Transmigration

by Nicholas Maes

Simon Carpenter is a normal 16-year-old living in Vancouver. Or is he normal? Any type of music drives him crazy. When walking by a homeless person, he can see the world through the drunken man's eyes. And when visiting a pet shop he hears a rabbit speaking to him. To solve these mysteries, he takes the rabbit home, only to discover that a foreign "presence" lives inside it. To make matters worse, this "presence" belongs to an army of souls that has plans to supplant the human race.

Who are these creatures? How do they plan to accomplish their goal? How is Simon connected to them? And if they can watch his every step, how can he stop them? These are questions he must answer ... quickly. Nothing is what it seems to be and failure will lead to worldwide disaster.

Genres: Young Adult

257 pages, ebook

First published August 18, 2012

About the author

When younger, I thought I was going to be 1) an archeologist 2) a zookeeper, 3) an alchemist and 4) a time traveller. I wound up delivering on all these ambitions (sort of). While I never dug up any ancient cities, I did study Greek and Latin. And while alchemy has always eluded me, I did become a high-school teacher, a job that involves daily transformations. No zoo ever wanted to hire me, but I have three children and a wife: to judge by the noise level in our house, you would swear I lived in a zoo at times (one without cages of course). Finally, I haven't yet managed the trick of time travel but at least I get to write about it.

My idea of a life well spent (excluding work and being useful): hiking with my family; long conversations over endless cups of coffee (some table pounding is permitted); an endless countr.y road and a bike; books and a comfortable armchair; and writing, writing, writing.

And there you have it, Me in a nutshell

Reviews

[Herbert Yen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an easy read, interesting concept but might be considered too violent at some parts. Managed to become a page turner at some points! Originally got interested because the book takes place in my hometown.

[Noel Roach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmmm, I'm not sure who this book is directed towards. Simon, the lead character is sixteen but the writing style seems more appropriate to a younger audience. On the other hand, the story builds to quite a violent climax. The idea that Neanderthal souls have survived to the present among animals and can take control of mentally compromised humans is a great one I think, but while Nicholas Maes may have hit the target, he is very far from the bull's eye.

[Ruth Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really strange book. I read an interview with the author (who also wrote Laughing Wolf, which I like a lot) who said he got the idea for this book when he wondered what would happen if a pet rabbit could talk.

I found the story unique, creative, and believable (even though it was fantasy). It was disturbing though so that's why only 3 stars.

[Rachel Seigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept, and engaging, but the story is overly complicated and is difficult to follow at times. It's going to take a devoted reader to really stick with this. The ending suggests that there is another book to come, but so far, nothing has been announced.