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The Road to Extinction #1
At the End
Night 1: 12 billion taken. Day 1: Confusion. Night 2: 13 billion taken. Day 2: Panic. Night 3: 13 billion taken. Day 3: The fight for survival begins. In 2048, the human population borders 39 billion after the termination of the birth control industry, and the realities of overcrowding have sunken into the minds of the world, until billions mysteriously go missing. In the wake of civilization’s collapse, a trio of teenage gamers from Washington struggle to endure. Maggy, a strong-willed intellectual, leads Darrel and Félix, two shy geeks, on an expedition down the west coast, as they try to determine the source of humanity’s downfall. A YA post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller.
228 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2012
43 people are currently reading
1114 people want to read
About the author
John Hennessy
9 books43 followersBorn in 1988, John Hennessy grew up in Yakima, WA, graduated from Western Washington in 2011, and now lives in Portland, OR, with his wife, a chubby kitty, and two budgies who sing to him while he writes. His love for fantasy started at a young age with Warcraft II, and it quickly bloomed into much more as he was introduced to different writers like Garth Nix, Orson Scott Card, and Michael Crichton. When he’s not writing, he’s usually reading, biking, running, watching basketball, or some show on Netflix.
To learn more about John and his books, visit: www.johnhennessy.net
To learn more about John and his books, visit: www.johnhennessy.net
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
February 15, 2015
My full review: http://coffeecookiesandchilipeppers.b...
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book free from the author via a Librarything Member Giveaway, in return for an honest review.
As you can see from the description above, this looks like an interesting premise, so I was pleased to receive a free copy from the author. I am partial to good Sci-Fi and I like the way that post-apocalyptic novels can explore society and show character development. However, this book left me confused, frustrated and disappointed.
We begin the book in the point of view of Darrel and we are told almost at once that the cause of the ‘mysterious’ disappearances is not all that mysterious: huge space craft arrived over all the major cities on Earth the day before the first people vanished. Although Darrel has no idea how they were taken, it is obvious that they have been beamed aboard the space ships or vaporized by the aliens. It seems that Darrel was spared from his parents’ fate by some foil that he had wrapped around his bed many years earlier. This seemed a pretty groan-worthy plot device, but was confirmed when both of Darrel’s equally nerdy friends were the sole survivors in their households. They team up, wrap themselves in foil, and set off to find out where everyone has gone. They discover that some humans have been left behind so that they can be hunted by the aliens who look like six-legged lions, which the team nickname ‘alions’. After surviving a massive explosion and several car crashes I could no longer suspend my disbelief and stopped reading, so I do not know if the trio managed to defeat the alien menace, although I imagine that they do.
From the description I was expecting a lot more mystery and tension than the book delivered. This could have been resolved by placing the teens in a more rural setting and disabling the television and radio systems so that they had no idea what was going on. We would then have had a much more gradual and tense discovery of the aliens and their intentions. I also struggled with the teens surviving incidents that would have left them all badly injured and incapable of continuing their journey. These seemed unnecessary, placing them in situations of jeopardy through their own stupidity and requiring unbelievable and overly dramatic escapes. Surviving one such incident can be ascribed to amazingly good luck, but a series of them reduces my capacity to believe in the characters if they are supposed to be normal humans in a normal universe.
The main characters were fairly cliché and two dimensional, with the obligatory love triangle to add to the mix. They made some very odd decisions, such as driving towards the giant alien ship hovering over Seattle, rather than driving away from it or at least going around the city. Although I can understand that teenagers might not make the best decisions in this kind of situation, they did seem to behave in a manner that was inconsistent with their supposed intelligence. Their dialogue was very irritating, with an overuse of the terms ‘bromigo / bramiga’. Also, it was also unfortunate that the author chose to use both the characters’ names and nicknames without any explanation of who was who, so I was often confused about who was being spoken to or about.
I also think that it was a serious misstep to change the point of view from one chapter to the next. This would have worked well if the author was not using a first person narrative. At the beginning of the second chapter it took me several pages to work out whose head I was in. This was very confusing and seemed mostly a way of telling us what Maggy was feeling about Felix, which could have been done far more successfully by showing us through her dialogue and actions.
The book was not without imagination. I was intrigued by some of the technology that the author envisioned for this future Earth, which was mostly powered by solar technology. I loved the idea that the solar-powered cars were too quiet to be safe and so they had to emit fake car noises to stop people being run over. However, the solar power did act as a plot device as well because it allowed electrical appliances to work, making survival a whole lot easier than it would be in the same situation today. We were told that Maggy had metallic eyes and I wanted to know more about that and why she had them. Were they necessary because she was blind or had damaged her normal eyes, or were they some sort of upgrade? Were they a fairly typical thing or extremely rare and unusual?
In short, this book was not really what the description promised, and that is always disappointing to discover. If a story promises a mystery I expect to read a far bit of it before I discover what the mystery actually is, otherwise I lose the sense of suspense. If I am sold a story of teens struggling to endure, I expect them to do just that: I do not expect them to simply walk down to the local megamart and stock up on everything they need and suffer no hardships at all because everything is solar powered. Throw in some not very well developed characters that do highly improbable things and I am not likely to care what happens to them.
Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of this book free from the author via a Librarything Member Giveaway, in return for an honest review.
As you can see from the description above, this looks like an interesting premise, so I was pleased to receive a free copy from the author. I am partial to good Sci-Fi and I like the way that post-apocalyptic novels can explore society and show character development. However, this book left me confused, frustrated and disappointed.
We begin the book in the point of view of Darrel and we are told almost at once that the cause of the ‘mysterious’ disappearances is not all that mysterious: huge space craft arrived over all the major cities on Earth the day before the first people vanished. Although Darrel has no idea how they were taken, it is obvious that they have been beamed aboard the space ships or vaporized by the aliens. It seems that Darrel was spared from his parents’ fate by some foil that he had wrapped around his bed many years earlier. This seemed a pretty groan-worthy plot device, but was confirmed when both of Darrel’s equally nerdy friends were the sole survivors in their households. They team up, wrap themselves in foil, and set off to find out where everyone has gone. They discover that some humans have been left behind so that they can be hunted by the aliens who look like six-legged lions, which the team nickname ‘alions’. After surviving a massive explosion and several car crashes I could no longer suspend my disbelief and stopped reading, so I do not know if the trio managed to defeat the alien menace, although I imagine that they do.
From the description I was expecting a lot more mystery and tension than the book delivered. This could have been resolved by placing the teens in a more rural setting and disabling the television and radio systems so that they had no idea what was going on. We would then have had a much more gradual and tense discovery of the aliens and their intentions. I also struggled with the teens surviving incidents that would have left them all badly injured and incapable of continuing their journey. These seemed unnecessary, placing them in situations of jeopardy through their own stupidity and requiring unbelievable and overly dramatic escapes. Surviving one such incident can be ascribed to amazingly good luck, but a series of them reduces my capacity to believe in the characters if they are supposed to be normal humans in a normal universe.
The main characters were fairly cliché and two dimensional, with the obligatory love triangle to add to the mix. They made some very odd decisions, such as driving towards the giant alien ship hovering over Seattle, rather than driving away from it or at least going around the city. Although I can understand that teenagers might not make the best decisions in this kind of situation, they did seem to behave in a manner that was inconsistent with their supposed intelligence. Their dialogue was very irritating, with an overuse of the terms ‘bromigo / bramiga’. Also, it was also unfortunate that the author chose to use both the characters’ names and nicknames without any explanation of who was who, so I was often confused about who was being spoken to or about.
I also think that it was a serious misstep to change the point of view from one chapter to the next. This would have worked well if the author was not using a first person narrative. At the beginning of the second chapter it took me several pages to work out whose head I was in. This was very confusing and seemed mostly a way of telling us what Maggy was feeling about Felix, which could have been done far more successfully by showing us through her dialogue and actions.
The book was not without imagination. I was intrigued by some of the technology that the author envisioned for this future Earth, which was mostly powered by solar technology. I loved the idea that the solar-powered cars were too quiet to be safe and so they had to emit fake car noises to stop people being run over. However, the solar power did act as a plot device as well because it allowed electrical appliances to work, making survival a whole lot easier than it would be in the same situation today. We were told that Maggy had metallic eyes and I wanted to know more about that and why she had them. Were they necessary because she was blind or had damaged her normal eyes, or were they some sort of upgrade? Were they a fairly typical thing or extremely rare and unusual?
In short, this book was not really what the description promised, and that is always disappointing to discover. If a story promises a mystery I expect to read a far bit of it before I discover what the mystery actually is, otherwise I lose the sense of suspense. If I am sold a story of teens struggling to endure, I expect them to do just that: I do not expect them to simply walk down to the local megamart and stock up on everything they need and suffer no hardships at all because everything is solar powered. Throw in some not very well developed characters that do highly improbable things and I am not likely to care what happens to them.
September 6, 2012
Let me preface this review by saying that I didn't hate this book. In fact, its a quick read that has some interesting moments that I didn't completely forget about right after I was done reading. And I finished it, so there's that.
The opening of the book is strong. Hennessy creates a pretty cool apocalypse concept of many people simply going missing. I also liked that the story begins during-apocalypse versus post-apocalypse. The main character Darrel (is likeable enough, although perhaps a little too "woe is me" at the beginning of the book. I'm all for letting a character develop into the hero of the story, but it was a little cliché just how pitiful Darrel is when you first meet him. Hard to root for a guy who's so boring. Darrel is also known as Jelly...one of the most ridiculous nicknames for a character ever, matched only by the equally stupid "Tortilla" for someone of Latin American origin. You could blame Maggy, the character who gives these boys their nicknames, but I'm putting that responsibility on the author.
Speaking of clichés, all of the clichés were a bit much. It was utterly predictable actually. The teen protagonists set off of their own to battle the alions (yes, you read that right. Aliens who look like lions: Alions), there is mention of a potential love triangle, they get into some trouble and the military shows up to save the day. Only the military can't save the day on their own, but require the help of four teenagers whose only qualifications for doing any sort of military operations are that they play videogames. Sigh.
The only surprising aspects of the story, once it got going, were the parts of the story that really didn't work because they were so out of place. About a third of the way through the book someone the plot turns into an episode of Criminal Minds were two small girls are kidnapped by the child molester/serial killer type and the teens have to go save them. It was strange.
Redeeming qualities are that in the end it wasn't a love triangle, the action is pretty good actually, and the initial concept was strong. I just don't know if I can get beyond the silliness to recommend it.
The opening of the book is strong. Hennessy creates a pretty cool apocalypse concept of many people simply going missing. I also liked that the story begins during-apocalypse versus post-apocalypse. The main character Darrel (is likeable enough, although perhaps a little too "woe is me" at the beginning of the book. I'm all for letting a character develop into the hero of the story, but it was a little cliché just how pitiful Darrel is when you first meet him. Hard to root for a guy who's so boring. Darrel is also known as Jelly...one of the most ridiculous nicknames for a character ever, matched only by the equally stupid "Tortilla" for someone of Latin American origin. You could blame Maggy, the character who gives these boys their nicknames, but I'm putting that responsibility on the author.
Speaking of clichés, all of the clichés were a bit much. It was utterly predictable actually. The teen protagonists set off of their own to battle the alions (yes, you read that right. Aliens who look like lions: Alions), there is mention of a potential love triangle, they get into some trouble and the military shows up to save the day. Only the military can't save the day on their own, but require the help of four teenagers whose only qualifications for doing any sort of military operations are that they play videogames. Sigh.
The only surprising aspects of the story, once it got going, were the parts of the story that really didn't work because they were so out of place. About a third of the way through the book someone the plot turns into an episode of Criminal Minds were two small girls are kidnapped by the child molester/serial killer type and the teens have to go save them. It was strange.
Redeeming qualities are that in the end it wasn't a love triangle, the action is pretty good actually, and the initial concept was strong. I just don't know if I can get beyond the silliness to recommend it.
March 1, 2013
I thought this book had a lot of potential, but really feel like there were a lot of holes. I finally finished it last night, but honestly, I made it half way through the book with the daily thought of "It's going to get better." And then, by the time I was half done, I felt like I had to finish to justify the time I had invested. There were a lot of great ideas and I really liked some of the plot twists, but almost none were really explored or fleshed out. I thought it was strange that the main trio were all saved by aluminum foil but others survived too with only an explanation that the other survivors were left as a source of prey/training for the hunter "alions". Although it was an explanation for the others' survival, I felt it was a weak explanation thrown in to show why more than three people survived. The author also seems to rely a lot on future technology (e.g. neo-plastic) to save our heroes regularly. I think the book could have been improved by fleshing out some of the better ideas and explaining some of the things he only touched on (apparently the whole planet has asthma?). The characters were likeable, but I did get extremely tired of the constant jumping around of names and by 3/4 of the way through I mentally punched the characters in the face each time they said "bromigo". When I finished the book, I was notified that this book was book 1 in a trilogy (I overlooked that when I started). The book seemed to finish as well as can be expected and I am not quite sure where the author plans to go with a trilogy. I rarely enjoy trilogies but I am a big fan of dystopian fiction. I may check out the next book to see if any of the plot issues are resolved as I think the author has potential.
March 10, 2013
This book had so much potential. I wanted to like it. I really did. Unfortunately, I just didn't like it at all. The idea is great, but the writing and flow need a lot of work.
I would have liked a lot more information on the world before everyone disappeared. The description mentions the soaring population and the outlawing of birth control. I would have liked to know why and how this happened; it sounded so interesting.
I've read several reviews that said the beginning of the book was slow. Yes, in a way it was, but the beginning was really the only part I liked. Once Darrel and Felix met up with Maggy, things went way downhill for me. I struggled to finish, and if I didn't have the nice personality quirk of having to finish books I start, I probably would not have finished this book after Maggy came into the picture. I didn't like her a bit. The nicknames were cruel, and in Felix's case, racist. She seemed very annoying in general. I also, honestly, just despised the "alion" thing and how she pushed it on everyone they met. I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe a 17 year old would correct a military official on something so superficial, and even more unbelievable that these adults would just accept this and not wave her away like the pest she is. I mentally corrected it to alien.
Darrel is really not much better. The...sound...he makes all the time is just annoying. Every time the group stops for a few minutes, it seems he's eating or thinking about eating or wanting to eat...it gets old, fast. And really, I don't need to know every time he wets himself. Ick. I get that they're scared, but some things are better left unsaid. Also, the "bromigo" thing was just irritating as all get out. Apparently, when I got the book, it had been edited to remove 75% of the bromigo/bramiga's. I am so thankful for this. The 25% that were left were still WAY too many, though. I found myself rolling my eyes eventually.
The main characters are supposed to be 16/17. If this had not been stated outright, I would have put their ages at about 13. They act younger and more immature than their ages. This really took away from the story for me.
Honestly, there were very few characters I liked in this book, and one of those few ended up dead. Though, since the book is VERY "video game"-y, I can say I seriously would not have been surprised one bit if he had re-spawned. Seriously. "Xxxxxx screamed as the massive paws and powerful jaws of the feline extraterrestrial ripped into his body. Our faces went slack with shock as we simultaneously wet our pants. I reached for my inhaler, sucking on it like a crackhead trying to get as much of the last hit as possible. We sighed in relief a few minutes later, when he re-spawned several yards away." *not an actual quote, though had it been, I wouldn't have been even mildly surprised* I'm not even joking: it wouldn't have shocked me one bit.
The book really does read like a sub-par first-person shooter. Maybe this would make a decent video game; I don't know. What I do know is, in my opinion, it does not make a very good book. The ending seemed completely unrealistic and rushed. It seemed like it needed a little more thought, a little more time.
I won't harp on the spelling/grammar issues. Others have done this already and probably did a better job than I would. It did get a little distracting, though. The book needs more editing, to catch those mistakes.
Again, I really wanted to like this book. The summary made it sound so interesting. However, the writing style was just not something I enjoy, and the plot went in an entirely different direction than I'd expected, and unfortunately, I did not like that direction.
Oh, important information: I am WAY out of the target demographic for this book. I read it because I just flat-out love YA dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction. Perhaps if I were still in junior high I would enjoy it. Younger readers may enjoy it; I, however, did not.
I would have liked a lot more information on the world before everyone disappeared. The description mentions the soaring population and the outlawing of birth control. I would have liked to know why and how this happened; it sounded so interesting.
I've read several reviews that said the beginning of the book was slow. Yes, in a way it was, but the beginning was really the only part I liked. Once Darrel and Felix met up with Maggy, things went way downhill for me. I struggled to finish, and if I didn't have the nice personality quirk of having to finish books I start, I probably would not have finished this book after Maggy came into the picture. I didn't like her a bit. The nicknames were cruel, and in Felix's case, racist. She seemed very annoying in general. I also, honestly, just despised the "alion" thing and how she pushed it on everyone they met. I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe a 17 year old would correct a military official on something so superficial, and even more unbelievable that these adults would just accept this and not wave her away like the pest she is. I mentally corrected it to alien.
Darrel is really not much better. The...sound...he makes all the time is just annoying. Every time the group stops for a few minutes, it seems he's eating or thinking about eating or wanting to eat...it gets old, fast. And really, I don't need to know every time he wets himself. Ick. I get that they're scared, but some things are better left unsaid. Also, the "bromigo" thing was just irritating as all get out. Apparently, when I got the book, it had been edited to remove 75% of the bromigo/bramiga's. I am so thankful for this. The 25% that were left were still WAY too many, though. I found myself rolling my eyes eventually.
The main characters are supposed to be 16/17. If this had not been stated outright, I would have put their ages at about 13. They act younger and more immature than their ages. This really took away from the story for me.
Honestly, there were very few characters I liked in this book, and one of those few ended up dead. Though, since the book is VERY "video game"-y, I can say I seriously would not have been surprised one bit if he had re-spawned. Seriously. "Xxxxxx screamed as the massive paws and powerful jaws of the feline extraterrestrial ripped into his body. Our faces went slack with shock as we simultaneously wet our pants. I reached for my inhaler, sucking on it like a crackhead trying to get as much of the last hit as possible. We sighed in relief a few minutes later, when he re-spawned several yards away." *not an actual quote, though had it been, I wouldn't have been even mildly surprised* I'm not even joking: it wouldn't have shocked me one bit.
The book really does read like a sub-par first-person shooter. Maybe this would make a decent video game; I don't know. What I do know is, in my opinion, it does not make a very good book. The ending seemed completely unrealistic and rushed. It seemed like it needed a little more thought, a little more time.
I won't harp on the spelling/grammar issues. Others have done this already and probably did a better job than I would. It did get a little distracting, though. The book needs more editing, to catch those mistakes.
Again, I really wanted to like this book. The summary made it sound so interesting. However, the writing style was just not something I enjoy, and the plot went in an entirely different direction than I'd expected, and unfortunately, I did not like that direction.
Oh, important information: I am WAY out of the target demographic for this book. I read it because I just flat-out love YA dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction. Perhaps if I were still in junior high I would enjoy it. Younger readers may enjoy it; I, however, did not.
October 5, 2012
*Spoiler Stuff*
This book had some potential. One of the biggest issues with the book are the characters. Their interactions with each other doesn't seem normal for a group of 17 year old nerd/geek teens. They are constantly using the word 'Melted,' but it never really sticks out like the word 'cool' would. The way they act, such as blowing up houses, wrecking cars, and everything else they do or talk about, seems more typical of preteens. If the main character's ages were scaled back a few years, this book would have been more believable and caused me less pain.
I also take issue with the way Maggey talks down to Felix and Darrel. She never treats them like people, but as boys that oogle over gamer gals. Plus, she calles Felix, a person of South American origin, 'Tortilla,' and calls Darrel, a chubby/fat guy, 'Jelly.' This is so insulting and demeaning, but doesn't even get 'resolved' until the very end of the book for one paragraph. Even then, its just Darrel standing up to Maggey and not Felix ever being annoyed with being called Tortilla. I would get it if it was just a nickname sometimes and Maggey usually calls him Felix when in private or lovedovey moments, but she calls him Tortilla even then. Its degrading and absurd. Her namecalling should have been addressed somewhere in the middle of the book as Darrel fell for Penelope and Jacob was still alive.
By the way, there are so many side characters that are more fun than these kids. Felix doesn't really have much of a personality and gets overshadowed by Jacob, Burnhammer, and other characters. I wish the twins had more of a presence, because it seemed like there could have been an interesting story with them.
My advice to the author would be to scrape Maggey's POV, introduce a Felix POV, and resolve Maggey's antisocial tendencies earlier than the very last page.
This book had some potential. One of the biggest issues with the book are the characters. Their interactions with each other doesn't seem normal for a group of 17 year old nerd/geek teens. They are constantly using the word 'Melted,' but it never really sticks out like the word 'cool' would. The way they act, such as blowing up houses, wrecking cars, and everything else they do or talk about, seems more typical of preteens. If the main character's ages were scaled back a few years, this book would have been more believable and caused me less pain.
I also take issue with the way Maggey talks down to Felix and Darrel. She never treats them like people, but as boys that oogle over gamer gals. Plus, she calles Felix, a person of South American origin, 'Tortilla,' and calls Darrel, a chubby/fat guy, 'Jelly.' This is so insulting and demeaning, but doesn't even get 'resolved' until the very end of the book for one paragraph. Even then, its just Darrel standing up to Maggey and not Felix ever being annoyed with being called Tortilla. I would get it if it was just a nickname sometimes and Maggey usually calls him Felix when in private or lovedovey moments, but she calls him Tortilla even then. Its degrading and absurd. Her namecalling should have been addressed somewhere in the middle of the book as Darrel fell for Penelope and Jacob was still alive.
By the way, there are so many side characters that are more fun than these kids. Felix doesn't really have much of a personality and gets overshadowed by Jacob, Burnhammer, and other characters. I wish the twins had more of a presence, because it seemed like there could have been an interesting story with them.
My advice to the author would be to scrape Maggey's POV, introduce a Felix POV, and resolve Maggey's antisocial tendencies earlier than the very last page.
August 14, 2012
Disclaimer: I was made to read this book. Here is my take on the book: it had potential. I really felt like I was reading a first draft, one that if given to a traditional publisher would have returned with a laundry list of needed fixes.
I agree with the summation that it was a rocky and slow start, but when action picked up it got better. Well, just a little better. I hated the main characters, they were two dimensional based upon poorly understood cultural stereotypes. I don't care that it was an Asian girl calling the Hispanic boy Tortilla, it's still offensive. The action was a bit stale, and the dialogue just plain stupid. Who repeats what they just said EVERY TIME THE TALK? It's bad when the side characters destined for death get a more positive response than the main three. And the twin sisters? I kept forgetting they were there until they had to speak, or cry, or whine, or get moved or cared for...blah blah blah. And the Alions, dang, what a waste. They stole 38 Billion people in three days and you expect me to believe they still did such stupid things over and over?
There were a few things I did like about the book, surprising I know. I really liked his take on technology of the future, and his knowledge about guns. I think he should have focused on this sort of thing more. And the Alions are actually a cool concept, and I would have loved to learn more about them other than that they roared and galloped. What about this other war they were in? I felt no time was spent on this except to explain why they came to Earth.
All in all, this is a quick read. But my most important thought: It is NOT a post-apocalyptic book, it is an alien invasion.
I agree with the summation that it was a rocky and slow start, but when action picked up it got better. Well, just a little better. I hated the main characters, they were two dimensional based upon poorly understood cultural stereotypes. I don't care that it was an Asian girl calling the Hispanic boy Tortilla, it's still offensive. The action was a bit stale, and the dialogue just plain stupid. Who repeats what they just said EVERY TIME THE TALK? It's bad when the side characters destined for death get a more positive response than the main three. And the twin sisters? I kept forgetting they were there until they had to speak, or cry, or whine, or get moved or cared for...blah blah blah. And the Alions, dang, what a waste. They stole 38 Billion people in three days and you expect me to believe they still did such stupid things over and over?
There were a few things I did like about the book, surprising I know. I really liked his take on technology of the future, and his knowledge about guns. I think he should have focused on this sort of thing more. And the Alions are actually a cool concept, and I would have loved to learn more about them other than that they roared and galloped. What about this other war they were in? I felt no time was spent on this except to explain why they came to Earth.
All in all, this is a quick read. But my most important thought: It is NOT a post-apocalyptic book, it is an alien invasion.
August 12, 2012
I was given this book with the intention that I would review it within a month. When I read the premise, it looked like a really cool read, so I was excited to delve into it. I've been reading in some of the other reviews that the first couple of pages were the slowest to get through and I agree with that only in the perception that it was a confusing opening to the novel, just from the whole losing track of time thing. Other than that, I felt like the first few pages were similar in tone to Colson Whitehead's, Zone One.
Getting right down to it, the concepts in the story were really fresh. It wasn't a recycled sic-fi/ post apocalyptic story. I also liked that we see a majority of the characters actually getting in on some alien exterminating action, and that no one was relegated to gender stereotypes. Other than the very first few pages at the beginning, the plot moved along relatively quickly.
Something that genuinely bugged me throughout the book was Darrell's constant "Urhming." I realize that he is supposed to be asthmatic and has to clear his throat a lot, but the constant use of it really breaks up the dialogue making it very choppy. Another point of contention is there wasn't very much character development. We see Darrell mature and grow, but people like Penelope and Felix become kind of static and just there in my opinion,
Overall, I did like the book. It was an entertaining read, but not earth shattering. The author shows a lot of promise and I am excited to see what will come next from him.
Getting right down to it, the concepts in the story were really fresh. It wasn't a recycled sic-fi/ post apocalyptic story. I also liked that we see a majority of the characters actually getting in on some alien exterminating action, and that no one was relegated to gender stereotypes. Other than the very first few pages at the beginning, the plot moved along relatively quickly.
Something that genuinely bugged me throughout the book was Darrell's constant "Urhming." I realize that he is supposed to be asthmatic and has to clear his throat a lot, but the constant use of it really breaks up the dialogue making it very choppy. Another point of contention is there wasn't very much character development. We see Darrell mature and grow, but people like Penelope and Felix become kind of static and just there in my opinion,
Overall, I did like the book. It was an entertaining read, but not earth shattering. The author shows a lot of promise and I am excited to see what will come next from him.
August 13, 2012
I got this one as part of the Librarything Member Giveaway program, and I am not going to be able to ever count this one as finished. I tried, I really really tried. But after several months (!) of trying to get through this one, I really just had to give in and admit defeat. I generally love apocalyptic, end of the world type books, but I really had trouble getting into this one. I really couldn't get a firm grip on any of the characters, and things kept pulling me out of the story to go "really? seriously?" every few pages.
June 25, 2012
Bromigo and Bramiga... if you can take reading that every other sentence, the story is well written and a positive delight to read. I couldn't put it down and read it in less than a day. As far as post-apocalyptic nightmares go, this one has some great creatures (no zombies) and many surprises throughout.
August 23, 2012
This is a book review based on a free copy from the author. Many thanks go to the author for this generosity.
The same review is also available in my blog:
http://bookunderthesun.blogspot.sg/20...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's just face it, for whatever warped reasons which infest our minds, we are drawn to stories of apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic scenes, envisioning a future where the end had come and gone, with the survivors living in a world where necessities of life had to be reevaluated and priorities reset in order to get through the days. Hennessy's At The End fits into that genre perfectly, and is comparable with apocalyptic blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, although it lacks the grandeur.
One-liner intro: An intense, adrenaline-rushing apocalyptic page-turner following the footsteps of Gordon Freeman of Half-Life 2.
Best part: Danger lurks every corner, there is no lack of adrenaline pumping events; good portrayal of characters made them recognizable; smooth switch of style between different character's narrative made it recognizable; no ridiculously drawn-out love scenes; futuristic yet believable technologies with well thought-out details.
Not-so-best part: An ending that is a little too bizarre; the usually unbelievable case where a few untrained teenagers outdo trained soldiers.
The End is Nigh
With the abolishment of birth control, human population bordered at 39 billion at 2048. All this meant naught when billions start to disappear mysteriously without a trace. 13 billion were taken on the first day, another 13 billion the next. A trio of surviving teenage gamers found themselves fighting for their lives in the wake of civilization's collapse, experiencing first hand whatever they had been playing for real. As Maggi, Darrel and Felix tried to escape whatever pursue and horror at their tails, they may stumble across the truth behind the disappearance and they may not be able to do anything about it. Or even to survive it.
Narrating The End
The relationship between the flow, pace and plot of the narrative is so similar to certain post-apocalyptic first-person shooter, especially with gamers being protagonists, that I couldn't help but link them together. One which comes to mind in particular is the once popular first-person shooting game, Half-Life 2, for the reason that the encounters within both stories shared much similarities. For avid gamers who also happen to be readers of this novel, At The End might substitute for a novelization of those fast-paced post-apocalypse games.
At The End is narrated through the eyes of Darrel and Maggi, with each telling his/her own piece in alternating chapters. Hennessy did good here in that both characters are written in different styles to suit the appropriate personalities. The difference is obvious yet smooth enough that the reader could immediately observe whose shoes they are in and fall into that pace with the protagonist's thoughts and emotions without breaking their stride and wondering halfway into the chapter who they are following.
From encounters with the third kind to saving themselves from humanity itself, the flow of At The End is truly exhilarating, adrenaline-pumping and fast-paced. At every corner danger lurks, threatening to pick off one of them with every turn of the event. Even when they succeeded in overcoming the latest barrier or looming danger in their progress, a moment of rest is when the next one strikes, allowing them almost no chance for a breath.
The deus ex machina of the story of how they saved the day in the end is a little too lame for me though, bordering on unbelievable. To give Hennessy credit through, is the fact that the story buildup is so smooth and the pace so intense that flipping past the page become natural. I only notice the lameness of the ending in hindsight when I tried to reread and recall for this review. Maybe it was just me, who played too many games with great storyline and greater endings that I set too high a target for the concluding chapters of At The End.
The People At The End
Hennessy's most believable characters remain the two protagonists whose eyes the readers share. Their reaction, fear, love, relief, and sense of insecurity hit deep with each word. Each moment could be their last. every step and observation readying them for action. All these emotions are shared through their words, bringing the reader along in their trail through the dangers of the world.
The involvement of love scenes is almost a norm for Young Adult genre, even with the world crumbling around them. Nothing could beat the hormones of growing adolescents. Yet I am grateful that Hennessy did not draw these scenes out ridiculously, but only involve them enough to show that there are relationships developing between characters, a relationship of which influenced their thoughts and actions as well as the choice they choose to take. The world is crumbling around them, and they should be busy surviving anyway.
On the down side, a problem which plagued Hennessy's story is the fact that the few teenagers survived far better than trained military personnel. One could tag that fact to luck, as it was frequently pointed out when this was raised in the story. With gamers who spent more time online and physical disadvantageous going to know how to aim and shoot straight the first time they get their hands on arms, the trick just got a little too old for me.
The World At The End
Being an engineer, it is hard for me not to notice the envisioned technology in At The End. I would say that Hennessy did his homework or is just a fan of technology that he created believable technology that may be in 2048.
Electrical vehicles which could run indefinitely with the right infrastructure, weapons which runs recoil-less by transferring the impact to other directions, solar-power collecting arrays from space... These are not alien to us yet as an engineer I could see that these are not that far-fetched as well. Certain engineering aspects are well thought out, like the case of a silent electric vehicle engine being a boon yet will endanger pedestrians since they won't be aware of a vehicle coming.
Such attention to the finer details of future technology puts Hennessy and At The End higher on my score list. Most sci-fi novels may like to create alien technologies with explanation that put it firmly in the realm of "science fiction", such as the well-used hyperdrive and force field. Hennessy's creation in the story made the world more believable, painting a fictional world that could well be true.
The End At The End
At The End may not be the best apocalypse novel out there, but it sure scores above average in my scale. For a Young Adult novel, I would say it is doing very good by introducing elements such as believable and detailed futuristic technology which some adult novels should have incorporated. With such action and pace, it sure is an intense page-turner, guiding my hands past page after page to try to figure out what could happen next. And waiting for the death that may rain on the world at the end.
The same review is also available in my blog:
http://bookunderthesun.blogspot.sg/20...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's just face it, for whatever warped reasons which infest our minds, we are drawn to stories of apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic scenes, envisioning a future where the end had come and gone, with the survivors living in a world where necessities of life had to be reevaluated and priorities reset in order to get through the days. Hennessy's At The End fits into that genre perfectly, and is comparable with apocalyptic blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow and 2012, although it lacks the grandeur.
One-liner intro: An intense, adrenaline-rushing apocalyptic page-turner following the footsteps of Gordon Freeman of Half-Life 2.
Best part: Danger lurks every corner, there is no lack of adrenaline pumping events; good portrayal of characters made them recognizable; smooth switch of style between different character's narrative made it recognizable; no ridiculously drawn-out love scenes; futuristic yet believable technologies with well thought-out details.
Not-so-best part: An ending that is a little too bizarre; the usually unbelievable case where a few untrained teenagers outdo trained soldiers.
The End is Nigh
With the abolishment of birth control, human population bordered at 39 billion at 2048. All this meant naught when billions start to disappear mysteriously without a trace. 13 billion were taken on the first day, another 13 billion the next. A trio of surviving teenage gamers found themselves fighting for their lives in the wake of civilization's collapse, experiencing first hand whatever they had been playing for real. As Maggi, Darrel and Felix tried to escape whatever pursue and horror at their tails, they may stumble across the truth behind the disappearance and they may not be able to do anything about it. Or even to survive it.
Narrating The End
The relationship between the flow, pace and plot of the narrative is so similar to certain post-apocalyptic first-person shooter, especially with gamers being protagonists, that I couldn't help but link them together. One which comes to mind in particular is the once popular first-person shooting game, Half-Life 2, for the reason that the encounters within both stories shared much similarities. For avid gamers who also happen to be readers of this novel, At The End might substitute for a novelization of those fast-paced post-apocalypse games.
At The End is narrated through the eyes of Darrel and Maggi, with each telling his/her own piece in alternating chapters. Hennessy did good here in that both characters are written in different styles to suit the appropriate personalities. The difference is obvious yet smooth enough that the reader could immediately observe whose shoes they are in and fall into that pace with the protagonist's thoughts and emotions without breaking their stride and wondering halfway into the chapter who they are following.
From encounters with the third kind to saving themselves from humanity itself, the flow of At The End is truly exhilarating, adrenaline-pumping and fast-paced. At every corner danger lurks, threatening to pick off one of them with every turn of the event. Even when they succeeded in overcoming the latest barrier or looming danger in their progress, a moment of rest is when the next one strikes, allowing them almost no chance for a breath.
The deus ex machina of the story of how they saved the day in the end is a little too lame for me though, bordering on unbelievable. To give Hennessy credit through, is the fact that the story buildup is so smooth and the pace so intense that flipping past the page become natural. I only notice the lameness of the ending in hindsight when I tried to reread and recall for this review. Maybe it was just me, who played too many games with great storyline and greater endings that I set too high a target for the concluding chapters of At The End.
The People At The End
Hennessy's most believable characters remain the two protagonists whose eyes the readers share. Their reaction, fear, love, relief, and sense of insecurity hit deep with each word. Each moment could be their last. every step and observation readying them for action. All these emotions are shared through their words, bringing the reader along in their trail through the dangers of the world.
The involvement of love scenes is almost a norm for Young Adult genre, even with the world crumbling around them. Nothing could beat the hormones of growing adolescents. Yet I am grateful that Hennessy did not draw these scenes out ridiculously, but only involve them enough to show that there are relationships developing between characters, a relationship of which influenced their thoughts and actions as well as the choice they choose to take. The world is crumbling around them, and they should be busy surviving anyway.
On the down side, a problem which plagued Hennessy's story is the fact that the few teenagers survived far better than trained military personnel. One could tag that fact to luck, as it was frequently pointed out when this was raised in the story. With gamers who spent more time online and physical disadvantageous going to know how to aim and shoot straight the first time they get their hands on arms, the trick just got a little too old for me.
The World At The End
Being an engineer, it is hard for me not to notice the envisioned technology in At The End. I would say that Hennessy did his homework or is just a fan of technology that he created believable technology that may be in 2048.
Electrical vehicles which could run indefinitely with the right infrastructure, weapons which runs recoil-less by transferring the impact to other directions, solar-power collecting arrays from space... These are not alien to us yet as an engineer I could see that these are not that far-fetched as well. Certain engineering aspects are well thought out, like the case of a silent electric vehicle engine being a boon yet will endanger pedestrians since they won't be aware of a vehicle coming.
Such attention to the finer details of future technology puts Hennessy and At The End higher on my score list. Most sci-fi novels may like to create alien technologies with explanation that put it firmly in the realm of "science fiction", such as the well-used hyperdrive and force field. Hennessy's creation in the story made the world more believable, painting a fictional world that could well be true.
The End At The End
At The End may not be the best apocalypse novel out there, but it sure scores above average in my scale. For a Young Adult novel, I would say it is doing very good by introducing elements such as believable and detailed futuristic technology which some adult novels should have incorporated. With such action and pace, it sure is an intense page-turner, guiding my hands past page after page to try to figure out what could happen next. And waiting for the death that may rain on the world at the end.
August 1, 2019
This is a pretty quick and entertaining read that's aimed at the young adult market (it would appear), as such the main characters are teenagers and you've got a bucket load of young adult novel tropes to go along with the story.
First though, what it about? Well, aliens, rather, as the book calls them alions. That's right aliens shaped like lions - so they're dubbed by the teenagers to be alions. These alions have abducted 99% of the worlds population and are now slowly hunting the stragglers, the teenagers are within this straggler group. This is their story.
Trope wise though, we've the classic boy-girl-boy love triangle where boy who pines for girl is crushed whilst trying not to be crushed when he finds out his friend has paired up with girl; but never fear for trope 2 comes along to save the day . Sandwiched between this is the classic, never mind the military has been over run and is losing the battle, a handful of teenagers with world class military training gained from player video games comes along to save the day.
So in closing, if you're after a realistic and intellectually stimulating literary work this isn't the book for you, but if you're up for a far fetched yet entertaining romp through the country side of America whilst fighting lion shaped aliens then maybe it is for you.
First though, what it about? Well, aliens, rather, as the book calls them alions. That's right aliens shaped like lions - so they're dubbed by the teenagers to be alions. These alions have abducted 99% of the worlds population and are now slowly hunting the stragglers, the teenagers are within this straggler group. This is their story.
Trope wise though, we've the classic boy-girl-boy love triangle where boy who pines for girl is crushed whilst trying not to be crushed when he finds out his friend has paired up with girl; but never fear for trope 2 comes along to save the day . Sandwiched between this is the classic, never mind the military has been over run and is losing the battle, a handful of teenagers with world class military training gained from player video games comes along to save the day.
So in closing, if you're after a realistic and intellectually stimulating literary work this isn't the book for you, but if you're up for a far fetched yet entertaining romp through the country side of America whilst fighting lion shaped aliens then maybe it is for you.
November 6, 2019
Yikes
Such high hopes, such a let down. This book is like reading a bad script written for the syfi network. Horrible horrible continuity, bland characters, plot holes galore, all that's missing is Charlie Sheen
Such high hopes, such a let down. This book is like reading a bad script written for the syfi network. Horrible horrible continuity, bland characters, plot holes galore, all that's missing is Charlie Sheen
November 24, 2013
What would you do when 12 billion people on Earth suddenly disappeared overnight, including your parents, friends and family? How would you feel when you’re the only one left on your street. One of only a few survivors left in your once overpopulated city? Panic, confusion, fear. These were all themes that arose in At The End, and rightly so.
The story opens up from the perspective of Darrel, who seems to be going through his normal routine until a wild lion bursts through his back door. He freezes at the sight, thinking his death was imminent and that all the time he’d spent playing video games never prepared him for this moment. At the last minute, his best friend Felix comes in and kills the beast. They both start to figure out that the reason behind their survival might have something to do with having tin foil placed over their beds as a joke, and sets off to find their friend Maggy, who was also in on the joke.
Having had experience of war and fighting through their video games, the three are smart enough to have some survival instincts. Especially Maggy, also known as IQ, in the group. They gathered as many weapons as they could before heading out to find a friend who’s dad worked for NASA or a similar organisation I believe. I was impressed that they had such a solid plan, especially in the conditions they were thrown in, one that could evidently save the world. But their journey down the West coast towards this destination was not a smooth one at all. In this alien invasion, all three along with the companions they made on the way, were tested to the brink of insanity all in an effort to survive.
The novel alternates between Maggy and Darrel (aka. Jelly). Both have very distinct personalities and voices and I enjoyed reading through both their perspectives. Maggy is a strong-willed character, who is extremely smart but find it hard to express her emotions easily. She is brave and knows how to take charge, stepping up as the leader most of the time. Darrel on the other hand was an anxious boy that relied heavily on his asthma puffers in order to stem his panic attacks. I found him to be an extremely weak character, and this weakness was evident in a lot of his actions throughout the book. But his confidence does build, and he has a few heroic moments as well. I really enjoyed Hennessy’s portrayal of these characters as he shows that women are not weak, and men can be the ones that require saving sometimes. This theme isn’t only highlighted through Maggy and Darrel, but through the other supporting characters such as Penelope.
The plot was extremely fast paced and I found myself on the edge of my seat from the very start. It was intense following the characters around, being left as much in the dark as them and feeling the same fear and panic through every step they took. There was a lot of death – understandably – and you feel the loss each time because you’re rooting so much for these people. For your fellow human beings, even though they’re fictional.
The mystery of the alions (aliens who look like lions) kept me on the edge of my seat till the end as well. It was horrible not knowing what their motive was, and why they decided to basically wipe out Earth entirely. These creatures were far more advanced than anyone imagined, and their attack brought the world to their knees. This was mainly due to their ability in making billions of people disappear without a trace, and no one being able to figure out how.
One of the first issues I found was the tin foil explanation – or lack-there-of. I find it hard to believe that could be the sole reason for the survivors. How did all their parents disappear from the same house, while they survived thanks to some tin foil placed above their bed. This was definitely not explained properly as the military base was also explained to be safe due to having been made with tin foil in the walls, yet it was still attacked regardless later on.
The second issue is just minor, but it was annoying. Towards the end of the novel, one of the soldiers (Albonese I think) who was described to be female was suddenly referred to as male. This really halted the flow of the story, especially when I was so close to the end, as I had to flip back to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. And I wasn’t. I understand this is just a small issue, but it really impacts on the flow, and that’s never a good thing.
But all-in-all, At The End was a very good portrayal of the end of the world and an alien invasion. The characters were all drawn out realistically and the plot was nice and fast, just the way I like it. I actually really like when the novel ends, so I’m not sure how I feel about this only being the first book in a series. I really want them all to have their happy ending, but only time will tell whether I’m brave enough to go through this rollercoaster of emotions again.
Many thanks to the author John Hennessy for kindly providing an electronic copy of his book in exchange for an honest review.
- - - -
The story opens up from the perspective of Darrel, who seems to be going through his normal routine until a wild lion bursts through his back door. He freezes at the sight, thinking his death was imminent and that all the time he’d spent playing video games never prepared him for this moment. At the last minute, his best friend Felix comes in and kills the beast. They both start to figure out that the reason behind their survival might have something to do with having tin foil placed over their beds as a joke, and sets off to find their friend Maggy, who was also in on the joke.
Having had experience of war and fighting through their video games, the three are smart enough to have some survival instincts. Especially Maggy, also known as IQ, in the group. They gathered as many weapons as they could before heading out to find a friend who’s dad worked for NASA or a similar organisation I believe. I was impressed that they had such a solid plan, especially in the conditions they were thrown in, one that could evidently save the world. But their journey down the West coast towards this destination was not a smooth one at all. In this alien invasion, all three along with the companions they made on the way, were tested to the brink of insanity all in an effort to survive.
The novel alternates between Maggy and Darrel (aka. Jelly). Both have very distinct personalities and voices and I enjoyed reading through both their perspectives. Maggy is a strong-willed character, who is extremely smart but find it hard to express her emotions easily. She is brave and knows how to take charge, stepping up as the leader most of the time. Darrel on the other hand was an anxious boy that relied heavily on his asthma puffers in order to stem his panic attacks. I found him to be an extremely weak character, and this weakness was evident in a lot of his actions throughout the book. But his confidence does build, and he has a few heroic moments as well. I really enjoyed Hennessy’s portrayal of these characters as he shows that women are not weak, and men can be the ones that require saving sometimes. This theme isn’t only highlighted through Maggy and Darrel, but through the other supporting characters such as Penelope.
The plot was extremely fast paced and I found myself on the edge of my seat from the very start. It was intense following the characters around, being left as much in the dark as them and feeling the same fear and panic through every step they took. There was a lot of death – understandably – and you feel the loss each time because you’re rooting so much for these people. For your fellow human beings, even though they’re fictional.
The mystery of the alions (aliens who look like lions) kept me on the edge of my seat till the end as well. It was horrible not knowing what their motive was, and why they decided to basically wipe out Earth entirely. These creatures were far more advanced than anyone imagined, and their attack brought the world to their knees. This was mainly due to their ability in making billions of people disappear without a trace, and no one being able to figure out how.
One of the first issues I found was the tin foil explanation – or lack-there-of. I find it hard to believe that could be the sole reason for the survivors. How did all their parents disappear from the same house, while they survived thanks to some tin foil placed above their bed. This was definitely not explained properly as the military base was also explained to be safe due to having been made with tin foil in the walls, yet it was still attacked regardless later on.
The second issue is just minor, but it was annoying. Towards the end of the novel, one of the soldiers (Albonese I think) who was described to be female was suddenly referred to as male. This really halted the flow of the story, especially when I was so close to the end, as I had to flip back to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. And I wasn’t. I understand this is just a small issue, but it really impacts on the flow, and that’s never a good thing.
But all-in-all, At The End was a very good portrayal of the end of the world and an alien invasion. The characters were all drawn out realistically and the plot was nice and fast, just the way I like it. I actually really like when the novel ends, so I’m not sure how I feel about this only being the first book in a series. I really want them all to have their happy ending, but only time will tell whether I’m brave enough to go through this rollercoaster of emotions again.
Many thanks to the author John Hennessy for kindly providing an electronic copy of his book in exchange for an honest review.
- - - -
This review also appears on my blog Thoughts By J!
November 1, 2012
I was lucky enough to be gifted a copy of this book, but that will not have any impact upon my review. . .
I enjoyed this book, which surprised me a bit, as I am no longer into the super scary (of anything). I must have OD'ed on scary as a child reading Steven King's books under the blankets with a flashlight - when I was eight.
Anyhow - the author does a nice reveal of the plot to the reader through the main characters' experiences. Imagine waking up one day to an almost totally silent world - no cars, planes, televisions, radios, birds, barking dogs, and most importantly, no other people. This is what happens to the first of the main characters we meet. The three of them are a close-knit group, with some of the usual dynamics that happen in any mixed-gender trio of teenagers. The introduction of that side-line helps keep this story grounded in reality, or at least enough reality that the story remains more believable than it might otherwise have been.
Our intrepid trio - IQ, Tortilla, and Jelly (their nicknames for each other) wake to find the world as they knew it gone. So they go in search of each other. Once they've connected they search for an older friend with a telescope, as they want to see if there really is an alien invasion.
Soon the four of them, as they force Jacob to come with them rather than leaving him behind to just give up. And he is a good person to have join them since he has a large stash of weaponry. And they all have some type of experience with guns, being hard-core gamers.
The story moves along at a decent clip, and the main characters are soon joined by another rag-tag group of kids who turn out to be siblings (all in their teens or younger). The new kids consist of an older brother, Mike, and slightly younger sister, Penelope, plus Amanda & Jane, the two much younger sisters. During one of their first nights as a combined party the group dynamics shift again, as one of the teens is killed. Suddenly they are a core group of four teens - two girls and two boys, and all heterosexual. This causes old & new relationships to adjust accordingly, and continues to add a realistic tone to the story.
Not only do the kids battle mightily just to survive, they soon discover that the aliens aren't the only ones they need to avoid if they want to survive. Their many different adventures are interesting, as are the characters themselves. They are well developed, though the two youngest have the least 'face' time, at least in this book.
IQ comes up with a great name for the aliens early on, which I won't name to avoid any spoilers! There was a very fascinating point when everyone learns how the invasion came to be, and to be such an overnight success (@ least by the aliens' standards).
By and large the book is entertaining and leaves me wondering what will happen in the second book in the trilogy. A fun read for anyone aged 12 and up, though there is enough violence that you may want readers to be a few years older before beginning the trilogy.
My only negative that is strong enough to have me mentioning it is a verbal tick of Jelly's. He repeats the same sound/word incessantly. And it is not a pretty sound, nor a useful one. While it may have originally come about as a vehicle for showing his personal neuroses, it rapidly became heavily over-used. Luckily not enough to ruin the book for me. But I would be very happy if he loses that particular habit by the 2nd book.
July 18, 2012
The Catholics finally got their way, birth control was eliminated. The world population stood at 39 billion in the year 2048.
I turned on the news and heard there was another 2 million people gone missing in the Seattle area. I heard a noise and footsteps outside the door and was so afraid I passed out. When I awoke, I saw my friend, Felix. He asked me why I was watching cartoons instead of the news and I asked him if he'd seen the mark on the door. He said yes. They had already taken the rest of our family, so we were both alone.
There were now 38 billion people missing world-wide. No one knew anything, until a woman using a 1998 camcorder got a shot of a claw coming in her window. She was shooting so high up that people in the street looked smaller than ants. How could it be at the window? How did it climb the building? What was it?
A chopper was on scene now and showed the Space Needle with a spaceship hovering over it. It looked nothing like the ones I had flown while playing video games. We had trained for this using our simulators. Now we needed to gather up anything we could use for a weapon and play the game for real.
Why hadn't we been taken at the same time as all our neighbors? We both thought at the same time-aluminum foil. We had put it above our beds as a joke to keep the aliens away. We gathered all the rolls in the house and wrapped it around ourselves. Then I thought of Maggie, she had used the foil too. We had to get to her house and quickly. Maggie was home and alive. We explained about the foil and she wrapped herself in it.
There had to be more people more people alive than just us, so we ventured out to try to find out for ourselves what was going on. We saw a different mark on the next door neighbors house and went in. When they say, don't go in the basement-DON'T.
I won this book in a Goodreads First Read Giveaway. A review was not required, but I enjoyed the book and wanted to let others know. The cover drew me in as I tried to read the bits and pieces. I found the characters believable and heroic. What would you do if aliens invaded us? What do you think the aliens would do? When you find out why the people are missing, I think you will be appalled, stunned, angry, furious..... I can't even describe how it affected me, it was so horrendous. As I was getting near the end of the book, I kept thinking-how is this going to turn out? I'm running out of pages for it to have the ending the way I want or think it would be. I became so engrossed in the story, it began to seem as if it could really happen and why not? It made me think of the Patrick Swayze movie, Red Dawn, when a small band of kids are forced to defend themselves and the United States. Of course, you can't have aliens without thinking of H. G. Wells and War of the Worlds. I think John Hennessy has a brilliant future ahead of him. Pick up the book and enjoy the adventure.
At the End: A Post-apocalyptic Novel
John Hennessy
I turned on the news and heard there was another 2 million people gone missing in the Seattle area. I heard a noise and footsteps outside the door and was so afraid I passed out. When I awoke, I saw my friend, Felix. He asked me why I was watching cartoons instead of the news and I asked him if he'd seen the mark on the door. He said yes. They had already taken the rest of our family, so we were both alone.
There were now 38 billion people missing world-wide. No one knew anything, until a woman using a 1998 camcorder got a shot of a claw coming in her window. She was shooting so high up that people in the street looked smaller than ants. How could it be at the window? How did it climb the building? What was it?
A chopper was on scene now and showed the Space Needle with a spaceship hovering over it. It looked nothing like the ones I had flown while playing video games. We had trained for this using our simulators. Now we needed to gather up anything we could use for a weapon and play the game for real.
Why hadn't we been taken at the same time as all our neighbors? We both thought at the same time-aluminum foil. We had put it above our beds as a joke to keep the aliens away. We gathered all the rolls in the house and wrapped it around ourselves. Then I thought of Maggie, she had used the foil too. We had to get to her house and quickly. Maggie was home and alive. We explained about the foil and she wrapped herself in it.
There had to be more people more people alive than just us, so we ventured out to try to find out for ourselves what was going on. We saw a different mark on the next door neighbors house and went in. When they say, don't go in the basement-DON'T.
I won this book in a Goodreads First Read Giveaway. A review was not required, but I enjoyed the book and wanted to let others know. The cover drew me in as I tried to read the bits and pieces. I found the characters believable and heroic. What would you do if aliens invaded us? What do you think the aliens would do? When you find out why the people are missing, I think you will be appalled, stunned, angry, furious..... I can't even describe how it affected me, it was so horrendous. As I was getting near the end of the book, I kept thinking-how is this going to turn out? I'm running out of pages for it to have the ending the way I want or think it would be. I became so engrossed in the story, it began to seem as if it could really happen and why not? It made me think of the Patrick Swayze movie, Red Dawn, when a small band of kids are forced to defend themselves and the United States. Of course, you can't have aliens without thinking of H. G. Wells and War of the Worlds. I think John Hennessy has a brilliant future ahead of him. Pick up the book and enjoy the adventure.
At the End: A Post-apocalyptic Novel
John Hennessy
May 5, 2012
AT THE END by John Hennessy
In the author’s words;
“When I ran for Penelope, no sensor gave away my position, or alerted the dining hall full of alions of my presence. The buckles that held her down were difficult to undo, and the faster I tried to go, the longer it took, as the uncooperative buckles fought against my trembling fingers. The eyes of the alions seemed to stare directly at me. I had no idea how long the stasis cloud lasted, but with every passing second, my nerves told me they would fail soon. The straps released after a dozen CLICKS, and I snatched her up, huffing as I raced out of the room”.
This paragraph is from the story that the author wrote; as a reader I was thinking it was a supernatural story but it turn out instead to be a novel and maybe science fiction story which was all good, scary to think that the world could be invaded by aliens. This author created his plot around teenagers all interacting with each other because something catastrophe occur to their planet. Family and loved ones just disappear and they were left alone to survive and discovered the truth of what was occurring in their backyards. Thus the plot gets exciting as the teenagers raced to the NASA station one of the teen’s dad’s work at to seek a solution to their problems.
The teenagers are on the run and meet others along the way and together cooperating as a team they do what they have to do to survive the mysterious creatures invading their world. They became fighters and soldiers to fight their foes. They want revenge for all the lives lost and they with the military hatched an agenda that takes them to outer space to fight the invaders.
There is suspense, conspiracy and adventures intertwined into this story. The author was magician in bringing each character alive and giving them remarkable personalities and even added romance into the mix. .There is drama, death yet humor and love, a touching combination to spin a chilling post-apocalyptic tale. The creativity of the elements of technology and inventions makes it more entertaining. Leaving one to ponder or imagine does the government know a secret we are not aware of.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13... he is having a giveaway at this link until May 24th, I would highly recommend you go check it out if you are looking for a fast action pack story with human emotions that run the gambit to fear to love and in-between as the teenagers fight against the odds and coming to death more than once. This reader was gasping as each time a hand reached out…..
http://www.amazon.com/At-End-post-apo... as a reader of many books this author should be asking for more the 99 cents for his books. It was worth the investment and gave this reader some pleasurable reading time. He has other novels out there too that will keep the heart racing. Go and see for yourselves.
In the author’s words;
“When I ran for Penelope, no sensor gave away my position, or alerted the dining hall full of alions of my presence. The buckles that held her down were difficult to undo, and the faster I tried to go, the longer it took, as the uncooperative buckles fought against my trembling fingers. The eyes of the alions seemed to stare directly at me. I had no idea how long the stasis cloud lasted, but with every passing second, my nerves told me they would fail soon. The straps released after a dozen CLICKS, and I snatched her up, huffing as I raced out of the room”.
This paragraph is from the story that the author wrote; as a reader I was thinking it was a supernatural story but it turn out instead to be a novel and maybe science fiction story which was all good, scary to think that the world could be invaded by aliens. This author created his plot around teenagers all interacting with each other because something catastrophe occur to their planet. Family and loved ones just disappear and they were left alone to survive and discovered the truth of what was occurring in their backyards. Thus the plot gets exciting as the teenagers raced to the NASA station one of the teen’s dad’s work at to seek a solution to their problems.
The teenagers are on the run and meet others along the way and together cooperating as a team they do what they have to do to survive the mysterious creatures invading their world. They became fighters and soldiers to fight their foes. They want revenge for all the lives lost and they with the military hatched an agenda that takes them to outer space to fight the invaders.
There is suspense, conspiracy and adventures intertwined into this story. The author was magician in bringing each character alive and giving them remarkable personalities and even added romance into the mix. .There is drama, death yet humor and love, a touching combination to spin a chilling post-apocalyptic tale. The creativity of the elements of technology and inventions makes it more entertaining. Leaving one to ponder or imagine does the government know a secret we are not aware of.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13... he is having a giveaway at this link until May 24th, I would highly recommend you go check it out if you are looking for a fast action pack story with human emotions that run the gambit to fear to love and in-between as the teenagers fight against the odds and coming to death more than once. This reader was gasping as each time a hand reached out…..
http://www.amazon.com/At-End-post-apo... as a reader of many books this author should be asking for more the 99 cents for his books. It was worth the investment and gave this reader some pleasurable reading time. He has other novels out there too that will keep the heart racing. Go and see for yourselves.
August 12, 2012
I received this book for free with the promise I would review it when I was done.
How would I describe this book? Well you know them lazy Sunday afternoons where you find youself just flicking through the TV channels, and you end up stumbling across some B-movie, that doesn't have the best acting, is clearly low budget and has a pretty standard plot? Well that is what this book is.
Is this a bad thing? No. I love them kind of movies, they keep you entertained from beginning to end. They may not be life changing but they are fun.
That is this book to a T. It was damn entertaining, I kept reading to find out what would happen next yet I know I won't be sitting here in a weeks time pondering on the mysteries of life because of it.
Admittedly the first couple of chapters were shaky; the characters felt a bit forced and flat. I just couldn't really believe them; how they were acting, their conversation, their actions. All forced.
However the book does pick up, and as the action gets going it becomes easier to ignore this 'wooden plank' type of dialogue (throwing back to my first point of the cheesey B-movie)
I should have connected completely with the characters (especially Darrel) but I just never felt them 'real'.
Still I was routing for them.
I was expecting a completely different story to what I got. From the description I imagined a more thriller type of sci-fi where you never really see the enemy and no answers are give, THEN from the first paragraph I expected a government conspiracy type sci-fi where the people of the world were being stole away to curb overpopulation and it is up to our protagonists to stop it.
This second idea was SLIGHTLY touched upon, but the book is definitely more of an all out action, alien invasion.
As I have said, once the action kicked in it never stops. Even splitting off into two completely different perspectives of the invasion: Down on Earth and up on the Mothership. This kept everything fresh and interesting, not allowing one setting to become stale.
A perfect read for a Lazy Sunday, and it definitely was nice lounging in the sun today doing just that. Didn't require any though, hasn't changed my life, but fully entertained.
It was also nice to see an ending with no lose ends in a sci-fi story like this, too many end with the 'to be continued...?' feeling.
Look forward to seeing how this author progresses and improves in the future.
How would I describe this book? Well you know them lazy Sunday afternoons where you find youself just flicking through the TV channels, and you end up stumbling across some B-movie, that doesn't have the best acting, is clearly low budget and has a pretty standard plot? Well that is what this book is.
Is this a bad thing? No. I love them kind of movies, they keep you entertained from beginning to end. They may not be life changing but they are fun.
That is this book to a T. It was damn entertaining, I kept reading to find out what would happen next yet I know I won't be sitting here in a weeks time pondering on the mysteries of life because of it.
Admittedly the first couple of chapters were shaky; the characters felt a bit forced and flat. I just couldn't really believe them; how they were acting, their conversation, their actions. All forced.
However the book does pick up, and as the action gets going it becomes easier to ignore this 'wooden plank' type of dialogue (throwing back to my first point of the cheesey B-movie)
I should have connected completely with the characters (especially Darrel) but I just never felt them 'real'.
Still I was routing for them.
I was expecting a completely different story to what I got. From the description I imagined a more thriller type of sci-fi where you never really see the enemy and no answers are give, THEN from the first paragraph I expected a government conspiracy type sci-fi where the people of the world were being stole away to curb overpopulation and it is up to our protagonists to stop it.
This second idea was SLIGHTLY touched upon, but the book is definitely more of an all out action, alien invasion.
As I have said, once the action kicked in it never stops. Even splitting off into two completely different perspectives of the invasion: Down on Earth and up on the Mothership. This kept everything fresh and interesting, not allowing one setting to become stale.
A perfect read for a Lazy Sunday, and it definitely was nice lounging in the sun today doing just that. Didn't require any though, hasn't changed my life, but fully entertained.
It was also nice to see an ending with no lose ends in a sci-fi story like this, too many end with the 'to be continued...?' feeling.
Look forward to seeing how this author progresses and improves in the future.
February 12, 2013
At The End: a post-apocalyptic novel (The Road to Extinction, Book 1)
by John Hennessy
Innovation Today Publishing (2012), Kindle Edition, 230 pages
One of the most important, and often overlooked, elements of a useful book review requires that the reviewer decipher who the intended audience is, and what the proper genre of the work is. It would be senseless, for example, to compare Paradise Lost to American Psycho. Well, I suppose it could be done - but it would be an academic exercise in literary theory, and not a very helpful indicator of whether or not a reader might enjoy Milton or Bret Easton Ellis.
At the End targets a young adult action-hungry audience raised on video-games and desirous of diverting entertainment. These types of stories are important, despite lacking literary "heft." Sometimes, we need a little break from the stresses of everyday life, and a good romping shoot up the aliens invading earth adventure can scratch that itch. If this is what you crave, At the End is fun, if occasionally a bit implausible (teenagers suddenly professing eternal devotion and trying to cop a feel in the midst of outer-space battles push the boundaries of my suspension of disbelief, but, again, this doesn't mean can't be fun). There is a great deal of "telling" and not "showing" in the narrative style, and it does read like a second-tier video game. The characters are not terribly sympathetic. They are clearly average teenagers, and the experiences of battle and survival do not appear to mature them or endow them with greater understanding. A bit more time developing the character's relationships to each other and why they band together would be helpful in increasing the reader's sympathy. These attributes do not mean it can't be entertaining; they do mean that an deeper, metaphorical thematic foundation is missing.
There are, in my opinion, two general types of science fiction / fantasy / horror, and both have a place on our bookshelves. Authors such as Asimov or King or Verne use their genres as metaphors for current cultural conversation and debate. Authors such as Meyers, Collins, and Harris use them for fun and pleasure. At the End fits in the fun category. So, if you're looking for fun and not mentally demanding, At the End might satisfy your urge.
For more information:
Life Descending (The Cry of Havoc, book 1)
Darkness Devouring (The Cry of Havoc, book 2)
http://www.johnhennessy.net
This review first appeared on irevuo.com
by John Hennessy
Innovation Today Publishing (2012), Kindle Edition, 230 pages
One of the most important, and often overlooked, elements of a useful book review requires that the reviewer decipher who the intended audience is, and what the proper genre of the work is. It would be senseless, for example, to compare Paradise Lost to American Psycho. Well, I suppose it could be done - but it would be an academic exercise in literary theory, and not a very helpful indicator of whether or not a reader might enjoy Milton or Bret Easton Ellis.
At the End targets a young adult action-hungry audience raised on video-games and desirous of diverting entertainment. These types of stories are important, despite lacking literary "heft." Sometimes, we need a little break from the stresses of everyday life, and a good romping shoot up the aliens invading earth adventure can scratch that itch. If this is what you crave, At the End is fun, if occasionally a bit implausible (teenagers suddenly professing eternal devotion and trying to cop a feel in the midst of outer-space battles push the boundaries of my suspension of disbelief, but, again, this doesn't mean can't be fun). There is a great deal of "telling" and not "showing" in the narrative style, and it does read like a second-tier video game. The characters are not terribly sympathetic. They are clearly average teenagers, and the experiences of battle and survival do not appear to mature them or endow them with greater understanding. A bit more time developing the character's relationships to each other and why they band together would be helpful in increasing the reader's sympathy. These attributes do not mean it can't be entertaining; they do mean that an deeper, metaphorical thematic foundation is missing.
There are, in my opinion, two general types of science fiction / fantasy / horror, and both have a place on our bookshelves. Authors such as Asimov or King or Verne use their genres as metaphors for current cultural conversation and debate. Authors such as Meyers, Collins, and Harris use them for fun and pleasure. At the End fits in the fun category. So, if you're looking for fun and not mentally demanding, At the End might satisfy your urge.
For more information:
Life Descending (The Cry of Havoc, book 1)
Darkness Devouring (The Cry of Havoc, book 2)
http://www.johnhennessy.net
This review first appeared on irevuo.com
March 5, 2013
This was an okay story but not one I'll go back to or am overly interested in seeing a series develop from. The story is about a group of friends that have to deal with a world forever changed by the appearance of alien ships over their major cities & the disappearance of over 30million humans in a matter of days.
The characters are not ones I felt any real connection with as they were somewhat 1 dimensional.
Darrel, aka Jelly, is a wimpy, frightened young man waiting for death after his parents & most of the rest of his neighbourhood have disappeared suddenly in the nights previous. He hyperventilates and freaks out but comes thru in tough situations when he "has" to.
Maggy, aka IQ, is the kick ass member of the group who has given her 2 best friends the rather mean/condescending nicknames of Jelly & Tortilla and is definitely the brains of the group. Tension arises when she chooses Felix over Darrel who has had a crush on her for years.
Felix, aka Tortilla, the only "main" character we never get a pov chapter from, he seems to be there merely to cause tension when he comes between Darrel's crush on Maggy.
The 3 manage to escape their neighborhood and begin to make their way to what they hope will be a safe place and encounter troubles along the way including encounters with other survivors & aliens and also meet new friends and allies.
The part of this book that I felt was particularly strong was the author's sense of the near-future - a greener and more sustainable version of the present. His take on the technology along with the problems caused by the current pollution (almost everyone has asthma) is very realistic and he creates the scenery very deftly.
The parts of this book I didn't quite go for were the characters that I never much liked and the amount of deus ex machina that it took to wrap the story up. There was simply too much coincidence involved for me to stay with this story as it unfolded. I thought the author did his best but in the end, while I finished the book and didn't hate the story, I don't have any desire to continue to read about these characters.
I hope the author continues to write tho as I really do think he has an interesting voice when it comes to this genre.
The characters are not ones I felt any real connection with as they were somewhat 1 dimensional.
Darrel, aka Jelly, is a wimpy, frightened young man waiting for death after his parents & most of the rest of his neighbourhood have disappeared suddenly in the nights previous. He hyperventilates and freaks out but comes thru in tough situations when he "has" to.
Maggy, aka IQ, is the kick ass member of the group who has given her 2 best friends the rather mean/condescending nicknames of Jelly & Tortilla and is definitely the brains of the group. Tension arises when she chooses Felix over Darrel who has had a crush on her for years.
Felix, aka Tortilla, the only "main" character we never get a pov chapter from, he seems to be there merely to cause tension when he comes between Darrel's crush on Maggy.
The 3 manage to escape their neighborhood and begin to make their way to what they hope will be a safe place and encounter troubles along the way including encounters with other survivors & aliens and also meet new friends and allies.
The part of this book that I felt was particularly strong was the author's sense of the near-future - a greener and more sustainable version of the present. His take on the technology along with the problems caused by the current pollution (almost everyone has asthma) is very realistic and he creates the scenery very deftly.
The parts of this book I didn't quite go for were the characters that I never much liked and the amount of deus ex machina that it took to wrap the story up. There was simply too much coincidence involved for me to stay with this story as it unfolded. I thought the author did his best but in the end, while I finished the book and didn't hate the story, I don't have any desire to continue to read about these characters.
I hope the author continues to write tho as I really do think he has an interesting voice when it comes to this genre.
August 26, 2012
The world as we know it is at the end. 38 billion people have disappeared in only three days, strange marks are appearing on peoples doors and a giant spaceship can be seen in the sky. Inexplicably best friends Darrel, Felix and Maggy have remained untaken. Armed only with stolen hunting gear and maggy’s trusty axe, they must fight for their continuing survival against the aliens – make that alions – that have invaded the planet.
Living in this post-apocalyptic world is hard; not only are there alions to deal with but also psychopaths, illness and the day to day problems of being a teenager. As the mystery as to the alions arrival starts to be uncovered, all three along with a few new friends take it upon themselves to save what is left of the world. Or die trying.
At the end is a fun read for teenagers. The book has comedic moments which help to offset the level of gore and horror. You are thrown right into the action with only a few pages before the running and fighting commences. This book isn’t particularly believable does it does fit in very well with other books of this genre.
The characters are funny and enjoyable and I constantly found myself rooting for their survival as they kept on making it against all the odds. I don’t know how they survive for the length of time they do, especially considering the amount of car crashes they are involved in, I think they must be superhuman. Despite the constant running the real action does take some time to start but the book gets better and better the more you read. Overall a decent book.
Reviewed for readers favourite.
Living in this post-apocalyptic world is hard; not only are there alions to deal with but also psychopaths, illness and the day to day problems of being a teenager. As the mystery as to the alions arrival starts to be uncovered, all three along with a few new friends take it upon themselves to save what is left of the world. Or die trying.
At the end is a fun read for teenagers. The book has comedic moments which help to offset the level of gore and horror. You are thrown right into the action with only a few pages before the running and fighting commences. This book isn’t particularly believable does it does fit in very well with other books of this genre.
The characters are funny and enjoyable and I constantly found myself rooting for their survival as they kept on making it against all the odds. I don’t know how they survive for the length of time they do, especially considering the amount of car crashes they are involved in, I think they must be superhuman. Despite the constant running the real action does take some time to start but the book gets better and better the more you read. Overall a decent book.
Reviewed for readers favourite.
August 31, 2012
Review of At the End
Reviewed via Basically Books Goodreads Group, of an ebook copy received August 4 2012 in exchange for my fair and impartial review.
Through the first couple of pages, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book (I prefer the reader’s hook to reach for me immediately) but once I read just a few pages, I was hooked-and no complaints after that, this novel is literally non-stop page-turning. There is no deceleration of tension; the plot line moves at nearly hyper-drive speed, carrying the reader along with total engrossment.
It’s finally here: the danger that’s been discussed, and scoffed at, since the 1950’s: alien invasion. Yes, folks, you read that correctly. Aliens have invaded planet Earth, and everything you think you know about alien abduction is probably accurate. In the first two nights, 99% of the population is “taken.” Those that remain are quite often adolescents or younger, but not being abducted certainly doesn’t indicate safety, for the aliens seem determined to eradicate humanity. Those not abducted are hunted; in fact, like the predator species the aliens so resemble, some of the Earthlings are “marked” for prey, hunted down, and consumed.
Enter a trio of frightened yet determined young people: Daryl, Felix, and Maggy, who won’t just lie down and wait to be fodder. Instead, they’re bent on survival, no matter what the cost, and no matter if it’s even possible. They’re trying, and they’ll save all whom they can on the way.
Reviewed via Basically Books Goodreads Group, of an ebook copy received August 4 2012 in exchange for my fair and impartial review.
Through the first couple of pages, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book (I prefer the reader’s hook to reach for me immediately) but once I read just a few pages, I was hooked-and no complaints after that, this novel is literally non-stop page-turning. There is no deceleration of tension; the plot line moves at nearly hyper-drive speed, carrying the reader along with total engrossment.
It’s finally here: the danger that’s been discussed, and scoffed at, since the 1950’s: alien invasion. Yes, folks, you read that correctly. Aliens have invaded planet Earth, and everything you think you know about alien abduction is probably accurate. In the first two nights, 99% of the population is “taken.” Those that remain are quite often adolescents or younger, but not being abducted certainly doesn’t indicate safety, for the aliens seem determined to eradicate humanity. Those not abducted are hunted; in fact, like the predator species the aliens so resemble, some of the Earthlings are “marked” for prey, hunted down, and consumed.
Enter a trio of frightened yet determined young people: Daryl, Felix, and Maggy, who won’t just lie down and wait to be fodder. Instead, they’re bent on survival, no matter what the cost, and no matter if it’s even possible. They’re trying, and they’ll save all whom they can on the way.
October 6, 2013
This book is an action packed romp about an alien (or should I say alion!) invasion, it's definitely aimed at the YA market. Compared to the author's other work, Life Descending, this feels like it came out in a bit of a rush. It has all the elements of a success, a group of misfit teenagers, secret military bases, evil alien invaders, an unexpected twist and shoot outs galore but it still feels as if it's missing something. I didn't not like it and I don't hate it, plus the author is such a nice guy that I can't really say a bad thing about the book! I should also point out that unlike the other reviewers, I did not get a free copy, I bought this myself from a well known book retailer named after a rapidly diminishing rainforest.
The only thing I can think of is perhaps the characters just do not seem deep enough but I might've had all my fantasy books spoiled by George RR Martin's approach to character development A Game of Thrones which is thousands and thousands of pages long and on a totally different scale.
I think if my (pre-teen) kids read this then they would love it and that's probably the target audience here.
The only thing I can think of is perhaps the characters just do not seem deep enough but I might've had all my fantasy books spoiled by George RR Martin's approach to character development A Game of Thrones which is thousands and thousands of pages long and on a totally different scale.
I think if my (pre-teen) kids read this then they would love it and that's probably the target audience here.
January 30, 2015
I’ll preface my review with saying that I only got 25% done with the book before I gave up. I liked the premise of the book and wanted to finish it to see what happened, but I couldn’t get through the characters and writing style. Maybe because it’s a YA book and I’m not the target audience, but it seemed over simplified and too descriptive as if the author is trying too hard. One example is the line on page 25 “It felt nice on my lungs as they expanded.” Not sure why he had to tell me that his lungs expanded while he couldn't just say he inhaled. Also I didn’t feel like “Nice” was very descriptive. Also on page 49 “I was the crimson gas jet out the butt of one of the six sections”. Really? Butt? He’s talking about a ship and uses butt, not rear, not aft he used butt.
From the character standpoint, I know they’re kids but man they’re annoying. There is a bit of a love triangle which creates some issues but my biggest annoyance with them was Maggy who comes up with a clever name for something (I don’t want to give away what in case you do choose to read the book) and whenever someone uses a different name (which is totally valid) she quickly corrects them to use her term. It just seems like she should say “Look at me!” instead.
If these things don’t seem to bother you I would recommend this book as I think it could be a lot of fun, but I just couldn’t do it.
From the character standpoint, I know they’re kids but man they’re annoying. There is a bit of a love triangle which creates some issues but my biggest annoyance with them was Maggy who comes up with a clever name for something (I don’t want to give away what in case you do choose to read the book) and whenever someone uses a different name (which is totally valid) she quickly corrects them to use her term. It just seems like she should say “Look at me!” instead.
If these things don’t seem to bother you I would recommend this book as I think it could be a lot of fun, but I just couldn’t do it.
June 26, 2012
This is a book in one of my favorite genres, post-apocalyptic, young adult, Sci-Fi thriller. And the author, John Hennessy, left me a personal note in the book which I thought was a great touch. So the book is off to a good start before I even started reading it!
I liked how this was a short quick read and it wrapped up the whole story by the end. The glimpse you had of the world they were living in before the abductions was also really good and I felt like it some of it could actually be in our future. I also enjoyed the narration switching between two of the main characters. I wasn’t as big of fan on Darrel, but I really liked Maggy and always enjoy seeing a strong female character. Also, almost all of the leaders mentioned in this book, whether it was the president or an army sergeant were all women which definitely wins points with me. I do think it started a bit slow, but one I got into the meat of the story I finished it in one sitting.
If you like YA dystopian or sci-fi and want a quick read that won’t throw you into a long epic saga, this is the book for you. And make sure to give it a chance past the first couple chapters because the story seems to wrap up pretty quickly as soon as you are into it.
I liked how this was a short quick read and it wrapped up the whole story by the end. The glimpse you had of the world they were living in before the abductions was also really good and I felt like it some of it could actually be in our future. I also enjoyed the narration switching between two of the main characters. I wasn’t as big of fan on Darrel, but I really liked Maggy and always enjoy seeing a strong female character. Also, almost all of the leaders mentioned in this book, whether it was the president or an army sergeant were all women which definitely wins points with me. I do think it started a bit slow, but one I got into the meat of the story I finished it in one sitting.
If you like YA dystopian or sci-fi and want a quick read that won’t throw you into a long epic saga, this is the book for you. And make sure to give it a chance past the first couple chapters because the story seems to wrap up pretty quickly as soon as you are into it.
September 1, 2012
*I received this book from Basically Books ARR*
Unfortunately I had a very hard time connecting with this book. After reading the summary, I was super excited to read this especially because I'm a big fan of science fiction alien invasion type books and they aren't that common in this dystopian era of writing. But for me the beginning was hard to get through and I hard time relating to most of the characters. Maggie annoyed me quite a bit, and Tortilla wasn't anything special. Darrel and Penelope were OK, but once again didn't stand out. The twins on the hand were two very cool little girls. I loved their courage and I wish they were included in more of the book. Jacob was another character that I also really liked. The ending seemed rushed in comparison to the rest of the book (some of which seemed to drag on in places). But the middle was probably the best bit of the entire book.
All in all, the book had an excellent plot, but wasn't executed as well as it could have been.
Recommended to avid science fiction readers.
Unfortunately I had a very hard time connecting with this book. After reading the summary, I was super excited to read this especially because I'm a big fan of science fiction alien invasion type books and they aren't that common in this dystopian era of writing. But for me the beginning was hard to get through and I hard time relating to most of the characters. Maggie annoyed me quite a bit, and Tortilla wasn't anything special. Darrel and Penelope were OK, but once again didn't stand out. The twins on the hand were two very cool little girls. I loved their courage and I wish they were included in more of the book. Jacob was another character that I also really liked. The ending seemed rushed in comparison to the rest of the book (some of which seemed to drag on in places). But the middle was probably the best bit of the entire book.
All in all, the book had an excellent plot, but wasn't executed as well as it could have been.
Recommended to avid science fiction readers.
January 25, 2016
Before getting this book I had never heard of John Hennessey and have never been a bit fan of alien books but I was looking for something different to try and ended up with this book on my Kindle.
The book features a group of teenagers who have managed to stay alive on Earth despite billions of other people being mysteriously taken from the planet. I don't want this review to give away the story; but if features plenty of action and has enough twists in the book to keep you hooked, and the main teenage characters all feel like people you've met before or know.
I honestly didn't expect to be as 'into' this book as I got and was eager to see what happened next and if there was going to be a happy ending or not. Would recommend this book happily to other sci-fi or YA readers.
I did receive this e-book as part of the LibraryThing Give-away program from the author and was asked to post an honest review.
The book features a group of teenagers who have managed to stay alive on Earth despite billions of other people being mysteriously taken from the planet. I don't want this review to give away the story; but if features plenty of action and has enough twists in the book to keep you hooked, and the main teenage characters all feel like people you've met before or know.
I honestly didn't expect to be as 'into' this book as I got and was eager to see what happened next and if there was going to be a happy ending or not. Would recommend this book happily to other sci-fi or YA readers.
I did receive this e-book as part of the LibraryThing Give-away program from the author and was asked to post an honest review.
August 25, 2012
I received this book via Basically Books Goodreads Group for the purpose of a review. I read the synopsis of the book and thought I would really enjoy the book. I started reading and it was a very slow start. I immediately realized that this book was not for me. I could not connect to any of the characters on an emotional level. I think this book's target audience is pre-teen/young teens. Unfortunately, I did not complete the book. However, my daughter began reading it and really liked it. She enjoyed the characters and the setting for the book. Therefore, my 3 star rating is based on my daughter's review.
November 9, 2014
Interesting concept. A species FAR more advanced, with technology that even humans in the time frame the book is set in haven't thought of and have a slightly difficult time grasping. Of course they wiped out about 99 percent of the population in 3 days. Still, it was an interesting read and I do want to read the next (2) book(s) to know how everything turns out. I didn't connect with any of the characters, but I liked Amanda, the 11 year old bad-ass, the most. And Burnhammer was pretty amazing, too. I found Darrel a bit annoying in the beginning, but he got a little less so as the book went on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2012
I really enjoyed this book little to no grammatical/spelling errors my pet peeve. The plot was interesting and well developed the story line could have flowed a little better we seem to get stuck a few times in the beginning. I am not usually fond of stories with more than one point of view but John Hennessy did a great job with showing personalities in the different styles between the two and it flowed really well it did not hinder the story! over all i give the book 4 stars I really enjoyed it.
This is my first alien
This is my first alien
March 31, 2013
Growing Up Fast
Culture shock hits a group of teens when they learn their parents and everyone in their community are gone. Not only are they faced with the reality of being without parents, they also have to make decisions beyond their comprehension on how to survive.
John Hennessy's “At the End” was an interesting read. There were times when he captured my attention. Learning what took place next was important. There also were times when the story slowed and seemed drawn out. Overall, “At the End” was a good read.
Reviewed by: Sabrina
3.5 stars
Culture shock hits a group of teens when they learn their parents and everyone in their community are gone. Not only are they faced with the reality of being without parents, they also have to make decisions beyond their comprehension on how to survive.
John Hennessy's “At the End” was an interesting read. There were times when he captured my attention. Learning what took place next was important. There also were times when the story slowed and seemed drawn out. Overall, “At the End” was a good read.
Reviewed by: Sabrina
3.5 stars
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