The League of Sharks

The League of Sharks #1

by David Logan

In a world where humans have disappeared, sharkmen are the ultimate predators.

Junk’s sister has been stolen.

Snatched from her bed in the dead of night, Ambeline doesn’t stand a chance. No one believes Junk saw a monster take his sister. No one believes he’s not to blame.

So begins Junk’s quest to find Ambeline’s kidnapper. His journey will take him to a future world where animal species have evolved, and where the cult of the League of Sharks – the cult that stole Junk’s sister – is etched into folklore…

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Time Travel, Science Fiction

306 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2013

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Junk's sister has been stolen. Snatched from her bed in the dead of night, Ambeline doesn't stand a chance.

No one believes Junk saw a monster take his sister. No one believes he's not to blame.

So begins Junk's quest to find Ambeline's kidnapper. His journey will take him to a future world where animal species have evolved, and where the cult of the League of Sharks - the cult that stole Junk's sister - is etched into folklore…

Colin Itzhak Eugene Doyle, Junk to his friends, is just a normal boy but when his younger sister is kidnapped by a mysterious creature his life changes overnight. No one can accept his rather outlandish explanation of events, so Junk is forced to take matters into his own hands. He sets out on a journey to locate the criminal and discover his sister’s fate. I warmed to Junk immediately. Initially he comes across as entirely average but it quickly becomes obvious how utterly driven he is in reaching his goal. Nothing will stand between him and the truth he is so desperate to uncover. He is willing to travel any distance for as long as it takes, no matter how far, to find his sister.

After Junk finds has way through a mysterious place called the Room of Doors a big chunk of the book is set in the future. Really far in the future in fact, approximately three millions years give or take a decade or two, and the world is massively different from the way it is now. The author, David Logan, has let his imagination run riot here and there are some great ideas that pop up. I really like the thought that in the future animals will have evolved to replace humans, seems only fair they get a shot. Each animal species is vaguely humanoid but still retains the characteristics of the animal they are descended from. The further I read, it became a bit of a game trying to guess what species a character had evolved from before the writing actually reveals it.

There are a whole host of interesting characters that Junk meets on his travels. My personal favourites were Garvan Fiske and Lasel Mowtay. Garvan in particular is intriguing. He’s a huge hulking beast of a man but has a thoughtful, introspective nature. He doesn’t talk much too much as he prefers to listen, but when he does say something it’s either really insightful or dryly funny. Meanwhile, Lasel is a streetwise thief whose sassy attitude leaves Junk fascinated and confused in equal measure.

Some of the different races speak unusual future languages but there’s no need to panic as there is a handy glossary at the back of the book. It’s a nice touch that ensures you’ll never get confused with what’s anyone is saying and what’s going on.

The book ends with a bit of a revelation and just enough unanswered questions to ensure that the majority of readers are going to want to come back for more.

I know I’m not exactly the target audience for The League of Sharks but I am always on the lookout for any books that I think will act as good introduction to a particular genre. I have a couple of young nephews who I think will be massive science fiction fans given half the chance. This is the perfect book to start them off with. Far future time travel, hyper-evolved animal men and a sinister mystery. What’s not to love? I’m pretty sure the couple of really icky scenes when the League’s natural enemies are revealed will be a firm favourite. I’ll say nothing other than it directly involves brains…euuuwwww! The nephews are bound to adore it, they always enjoy gross stuff.

I got a real kick from The League of Sharks, it’s a cracking good read, loads of fun. There’s plenty of globe-trotting action, some very cool characters (including the members of the League themselves) and some great ideas. I found the book hugely entertaining, it’s smart but never get overly complicated, and also displays a splendidly inventive plot.

The League of Sharks is published by Quercus Books and is available from 2nd January 2014. It’s well worth reading in my opinion. A sequel, The Nine Emperors, will be published this coming August. I’ll deFINitely be checking it out. (I’m so sorry, I couldn’t resist. In my defence I was watching Jaws when I wrote this bit).

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The League of Sharks is classed as a YA read which made me eager to pick it up. I love YA reads as they are often quick to get into and easy to read but with this one, I had a totally different experience.

The League Of Sharks tells the tale of Junk; a young Irish boy who bears witness to his sister’s abduction by a huge, otherworldly creature who runs away with her and jumps into the sea, killing her immediately. Junk is traumatised and as he begins to explain to his parents what has happened, he realises how futile it is: they are never going to believe a big ‘shark-man’ stole his sister. Ostracised by his family, he runs away, determined to find and capture the creature who took his sister so he can prove to his parents that he wasn’t the one responsible for her death. But, how do you find a huge ‘shark-man’? Where do you start looking? Junk travels around for years until one day, on a routine fishing expedition, he dives to the sea bed and finds a glowing green door which leads him into a whole new world: The Room Of Doors.

He meets a whole host of mystical beings and realises that he’s ended up three million years in the future. All Junk wants to do is find out what happened to his sister, but it seems he’s not the only one on a mission…

David Logan really knows how to write a book: that much is clear. What I found odd about this book though was the lack of compulsion I had to read it. I really enjoyed reading it, thought the writing was great, the plot was perfect but it just wasn’t compelling and I can’t for the life of me figure out why! I found it a very immersive read and every time I picked up the book, I fell straight back into Junk’s crazy world, however, I could very easily stop after each chapter and walk away from the book without being too fussed about it.

Anyway, I think that is totally a fault with the reader rather than the writer!

Logan has got a very interesting premise set up here: a story that starts in reality but rapidly descends into fantasy which was a very smooth transition. I liked the fact we didn’t spend too long in reality, so we didn’t get the chance to become too attached to it, instead we were whisked off on a magical adventure. This book is classed as a YA novel but I’m not sure if I agree with this rating: it’s certainly not adult fiction but in places it felt too mature for a young adult reader. It’s an odd one!

The characters were extremely unique and the myriad of creatures were such fantastic inventions of the imagination that I was quite jealous that I’d never thought of such amazing ideas! Junk was a really great lead character; he was driven by justice and was extremely compassionate towards all of the new friends he makes on his journey. The addition of an almost ‘love interest’ in the form of Lasel, was really interesting and I loved watching the dynamic between the two. There were lots of lovely explorations of friendship in all its forms throughout this book and I really enjoyed that aspect.

The League Of Sharks ends on a cliff-hanger with promises that it will ‘be continued’. I am actually quite excited by this prospect and would certainly keep an eye out for the second installment.

Whilst I didn’t find this book particularly addictive, I was very keen to finish it and find out what would ultimately occur.

An interesting and exciting start to what will hopefully become a very popular YA fantasy series.

[Jasper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted at: http://thebookplank.blogspot.com/2013...

The League of Sharks is one of the biggest children’s releases for Quercus this winter in January. It’s the first book in a new series for fans of Percy Jackson and the likes. This new series is written by David Logan who has a lot of experience in screenwriting and his first book, Lost Christmas, was very well received. When I first read the title of the book I was actually a bit put off, but this was something personal I somehow made the link with the sharks in the title to a very bad movie I watched recently. Anyway with the premise of a new action-adventure children’s story, I had to read this book, ever since venturing into the children’s, young adult segment of reading I have enjoyed quite a many books and the inventiveness of several authors really help to keep this genre interesting, and to be honest, David Logan does a great job in delivering in this way was well.

The story starts off with a quite powerful sentence and directly laying the focus on the main protagonist Junk, well he is actually called: Colin Itzhak Eugene Doyle, but since he always put junk in his pockets, he got the nickname Junk which has stuck around. Junk was an only child but he has gotten a younger baby sister which throws Junk a bit off, he finds it hard to accept, Junk is jealous of his little sister. And the situation grows worse still with rivalry and often resulted in fighting. But this all was about to change as Junk’s sister, Ambeline, is kidnapped one December evening, this disappearance is blamed on Junk and his parents, especially his mother holds a strong grudge against Junk, and this is what does justice to the opening sentence “Junk Doyle was twelve years old when his mother stopped loving him.” This is really like BAM there you have it. The narration that is used in this introducing chapter really helped to set the mood straight, it’s pure confrontation and explaining the events, and with this being set for children I did found that were used to set up the sentences were quite hard and confronting, but it was just right, as it really gave a good view of Junk’s characters and of course the journey he is about to undertake. He cannot stand the forced kindness that is now present in house Doyle, and decides to go his own direction, running away from home and the most important thing to make his mother love him again and to get his sister back.

I forgot to mention one important thing that happened in the introduction. The kidnapper that Junk saw wasn’t a normal man.. it had a different skin, silvered, rows of teeth, a strange body and a tattoo of shark fins. (Hint: look at the title). This is what really throws the story of The League of Sharks in a rapid. Junk starts working as a deckhand on many ships in many different ports, just trying to get by but more improtanly as the years fly by he hasn’t forgotten his sole purpose, to get his sister back. And with older sailors dropping hints towards the mythical League of Sharks, Junk get reinvigorated to his goal. But it is hard to get closer to his sister as many have heard vague references but no one knows really about the League... until... Junk is pulled through a portal into a completely new world with new possibilities. I was impressed with how rich a world David Logan managed to put down in just a few sentences.

On the other side of the portal Junk meets up with new characters most of which become his friend. The part that really stuck to me was the introduction of Junk and the giant man Garvan. Junk was just stranded on the other side and being nursed back to health, Junk being literate in a numerous amount of languages, tries his best to get Garvan to understand him, but he remains mute. Only bringing Junk water and food and company. The effort that Junk put into talking to Garvan was just good stuff, since Garvan hadn’t given his own name, Junk calls him Frank and talks to him quite elaborately. I think that the younger children will just see this as a funny part in the book but that older readers will get the deeper thought on this part. Junk also has to do some tests of which I first hadn’t really thought that they were important but once the language barrier between Junk and Garvan is broken, Garvan talks about a prophecy... which features... yes you bet Junk. After the relation bettered between Garvan and Junk, the story is again propelled forward and this time into a completely different world and Junk meets more people/creatures that are similarly a bit strange like Garvan.

I liked to world that David Logan projected in The League of Sharks. The start is just our day and age Earth but once Junk went through the portal, he was sent a few millions years into the future. Three million to be exact. Though the book is fairly short, David Logan managed to do a lot of multitasking with both taking the story further but also investing time in world building. So far the world is the same, well the geography, everything else has changed. Like the inhabitants. Junk, or we humans have evolved from primates. But others like Lasel and Garvan have evolved from different species, horses, elephants and much more, this concept though bit on the heavy scifi side will speak to a lot of young kids as being pretty cool. These “spin-off” come to a nice display in the way that David Logan describes how they look and how they act. Combined with the colourful discription of the world itself, this future earth really gives a nice ring to the book.

A lot of things happen in the end of the book, confrontations with the League of Sharks, people who all of a sudden cannot be trusted and a whole lot more. But most importantly, Junk’s quest in search for his sister isn’t over just yet.. The book leaves you on a massive cliffhanger. This is an advance review as The League of Sharks is published in January and it’s going to be a long wait till August 2014 for book two.

The League of Sharks is an highly adventurous story. It has a lot of cool elements that young readers will appeal too. From the introduction where Junk is going through a rough time until the first encounters with this new world The League of Sharks is just a nonstop action packed ride that really takes the read to colourful surroundings and introduces interesting characters. For adults it’s a easy read but I still found a lot of pleasure in reading the story, as for kids they are going to love this book. I have high hopes for the second book in the series.Oh and by the way look at the cool cover art!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this one, I found the story a little slow to get into but then it did keep my attention and keep me reading.

I think my niggle with is is the main character is called Junk, in a world that is 3 million years in the future and evolved people like animals and my only niggle is the main characters name?!? Strange niggle but there you go.

Despite being unsure how to feel whether I did like this story or not, it was a good book and a clever idea for a plot. So of course I will have to read the next in the series to see how the story progresses.

[Harshith J. V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read. Great for kids and teens.

Looks like author expected this to become a movie or series. But wasn't written a like a prep for movie/series script, which would've been disappointing. However, it's a slow and drag at initial chapters and picked up pace at latter half. If somebody makes abridged-condensed version, then I guess 3-part book could be fit a single volume of 500 to 600 pages as lot of parts that are just drag.

Found this book at in-laws place and I'd lot of spare time to finish over the weekend. Now, in dilemma whether to purchase other two books in the series? Will be sometime though as I've other books to cover at home. But eager to read sequels as they've better ratings than this one. Cliffhanger ending, even though predictable from chapter 1, building up curiosity read it immediately.

Overall a good thriller for young and young at heart.

[annabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3½
actually pretty interesting
i have book 2 and 3 in the trilogy, and i read this ages ago so i bought it to reread and to then be able to read the next books
an interesting plot, very crazy and futuristic
not the most descriptive language but it's still enjoyable

[Abdullah Zubair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book with good characters and story. Also, like the vocab in the book. Would be suitable for people who are aged 9+ and like the Genre Adventure and a bit of Investigation.

[Mieneke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The League of Sharks is a fun YA novel about a time-traveling teen. The premise of the book is insane: time-travelling shark men? How on earth was Logan going to make that work? But the book also sounded insanely entertaining and it was. However, no matter how much it entertained me, The League of Sharks is very much the equivalent of a big summer popcorn film. One you enjoy hugely, but you shouldn't ponder too closely or critically afterwards, otherwise you'll break its magic. Something that is distinctly difficult if you are to write a review for a book. As such, even if this review might be quite critical in places, one thing that should be remembered at all times, reading this book was just plain fun.

Our hero, Junk, is a cool protagonist with an interesting development throughout the novel. I loved the description of Junk's reaction to the birth of his sister and the stunts he pulls in making her look like the bad one and how it backfires on him. The dynamic felt quite recognisable and felt very much like your typical sibling rivalry turned up to eleven. What made Junk more than a spoiled brat was the fact that Logan showed us his feeling of being displaced by his sister in his parents' affections – a feeling all elder siblings will probably recognise to some degree – and that once she was taken, he genuinely misses her. At the end of the book he clearly has grown up quite a bit and has learned to think beyond his own immediate emotions and desires and put himself in other people's shoes.

Junk acquires a number of companions in the future, all of whom will help him in his quest. The first is Garvan, who sees Junk as a prophesied saviour and becomes his staunchest ally. Then there is Lasel, a young thief, who helps Junk and Garvan and becomes somewhat of a love interest for Junk. The last two additions are Doctor Otravinicus, who can help them find the League of Sharks in return for helping him find the Room of Doors, the key to Junk's time travel, and Cascér, a Pallatan a.k.a. shark woman, who is recruited by Otravinicus. They deal with other people on their journey, but these are the most important. While all of them are fun, somewhat-fleshed out characters, they all seem to remain stuck in their archetype. They add to the feeling that this is a book more geared to the younger end of YA, a feeling re-enforced by Junk's age progression. We start with him being far younger than your regular YA protagonist and when we get to the meat of the story he is still only fifteen.

The world building of the narrative was cool, more so for the future version of our world, than for the current one. I liked the concept of the Room of Doors and the way humanity was gone and animals had evolved to take our place due to genetic modification. One aspect that especially pleased me was the way Logan created languages for his future people. I loved that there was a glossary in the back of the book and while perhaps not developed as full languages, there did seem to be some thought of declination and grammar rules. The language geek in me rejoiced at that.

The book does require a lot of suspension of disbelief and sometimes a little too much. For one, the fact that twelve-year-old Junk can run away and earn his money as a sailor for three years seemed a little far-fetched. Similarly, the three million years into the future just seemed so ridiculously far into the future, that it lost me. And lastly, and most strongly, the fact that all the animals have developed into a humanoid form, though some more so than others, just puzzled me. For the shark men and birdmen their ancestors are easily identifiable, while Garvan is identifiable by his size, but both Lasel and Otravinicus are portrayed as almost completely human-looking. I kept wondering why. Why would all animals have evolved into bi-pedal creatures, who communicate through vocalized language, close enough to human languages that Junk can easily pick it up in about three days? That just didn't make sense to me and I had a hard time setting that aside. It would have been interesting to have seen some explanation for this or even to have Junk at least consider the question, because now it all felt a little "Star Trek" alien—give them a weird forehead and coloured contacts and you're done.

Despite my problems with suspending my disbelief, I had oodles of fun reading The League of Sharks. It's madcap and very well-paced and I found myself rooting for Junk intensely hoping he'd succeed in getting his sister back. The book ends at a natural break, though it contains a cliff hanger of major proportions and the story isn't resolved. The League of Sharks is definitely a fun story to read together with your young teen, but there is plenty of entertainment value for adults as well.

This book was provided for review by the publisher.

[Mieya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how the way it describe the characters..it make imagine all the characters I just wish at least writer can put some pictures of the important characters...

I just can't wait my others to books of this series..

[Cee · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

The League of Sharks is a hard book to review, as I'm having very conflicting thoughts about it. I keep changing the rating between two and three stars, and I guess in reality the book was a two-and-a-half star read for me, making it too hard to swing either way to my satisfaction. At this hour I feel more like rounding up, so here we are.

When Junk is young, his sister gets stolen from her bed by a shark-man. His parents think he is responsible, and he runs away from home to become a sailor and track down Ambeline's kidnapper. His journey takes him to a strange, future world, where everything is different yet very much the same.

Although the story follows a fifteen year-old protagonist, The League of Sharks reads very much like a middle grade novel. It has a shortish writing style that, although it contained some big words, seemed more fit for a younger audience. The narration is third person omniscient, something that never happens in young-adult books. The omniscient narrator really grated against my nerves, mainly because he felt the need to add commentary and said things like "but because Junk is a teenage boy, he doesn't understand girls" and a lot of anti-religious (mainly anti-Catholic) remarks.

This book requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. Once you really start asking "why" or "how" questions, it quickly becomes apparent that The League of Sharks can't be read as a rational story (in the sense that normal rules of logic apply). A good way of describing the story is as if it's a fairy-tale: the act, the adventure is what makes the story, not the protagonists. It's in essence a road-trip story of a teenager travelling through the future (three million years in the future, to be exact). He has to do the typical initiation stuff, and gets a cast of quirky characters to support him.

I think the main reason why I didn't like The League of Sharks is that the book is very much a children's book. Children can still suspend their disbelief to such a degree that they can become fully immersed into the journey. I personally seem to have lost that ability, as I missed the complexer stuff like fully fleshed-out world-building and character introspection. There is plenty of fighting and suspense to keep you busy. The setting is highly original. The League of Sharks was good - don't let the low rating fool you - but it wasn't the book for me.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A boy's sister is abducted by a strange creature and he begins a worldwide search for her.

The start started extremely strongly but started to drift about half way through into a not so satisfying / interesting future world story.

Real rating 3.5.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journey through age, time and experience to find the truth