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The Diaspora Trilogy #1
John Gone
Sixteen-year-old John has stumbled across an abandoned wristwatch half-buried in the sand behind his house. Curious, he places it on his wrist; to his surprise, it won’t come off. Suddenly, each day at 3:14 P.M. John begins to uncontrollably teleport around the world. He might materialize anywhere--and must do what he can to survive until 3:14 A.M. when the watch takes him home again.
When a scientist mysteriously trapped far below the surface of the Earth makes contact through a hologram in the watch's face, John learns that his travels will eventually kill him. Soon, he's faced with an impossible choice: continue to endanger his life by using the watch, or switch places with the scientist and risk losing his freedom forever.
When a scientist mysteriously trapped far below the surface of the Earth makes contact through a hologram in the watch's face, John learns that his travels will eventually kill him. Soon, he's faced with an impossible choice: continue to endanger his life by using the watch, or switch places with the scientist and risk losing his freedom forever.
480 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 22, 2011
21 people are currently reading
210 people want to read
About the author
Michael Kayatta
5 books11 followersA Canadian science fiction author known for weaving vivid worlds and thought-provoking narratives that challenge the boundaries of imagination. Based in the sprawling wilderness of British Columbia, he draws inspiration from the awe-inspiring landscapes and the mysteries of the cosmos.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
October 14, 2012
I consider this a decent 3 star book, however I had to take off another star due to a massive flaw. If a book about teleportation screws up the process of teleportation, it is a problem.
Without giving any spoilers, here is my issue with the teleportation in the book:
At 3:14 PM and 3:14 AM, John teleports to and from various places. These locations get further and further away from home each time. Unfortunately, when it is 3:14 PM in the United States, it is also 3:14PM wherever he teleports to. In one case, it was Egypt, which is likely a ~7 hour difference from where John started out. It makes sense that he would be in Egypt at 10:14PM after the teleportation. It would be dark and cold. Had the author not mentioned anything about the time of day, it would have worked fine. However, the author decided to focus on the time, stating something like, "The sun sets around 5pm in this part of Africa. It's going to get cold soon."
My first instinct was to defend the author, thinking that maybe there was a time travel element involved. However, he had a direct communication link with friends back home, which would require some sort of explanation as to how they could communicate in real time with somebody 7 hours in the past.
The author didn't put any effort into the teleportation aspect, which is the whole point of the book (or - shudder - didn't *know* that the Earth is round and it isn't 3:14 PM and sunny all over the world at the same time).
The book itself is written in a typical young adult way (one character is named Ronica (like Veronica, without the "Ve") and she loves to wear fuzzy animal ears), with a love scene thrown in near the end just for kicks. Why YA authors do this, I have no idea. This one involved two senior citizens, too. Thanks for that. I'm sure the YA readers out there were clamouring for it.
I read through the book quickly enough and enjoyed it as much as I could, despite the sloppy misunderstanding of how time works. I can't force myself to read the next two books in the series, though, as they will likely suffer from flat-Earth syndrome, as well.
Request to indie writers: pay something - ANYTHING - to an actual editor. This is more important than paying somebody to draw a pretty cover.
Without giving any spoilers, here is my issue with the teleportation in the book:
At 3:14 PM and 3:14 AM, John teleports to and from various places. These locations get further and further away from home each time. Unfortunately, when it is 3:14 PM in the United States, it is also 3:14PM wherever he teleports to. In one case, it was Egypt, which is likely a ~7 hour difference from where John started out. It makes sense that he would be in Egypt at 10:14PM after the teleportation. It would be dark and cold. Had the author not mentioned anything about the time of day, it would have worked fine. However, the author decided to focus on the time, stating something like, "The sun sets around 5pm in this part of Africa. It's going to get cold soon."
My first instinct was to defend the author, thinking that maybe there was a time travel element involved. However, he had a direct communication link with friends back home, which would require some sort of explanation as to how they could communicate in real time with somebody 7 hours in the past.
The author didn't put any effort into the teleportation aspect, which is the whole point of the book (or - shudder - didn't *know* that the Earth is round and it isn't 3:14 PM and sunny all over the world at the same time).
The book itself is written in a typical young adult way (one character is named Ronica (like Veronica, without the "Ve") and she loves to wear fuzzy animal ears), with a love scene thrown in near the end just for kicks. Why YA authors do this, I have no idea. This one involved two senior citizens, too. Thanks for that. I'm sure the YA readers out there were clamouring for it.
I read through the book quickly enough and enjoyed it as much as I could, despite the sloppy misunderstanding of how time works. I can't force myself to read the next two books in the series, though, as they will likely suffer from flat-Earth syndrome, as well.
Request to indie writers: pay something - ANYTHING - to an actual editor. This is more important than paying somebody to draw a pretty cover.
May 16, 2012
Teleportation is an idea that has always fascinated me. Imagine the possibilities - that nasty work commute is over in the blink of an eye, no more 'I-want-to-pull-my-own-eyeballs out' long-haul flights and popping to the shops becomes literal. But for John, teleportation comes about by accident and has potentially devastating consequences when he finds a watch on the beach near his home.
John Gone is a well-written and enjoyable YA science-fiction story. John is a likeable teenage boy who has a close relationship with his mother, but feels socially isolated growing up on a Floridian island surrounded by retirees. His friendship with Ronika, a kooky computer whiz is genuine yet complicated, and as the story progresses their growing friendship feels natural and not at all engineered. When John is teleported to new and unknown locations the action sequences had me hanging on every word.
The ideas behind the story are sold well, but I did find the science a bit too overwhelming for me personally. And although the story of the scientist, Felix, who invented the watch was interesting, it all felt a little bit too drawn out and at times I found myself struggling to understand exactly what was happening.
Overall, John Gone is an enjoyable read with an entertaining storyline, a believable main character, and some very intense science.
Read more of my reviews at The Aussie Zombie
John Gone is a well-written and enjoyable YA science-fiction story. John is a likeable teenage boy who has a close relationship with his mother, but feels socially isolated growing up on a Floridian island surrounded by retirees. His friendship with Ronika, a kooky computer whiz is genuine yet complicated, and as the story progresses their growing friendship feels natural and not at all engineered. When John is teleported to new and unknown locations the action sequences had me hanging on every word.
The ideas behind the story are sold well, but I did find the science a bit too overwhelming for me personally. And although the story of the scientist, Felix, who invented the watch was interesting, it all felt a little bit too drawn out and at times I found myself struggling to understand exactly what was happening.
Overall, John Gone is an enjoyable read with an entertaining storyline, a believable main character, and some very intense science.
Read more of my reviews at The Aussie Zombie
May 16, 2019
John Gone(The Diaspora Trilogy)by Michael Kayatta
John is a simple teen living on an island in the Florida Keys. He finds a strange watch, with leather strap, and does what any level headed teen might do and tries it on. This is no ordinary watch and once it seats itself on his wrist it refuses to let go. Having no time to worry about it, because his mother has set him up for a summer job (think internship at a computer company-except the company is anti computer and would probably do everything by string phone if they could work that out; but as it is being the 411 of a wiki-pedia replacement for old folks is hard enough without that whole ball of string thing.) John’s new boss has bought him a motorized scooter from which he can facilitate house calls as their instant messenger; but is that a low enough reason for John to kill his boss. Before we discuss the demise of Virgil, John's boss; we'll discuss Molly, John’s girlfriend.
We see Molly quickly when she surprises John while he's leaving for his job and she comes to announce she and her father are here to pick him up for their three week anniversary-they've been together a whole three weeks. John is distracted by the obsessive clingy watch and his mothers coaxing to get ready for her to take him to his new job; and though it might look like John might have overlooked this anniversary he covers well by insisting that Molly wait for the surprise he has for her that evening at six. Molly agrees and does what any girlfriend of three weeks might do when she calls Johns mom 'Mom'.
Seriously though; I liked this book despite some elements of the beginning and the fact that warming up to John takes a long time because he's just a bit self-centered and somewhat clueless about a number of things that are just not right about his life before everything goes crazy on him. I would love to give it five stars but for now 4 is being generous and I'll try to explain.
When John arrives to his semi-non-tech job his new boss Virgil sweeps him up and gives him the grand tour including a corkboard display map that he refers to as Face-board. And the reader realizes things are likely to enter the strange when John immediately notices that the spot where his home should be has been marked as a cemetery: Priscilla’s Prestigious Plots. But to add to the insanity Virgil informs John that he gets the scooter but is not allowed to have his cell phone or other electronics because they have to keep up the image and...you guessed it...Virgil insists John take off the clingy watch. This starts to border on comic when Virgil become so adamant that he brings out some large cutters when he finds the watch to be overly resistant to his attempts to help John remove it. Fortunately for John and his limbs sake this causes the watch to retaliate by shocking John's boss; unfortunately it causes cardiac arrest at the same time it seems to activate another feature of the watch and John passes out only to awaken in a restroom in Tallahassee Florida. Twelve hours later John is on a buss(loaded with other people) on his way home when the watch strikes again and returns him to the scene of the first crime where John finds he's being sought for questioning and suspicion of his ex-bosses murder. Later, because the watch knocks out everyone within a specific radius around John, he's is being sought for questioning on the deaths of people who were on the bus that crashed when the driver passed out.
There are reasons for all of this that comprise the world building of the science involved in the watch that is the result of a long story that actually is a bit more interesting than Johns story; but in fairness we have to share so we get the two stories together. Getting the two stories to converge is a somewhat convoluted plot that in many ways makes a lot of sense; but also includes a lot of side trips with John shifting back and forth across the world every twelve hours with each jump going a longer distance and John has no control. This could go on forever except that the watch is using John like a battery and each time he jumps it draws more energy because the distance is longer and it will soon be critical. There's a way out of this but when John discovers it, it sounds like the cure is worse than the disease. And this is not to mentioning the strange goons that also have watches and are chasing John when he goes on his jumps.
There is murder and mayhem afoot and if I have one quibble about the novel its all the side trips John takes that take up a large portion of the narrative and don't always seem to add that much to the story. It might be that, since this is a trilogy, these trips will make sense and figure in down the road, but presently they just look like something to bulk up the real story; which, as I said, is the more interesting story of how the watch comes about and the rather insane group of people involved in the development. And even though John has fell prey to the madness of the scientists it is often difficult for this reader to feel sympathy for him based on his own attitude, which means the only redeemable character, is one who gets a smaller billing in the story. But I should leave that for other readers to find and judge for themselves.
This is a neat yarn with plenty of good pacing even though it lacks in some character development it still is an interesting Science Fiction novel once the initial silliness is left behind. John could use a heavier dose of growth but keep in mind there are still two more novels for that to pan out.
J.L. Dobias
John is a simple teen living on an island in the Florida Keys. He finds a strange watch, with leather strap, and does what any level headed teen might do and tries it on. This is no ordinary watch and once it seats itself on his wrist it refuses to let go. Having no time to worry about it, because his mother has set him up for a summer job (think internship at a computer company-except the company is anti computer and would probably do everything by string phone if they could work that out; but as it is being the 411 of a wiki-pedia replacement for old folks is hard enough without that whole ball of string thing.) John’s new boss has bought him a motorized scooter from which he can facilitate house calls as their instant messenger; but is that a low enough reason for John to kill his boss. Before we discuss the demise of Virgil, John's boss; we'll discuss Molly, John’s girlfriend.
We see Molly quickly when she surprises John while he's leaving for his job and she comes to announce she and her father are here to pick him up for their three week anniversary-they've been together a whole three weeks. John is distracted by the obsessive clingy watch and his mothers coaxing to get ready for her to take him to his new job; and though it might look like John might have overlooked this anniversary he covers well by insisting that Molly wait for the surprise he has for her that evening at six. Molly agrees and does what any girlfriend of three weeks might do when she calls Johns mom 'Mom'.
Seriously though; I liked this book despite some elements of the beginning and the fact that warming up to John takes a long time because he's just a bit self-centered and somewhat clueless about a number of things that are just not right about his life before everything goes crazy on him. I would love to give it five stars but for now 4 is being generous and I'll try to explain.
When John arrives to his semi-non-tech job his new boss Virgil sweeps him up and gives him the grand tour including a corkboard display map that he refers to as Face-board. And the reader realizes things are likely to enter the strange when John immediately notices that the spot where his home should be has been marked as a cemetery: Priscilla’s Prestigious Plots. But to add to the insanity Virgil informs John that he gets the scooter but is not allowed to have his cell phone or other electronics because they have to keep up the image and...you guessed it...Virgil insists John take off the clingy watch. This starts to border on comic when Virgil become so adamant that he brings out some large cutters when he finds the watch to be overly resistant to his attempts to help John remove it. Fortunately for John and his limbs sake this causes the watch to retaliate by shocking John's boss; unfortunately it causes cardiac arrest at the same time it seems to activate another feature of the watch and John passes out only to awaken in a restroom in Tallahassee Florida. Twelve hours later John is on a buss(loaded with other people) on his way home when the watch strikes again and returns him to the scene of the first crime where John finds he's being sought for questioning and suspicion of his ex-bosses murder. Later, because the watch knocks out everyone within a specific radius around John, he's is being sought for questioning on the deaths of people who were on the bus that crashed when the driver passed out.
There are reasons for all of this that comprise the world building of the science involved in the watch that is the result of a long story that actually is a bit more interesting than Johns story; but in fairness we have to share so we get the two stories together. Getting the two stories to converge is a somewhat convoluted plot that in many ways makes a lot of sense; but also includes a lot of side trips with John shifting back and forth across the world every twelve hours with each jump going a longer distance and John has no control. This could go on forever except that the watch is using John like a battery and each time he jumps it draws more energy because the distance is longer and it will soon be critical. There's a way out of this but when John discovers it, it sounds like the cure is worse than the disease. And this is not to mentioning the strange goons that also have watches and are chasing John when he goes on his jumps.
There is murder and mayhem afoot and if I have one quibble about the novel its all the side trips John takes that take up a large portion of the narrative and don't always seem to add that much to the story. It might be that, since this is a trilogy, these trips will make sense and figure in down the road, but presently they just look like something to bulk up the real story; which, as I said, is the more interesting story of how the watch comes about and the rather insane group of people involved in the development. And even though John has fell prey to the madness of the scientists it is often difficult for this reader to feel sympathy for him based on his own attitude, which means the only redeemable character, is one who gets a smaller billing in the story. But I should leave that for other readers to find and judge for themselves.
This is a neat yarn with plenty of good pacing even though it lacks in some character development it still is an interesting Science Fiction novel once the initial silliness is left behind. John could use a heavier dose of growth but keep in mind there are still two more novels for that to pan out.
J.L. Dobias
August 31, 2012
This book is quite silly in its premise, but in the best kind of way. It was a ton of fun to read and I look forward to purchasing and reading the next few books in the trilogy. Highly recommended!
April 3, 2018
A different kind of SF story
A nice, different kind of SF story, involving transporting rather than space wars or apocalyptic disasters.
A 16 year old boy, John, finds a lost watch in the beach outside his Florida key home. When he straps it to his wrist, 2 things happen: he cannot take it off, and every day at 3:14 pm, he is transported some where in the world. Also, at 3:14 am, he is transported back home.
This, of course, leads to a series of adventures as John tries to figure out what is happening and, most importantly, how to make it stop.
Of course, it doesn't help that starting the 2nd day, he is followed by 2 thugs determined to retrieve the watch and, if possible, John along with it.
Aided by Ronika, a techie friend of John's, and the hologram of the scientist who invented the watch, John is able to survive and eventually get the watch off his wrist - but at what a price!
A nice, different kind of SF story, involving transporting rather than space wars or apocalyptic disasters.
A 16 year old boy, John, finds a lost watch in the beach outside his Florida key home. When he straps it to his wrist, 2 things happen: he cannot take it off, and every day at 3:14 pm, he is transported some where in the world. Also, at 3:14 am, he is transported back home.
This, of course, leads to a series of adventures as John tries to figure out what is happening and, most importantly, how to make it stop.
Of course, it doesn't help that starting the 2nd day, he is followed by 2 thugs determined to retrieve the watch and, if possible, John along with it.
Aided by Ronika, a techie friend of John's, and the hologram of the scientist who invented the watch, John is able to survive and eventually get the watch off his wrist - but at what a price!
October 21, 2020
I don't understand how this book doesn't have an average of 5 stars.
Yeah, it is not a children's book. It is dark and the characters are selfish and human. People die. A lot of people die. And life is not fair. That is why this book is so awesome.
Yeah, it is not a children's book. It is dark and the characters are selfish and human. People die. A lot of people die. And life is not fair. That is why this book is so awesome.
March 28, 2022
A completely unique storyline - something that’s often difficult to find.
January 21, 2025
One of Canada’s finest
September 2, 2012
I purchased this book for my kindle as part of a bundle of ebooks from http://StoryBundle.com.
A good story for young adults, and those older adults, too.
This book is the story of a sixteen-year-old that finds a watch on the beach. When he puts the watch on, he discovers he can not remove it. Before long, he finds himself being teleported each day at 3:14 p.m. After 12 hours in the new location, he is teleported back to the starting point again, at exactly 3:14 a.m. When John and his friend attempt to reset the time, he discovers the inventor, trapped in his laboratory. John must make a decision, to either switch places with the scientist or probably die.
A story written for young adults, that appeals to many of us that read science fiction. There is a touch of romance, as befits the age of the traveler. There is also violence and danger. There is the exotic, as John travels and learns about the watch. There is the weird, as the reader discovers where John lands each time, and his friend that attempts to help him. I did not want to put this book down. There is enough excitement to grab the reader and hang on to him/her.
The story is fast enough moving to maintain the readers interest, without going overboard on the obvious. There are enough lose ends by the time the reader finishes reading this to want the next volume. I ordered it, just because I need to find out what happens next. There is enough of an ending to allow the reader to take a break between stories, if desired.
This story was very entertaining for me, an almost 60-year-old man. I do enjoy science fiction. I do not enjoy romance novels much. I want a hint of reality in my books, something to believe might be true some day. It definitely helps if the story is based on current events around the world. I can readily recommend this book. I would, though, order the next two books in the series before getting to the end of this one. That way, the reader will be able to jump right into the next volume, and be up-to-date on the story.
A good story for young adults, and those older adults, too.
This book is the story of a sixteen-year-old that finds a watch on the beach. When he puts the watch on, he discovers he can not remove it. Before long, he finds himself being teleported each day at 3:14 p.m. After 12 hours in the new location, he is teleported back to the starting point again, at exactly 3:14 a.m. When John and his friend attempt to reset the time, he discovers the inventor, trapped in his laboratory. John must make a decision, to either switch places with the scientist or probably die.
A story written for young adults, that appeals to many of us that read science fiction. There is a touch of romance, as befits the age of the traveler. There is also violence and danger. There is the exotic, as John travels and learns about the watch. There is the weird, as the reader discovers where John lands each time, and his friend that attempts to help him. I did not want to put this book down. There is enough excitement to grab the reader and hang on to him/her.
The story is fast enough moving to maintain the readers interest, without going overboard on the obvious. There are enough lose ends by the time the reader finishes reading this to want the next volume. I ordered it, just because I need to find out what happens next. There is enough of an ending to allow the reader to take a break between stories, if desired.
This story was very entertaining for me, an almost 60-year-old man. I do enjoy science fiction. I do not enjoy romance novels much. I want a hint of reality in my books, something to believe might be true some day. It definitely helps if the story is based on current events around the world. I can readily recommend this book. I would, though, order the next two books in the series before getting to the end of this one. That way, the reader will be able to jump right into the next volume, and be up-to-date on the story.
October 18, 2012
I'm usually the kind of guy that reads thick, heavy books and skips over lighter fare. More kinds of ephemeral writing usually bores me and is a chore to get through. John Gone, however, genuinely surprised me with its witty, well-written story packed with solid sci-fi ideas and clever characters.
It's Young Adult fiction in form only, much in the way that Pixar movies are kids cartoons in form only. The characters are fully-formed, believable human beings who develop (or are revealed in) arcs which fit inside the narrative perfectly. At times, it has a light, humorous tone with witty dialog that can truly snap, but it's not afraid to get serious and stern-faced when it has too.
All the complaints that I usually have with this genre are well-addressed by Mr. Kayatta. The novel feels like an over-stuffed chair of ideas. It's full of clever little concepts and wonderful bit-characters to sink yourself into. There's a heart and charm at the center of John Gone that makes it a delightful read.
There certainly are a few rough spots, but they rarely slow things down. The first chapter in particular seemed almost manic in pacing, with the central plot device being introduced before we almost know the character or the setting. But after that, it hardly matters and everything flows at a page-turning clip. Especially for being a self-produced ebook, this kind of quality is almost unheard of.
It's Young Adult fiction in form only, much in the way that Pixar movies are kids cartoons in form only. The characters are fully-formed, believable human beings who develop (or are revealed in) arcs which fit inside the narrative perfectly. At times, it has a light, humorous tone with witty dialog that can truly snap, but it's not afraid to get serious and stern-faced when it has too.
All the complaints that I usually have with this genre are well-addressed by Mr. Kayatta. The novel feels like an over-stuffed chair of ideas. It's full of clever little concepts and wonderful bit-characters to sink yourself into. There's a heart and charm at the center of John Gone that makes it a delightful read.
There certainly are a few rough spots, but they rarely slow things down. The first chapter in particular seemed almost manic in pacing, with the central plot device being introduced before we almost know the character or the setting. But after that, it hardly matters and everything flows at a page-turning clip. Especially for being a self-produced ebook, this kind of quality is almost unheard of.
July 15, 2013
Mmmmmmmmmmm!
Not so sure about this one.
It definitely needs a damn good proof read, lots of spelling and grammatical errors that put you right off the pace of the story, IMHO.
The story of a teenage boy that finds a quantum displacement generator (Teleporter) built to resemble a watch is a great idea but most of the events that follow are not so hot.
A lot of totally unbelievable reactions from the characters when confronted with the events occurring to (and around) them.
For instance when John arrives in France at a family reunion (not his) and the bad guys show up and basically massacre everyone, the girl John has only just met doesn't seem to mind and to top it all, takes his virginity!!
I know this is a science fiction/fantasy story but still it needs to be a bit more realistic in the emotional reactions to its characters otherwise it just descends into crappy amateur fanfiction.
This is just one of the many implausible events that stopped me from raving about this otherwise good book, I don't think that I will be following John on any more travels.
Not so sure about this one.
It definitely needs a damn good proof read, lots of spelling and grammatical errors that put you right off the pace of the story, IMHO.
The story of a teenage boy that finds a quantum displacement generator (Teleporter) built to resemble a watch is a great idea but most of the events that follow are not so hot.
A lot of totally unbelievable reactions from the characters when confronted with the events occurring to (and around) them.
For instance when John arrives in France at a family reunion (not his) and the bad guys show up and basically massacre everyone, the girl John has only just met doesn't seem to mind and to top it all, takes his virginity!!
I know this is a science fiction/fantasy story but still it needs to be a bit more realistic in the emotional reactions to its characters otherwise it just descends into crappy amateur fanfiction.
This is just one of the many implausible events that stopped me from raving about this otherwise good book, I don't think that I will be following John on any more travels.
September 13, 2012
Αξιόλογη πρώτη προσπάθεια για τον Kayatta: ένα βιβλίο που χαίρομαι που διάβασα.
Ο Τζόνι, έφηβος και γκίκουλας, ανακαλύπτει ένα φαινομενικά μαγικό ρολόι στην παραλία: "κλειδώνει" επάνω στο χέρι του και αρνείται να βγει. Όταν το νέο του αφεντικό δοκιμάζει να το αφαιρέσει, το ρολόι τον σκοτώνει με ηλεκτροσόκ [!]. Κατόπιν, μέσα από μια σειρά κβαντικών τηλεμεταφορών, ο Τζόνι μεταφέρεται σε διάφορες τουαλέτες διαφόρων κρατών, μάχεται μια σατανική εταιρεία που εκμεταλλεύεται επιστήμονες και τους μπουντρουμιάζει, αποκτά για παρέα του το ολόγραμμα του επιστήμονα που παρήγαγε την πηγή ενέργειας του ρολογίου, ένα ρομποτάκι και μια εξίσου geeky κοπέλα, πηδάει μια Γαλλίδα, χαϊδεύει μια κατσίκα στην Αίγυπτο, κινδυνεύει να πεθάνει, και... Γενικά, κάμποσες λεπτομέρειες κάνουν την ιστορία διασκεδαστική, η πλοκή είναι σφιχτή και έντονη και το βιβλίο κυλάει ευχάριστα.
Ο Kayatta βρίσκεται στα πρώτα του βήματα, αφήνει πολλά σημεία "ανοιχτά" και δεν προκαλεί ζήλια με την γραφή του, αλλά είναι ειλικρινής και δημιουργικός. Προτείνεται, λοιπόν, σε λάτρεις της science fiction και σε κάθε γκικιό εκεί έξω.
Ο Τζόνι, έφηβος και γκίκουλας, ανακαλύπτει ένα φαινομενικά μαγικό ρολόι στην παραλία: "κλειδώνει" επάνω στο χέρι του και αρνείται να βγει. Όταν το νέο του αφεντικό δοκιμάζει να το αφαιρέσει, το ρολόι τον σκοτώνει με ηλεκτροσόκ [!]. Κατόπιν, μέσα από μια σειρά κβαντικών τηλεμεταφορών, ο Τζόνι μεταφέρεται σε διάφορες τουαλέτες διαφόρων κρατών, μάχεται μια σατανική εταιρεία που εκμεταλλεύεται επιστήμονες και τους μπουντρουμιάζει, αποκτά για παρέα του το ολόγραμμα του επιστήμονα που παρήγαγε την πηγή ενέργειας του ρολογίου, ένα ρομποτάκι και μια εξίσου geeky κοπέλα, πηδάει μια Γαλλίδα, χαϊδεύει μια κατσίκα στην Αίγυπτο, κινδυνεύει να πεθάνει, και... Γενικά, κάμποσες λεπτομέρειες κάνουν την ιστορία διασκεδαστική, η πλοκή είναι σφιχτή και έντονη και το βιβλίο κυλάει ευχάριστα.
Ο Kayatta βρίσκεται στα πρώτα του βήματα, αφήνει πολλά σημεία "ανοιχτά" και δεν προκαλεί ζήλια με την γραφή του, αλλά είναι ειλικρινής και δημιουργικός. Προτείνεται, λοιπόν, σε λάτρεις της science fiction και σε κάθε γκικιό εκεί έξω.
September 4, 2012
Not a bad read. There's a bit of a teen-romance angle that never quite gets off the ground, some solid action with what I'd actually call a surprising amount of brutal violence considering this seems like YA title, and some interesting SF elements. The plot is fairly straightforward adventure stuff, not a lot of twists or intrigue, but the themes are mature. I suppose one of the points the author is trying to make (and although he's obviously early in his career, it's an admirable point with some nuance to it) is that when we're wronged, we look for guilt, but sometimes a guilty party isn't really easy to spot. Like I said, it's a straightforward adventure but the morality examined is not. It's not about good vs. bad, it's about what choices someone would make when placed in incredibly difficult situations. Editing is not strong, but I got this in that StoryBundle SF set so the cost came to maybe a buck. Generally recommended.
August 31, 2012
If the second in the series is better than the first, I might upgrade my rating from the two stars "it was ok" to the three stars "liked it."
I like to support independent authors, but I still have a reasonably high standard I feel should be demanded and this book just didn't quite meet it, on many levels. First of all, it needs some professional editing to fix (mostly grammatical) mistakes. Secondly, there are some non-trivial plot holes; there is a possibility that the worst of them will be acceptably explained in the second novel, though.
I like to support independent authors, but I still have a reasonably high standard I feel should be demanded and this book just didn't quite meet it, on many levels. First of all, it needs some professional editing to fix (mostly grammatical) mistakes. Secondly, there are some non-trivial plot holes; there is a possibility that the worst of them will be acceptably explained in the second novel, though.
October 2, 2012
Got this as part of the story bundle. It was an interesting book. I found its attitude towards some of the things that happen somewhat bothersome.
Some people have described it as a YA novel, but while the protagonist is a teenager, the things he's involved in are a bit too dark, and the attitude a bit too nihilistic that I would not be comfortable giving it to a young teen.
I liked the sequel better.
Some people have described it as a YA novel, but while the protagonist is a teenager, the things he's involved in are a bit too dark, and the attitude a bit too nihilistic that I would not be comfortable giving it to a young teen.
I liked the sequel better.
September 14, 2012
John Gone is a young-adult science fiction thriller, complete with big faceless corporate bad guys, confused teenage protaganist, hot-girlfriend-vs-nerdy-girlfriend, tragic family loss, etc. Not a bad read at all, but not what I'd call ground-breaking. Enjoyable enough to make me interested in reading the next one in the series, but I don't think it'll be on my re-read list any time soon.
July 14, 2013
A refreshingly new story idea with good character development, paced such that you find out more about them through flashbacks that help explain their actions and motivations while still allowing for a sense of mystery and ambiguity. Looking forward to seeing where the story goes in book 2, Missing Signals.
March 27, 2014
This was a fun read to the kids. John's adventure with the Diaspora watch was entertaining as he discovered a solution to fix the watch and discovered who he was as a person. While it could have been written a bit better overall it was an enjoyable book that had the kids clambering for me to read the second part.
August 20, 2012
Interesting story, but one niggling flaw I had with the book was that it didn't account for timezones when he jumped further away. Oh, and the evil corporation seems to be too inept at catching teenagers.
August 29, 2012
Too weird for me.
September 1, 2012
This was my first book I read from the bundle of ebooks from storybundle.com. It was a very good fantasy / sci-fi read
September 17, 2012
Midly entertaining, but not blow me away good. I won't read the other books in the series. Sorry. :(
September 11, 2012
This. This is how you write stuff that has to do with teleportation/time travel. Although this one doesn't have any time travelling.
October 17, 2012
This review has been removed due to Amazon's purchase of Goodreads.
November 11, 2013
Loved it!
September 15, 2016
Teenage love story, murder mystery, science fiction, alternate reality?
Exactly what is this story other than very good.
Exactly what is this story other than very good.
March 3, 2013
decent enough, left me wanting more from the characters
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