerly get it from the library. Totally enjoyed this book & can't wait to hopefully get the newest one that just came out so I can continue the story.

[Elijah · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good book but, once they have introduced the idea it starts to get boring because, it feels like it has already happened. Don’t get me wrong the first 5 books are amazing but, I started losing interest around book 6.

[Christian Lenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was really good and I can' wait to read the nex't book !! My favorite charecter is Jack becuse he really good fighter and can lead an army of the undead now plus he went into this new dimesion in this book wich was really cool but he ran into some truble along the way.

[Emily A Freilino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always so much fun, especially reading along side my guy. I love having inside jokes with him and getting to see how the story progresses. Really missed June in this one but excited to hopefully get the gang back together in the next one! October can’t come soon enough!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly a filler book

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM

[Shanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! And what a cliffhanger!