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The Conductoid Chronicles #1
Conductoid
What if your daydreams were true?
Fatherless Jack and Phoebe are completely non-identical twins. Jack's so vague he has daydreams within daydreams. He dreams he's a Conductoid. Beings from other dimensions can only use their powers on earth through him. But the days for dreaming are over. Just ask Jack's teachers. Don't they know lives will be lost? For the difference between the "impossible" and "possible" is but two small letters.
And as for Phoebe, well, the twins are completely non-identical.
Fatherless Jack and Phoebe are completely non-identical twins. Jack's so vague he has daydreams within daydreams. He dreams he's a Conductoid. Beings from other dimensions can only use their powers on earth through him. But the days for dreaming are over. Just ask Jack's teachers. Don't they know lives will be lost? For the difference between the "impossible" and "possible" is but two small letters.
And as for Phoebe, well, the twins are completely non-identical.
436 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 2016
3 people are currently reading
2126 people want to read
About the author
M.B. Lehane
3 books61 followersSo, it's time to talk about myself. Well, I'm paid to talk a lot. But don't worry, I'll keep this brief.
Since the turn of the century I've been a Crown Prosecutor employed at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Qld).
Throughout my career as a criminal barrister, "The Conductoid Chronicles" have been my creative companion. The series is well over twenty years in the making. Yeah, I'm slow...real slow...I know.
The Conductoid story began as a means of mental escape from crimes often cruel reality. On a weekend I'd write a chapter and read it to my three young children. Two were already avid readers. One wasn't. The book changed all that. Job done. Conductoid was shelved.
The story became a novel when, after quite the gap, my fourth child came along. Subsequently, I dusted off the manuscript. She was delighted. I was horrified. You know, one's own children can be very biased. The original version wasn't very good. Conductoid was given a complete overhaul, rebooted, reinvigorated, polished and then polished a little harder.
In 2016 it was released to the world, and people were very generous in their reviews. At the back of the book I promised a sequel. Yep, remember, I'm slow...real slow.
I can put forward the slightest of defences. Instead of a sequel, I completed the trilogy, and then rewrote the original. It's much better than before.
All three are ready to be released on 1 February 2026.
I am forever indebted to all of the many people who have championed this series. Long may we daydream...
Since the turn of the century I've been a Crown Prosecutor employed at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Qld).
Throughout my career as a criminal barrister, "The Conductoid Chronicles" have been my creative companion. The series is well over twenty years in the making. Yeah, I'm slow...real slow...I know.
The Conductoid story began as a means of mental escape from crimes often cruel reality. On a weekend I'd write a chapter and read it to my three young children. Two were already avid readers. One wasn't. The book changed all that. Job done. Conductoid was shelved.
The story became a novel when, after quite the gap, my fourth child came along. Subsequently, I dusted off the manuscript. She was delighted. I was horrified. You know, one's own children can be very biased. The original version wasn't very good. Conductoid was given a complete overhaul, rebooted, reinvigorated, polished and then polished a little harder.
In 2016 it was released to the world, and people were very generous in their reviews. At the back of the book I promised a sequel. Yep, remember, I'm slow...real slow.
I can put forward the slightest of defences. Instead of a sequel, I completed the trilogy, and then rewrote the original. It's much better than before.
All three are ready to be released on 1 February 2026.
I am forever indebted to all of the many people who have championed this series. Long may we daydream...
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 25, 2016
This book is highly entertaining and you will laugh at the antics of Jack and his friends. Combine Percy Jackson with Lemony Snicket, throw in a pinch of Harry Potter, add a touch of Roald Dahl's Chocolate Factory, and you have Conductoid. On top of the powerful messages such as the importance of friendship and believing in your dreams, this is a fast-paced, exhilarating, fantasy story, bursting with wit and charm. A must read and will keep you turning the page to see what is going to happen next.
May 25, 2016
Open with a typical student soccer game in which player Jack declines team celebrations at the end of a successful game to examine an illuminated device on his ankle in the privacy of the still-empty locker room, then flees. But there's something extraordinary in the method of his flight and in his ride home, implying that Jack is not the ordinary soccer-playing schoolboy he portrays.
Not every boy has a secret compartment in his closet and a jetpack accompanying his lunch bag. No normal boy can rocket into the sky through his rolled-back bedroom ceiling. And what boy can face his greatest enemy with nary a quiver? Nobody, it turns out - even Jack. But, a boy can dream!
In a world that constantly challenges Jack to be extraordinary, he consistently fails. His performance in class, in P.E., and in life are all met with obstacles and his best intentions to do better send him into a dream world filled with creatures more realistic than his own life. In contrast, his twin Phoebe is a winner at nearly everything she does. Even worse, his mother is about to become his teacher at school.
What's left to enjoy are dreams, which sometimes come with nightmares attached. And in this world, he shines.
Conductoid is a super-hero story, a saga of dreams and reality, and tells of a boy who shifts between the persona of a failure and that of Conductoid, a superhero with extraordinary abilities who saves lives and faces down challenges. What, exactly, is a 'conductoid'? It's "A being who can have another’s powers transmitted through them.’"
As Jack faces strangers, transformations, and challenges even in his super-world, he finds that the very qualities that limit him in one world come back to haunt him in the one place he feels powerful.
Not everything in Conductoid focuses on Jack's changing worlds: in between there are family encounters and relationships, field trips, and revelations about the underlying meaning of being strong.
Readers move between fantasy adventure and Jack's real world as Jack explores his position in both. Do the stories Jack creates have their roots in reality? While readers are treated to a satisfying intersection between fantasy and reality, the real questions lie in Jack's ability to move between two worlds and face the consequences of his choices in each.
This gripping saga will especially delight advanced elementary to middle grade readers who secretly dream of being heroes even as they struggle with being human.
Not every boy has a secret compartment in his closet and a jetpack accompanying his lunch bag. No normal boy can rocket into the sky through his rolled-back bedroom ceiling. And what boy can face his greatest enemy with nary a quiver? Nobody, it turns out - even Jack. But, a boy can dream!
In a world that constantly challenges Jack to be extraordinary, he consistently fails. His performance in class, in P.E., and in life are all met with obstacles and his best intentions to do better send him into a dream world filled with creatures more realistic than his own life. In contrast, his twin Phoebe is a winner at nearly everything she does. Even worse, his mother is about to become his teacher at school.
What's left to enjoy are dreams, which sometimes come with nightmares attached. And in this world, he shines.
Conductoid is a super-hero story, a saga of dreams and reality, and tells of a boy who shifts between the persona of a failure and that of Conductoid, a superhero with extraordinary abilities who saves lives and faces down challenges. What, exactly, is a 'conductoid'? It's "A being who can have another’s powers transmitted through them.’"
As Jack faces strangers, transformations, and challenges even in his super-world, he finds that the very qualities that limit him in one world come back to haunt him in the one place he feels powerful.
Not everything in Conductoid focuses on Jack's changing worlds: in between there are family encounters and relationships, field trips, and revelations about the underlying meaning of being strong.
Readers move between fantasy adventure and Jack's real world as Jack explores his position in both. Do the stories Jack creates have their roots in reality? While readers are treated to a satisfying intersection between fantasy and reality, the real questions lie in Jack's ability to move between two worlds and face the consequences of his choices in each.
This gripping saga will especially delight advanced elementary to middle grade readers who secretly dream of being heroes even as they struggle with being human.
June 8, 2017
A big thank you to the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
This book is full of hilarity! The main character, Jack, is a big daydreamer. While he's awake, we are told of his days full of exotic candies, being bullied by big oafs, soccer matches, fights with his precocious twin sister and his bratty schemes of getting people back. While he daydreams, he is always the hero.
The experiences he has in his dreams, changes who he is in his real life. He becomes a hero at school and his relationship gets better with his sister.
I think it's amazing how people can speak the same language but use different words. Thank you for teaching me that my father-in-law is a real pilgarlic! Lol
I picked out a sentence that made me laugh really hard. The scene was during dinner time. "As for eggplant, the person who named this vegetable was obviously not a botonist or a chicken farmer, though he must have been absolutely famished to eat it. Jack believed a wet dishcloth was tastier and less chewy."
This book will make you smile over and over again. I can only imagine how silly the author is in person! :) I was wondering the whole time if maybe he did some of these things himself when he was younger?...who wouldn't like to throw peas at a snob? Lol
This book is full of hilarity! The main character, Jack, is a big daydreamer. While he's awake, we are told of his days full of exotic candies, being bullied by big oafs, soccer matches, fights with his precocious twin sister and his bratty schemes of getting people back. While he daydreams, he is always the hero.
The experiences he has in his dreams, changes who he is in his real life. He becomes a hero at school and his relationship gets better with his sister.
I think it's amazing how people can speak the same language but use different words. Thank you for teaching me that my father-in-law is a real pilgarlic! Lol
I picked out a sentence that made me laugh really hard. The scene was during dinner time. "As for eggplant, the person who named this vegetable was obviously not a botonist or a chicken farmer, though he must have been absolutely famished to eat it. Jack believed a wet dishcloth was tastier and less chewy."
This book will make you smile over and over again. I can only imagine how silly the author is in person! :) I was wondering the whole time if maybe he did some of these things himself when he was younger?...who wouldn't like to throw peas at a snob? Lol
April 26, 2016
Conductoid is one of those rare books that takes you into both a unique fantasy world and the minds and hearts of the main characters. The successes and tribulations of the teenagers are insightful, and the Australian context and humour are terrific. Loved the antics in the sweet shop! Avid and fuzzy readers alike, are bound to enjoy Conductoid.
February 27, 2017
I LOVED this book! Its both a magical fantasy AND real life book. It's a year of Jack's life (he's about 10) and he has to deal with a whole bunch of things at home and at school but also Master Veriator comes into his dreams and changes him into different creatures and he saves people. It is such an interesting story, maybe even my favourite book I've ever read!
February 21, 2017
This book, Conductoid, by M.B. Kehane, opens with the quote on the cover, "All dream at night. It is the dreamers of the day that change worlds."
Jack McKay, a schoolboy who daydreams during the day a LOT, and flails about at school because of this, is beginning to sense that his daydreams are empowering him in a rather special way. Although he still undergoes the scorn of his completely non-identical twin Phoebe, who is brilliant and takes karate, and the frustration of his mum, he is slowly gaining force in the manner in which he learns from his teacher/daydreamer, the Master Veriator.
If you like Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, anything by Edward Eager, and/or N.M. Bodecker, you will love this book. There are layers upon layers of inventiveness waiting to appeal and amuse you. Even the candy is wacky in Conductoid, as are the vendors of it, and their dog.
What is a Conductoid? It will not ruin the book to explain that within the infinite number of parallel universes co-existing with time as the ultimate variable, only one being from a different dimension can use his or her powers outside the confines of that dimension. That being who can use his or her powers outside of that dimension is a Conductoid. Like Jack.
When Jack first heard this, he felt like laughing.
However, it isn't very funny--actually you have to be very brave to be a Conductoid. Something Jack turns out to be, much to his surprise.
There is a hint of a followup to Conductoid. I can't imagine any reader not looking forward to that! Love this book!
February 7, 2017
Credit to anyone who writes a book, but I suspect Lehane has a better one in him. While often quite funny, the flow of plot frequently felt quite jarring, and the idea of "show, don't tell" was taken to such great extremes that I repeatedly felt like I was missing part of the story.
Three chapters from the end, I almost gave up, which would have been my first one-star review (usually reserved for DNFs) in quite some time. However, that seemed a bit silly after reading 28 out of 31 chapters, so I forced myself through a speed read of the last bit.
Unfortunately, this isn't one of those two star books that I eventually adjust to a three star rating after the memory of it fades. This is one of those books that I am going to distinctly remember being poor, thus a two-star rated book it shall remain.
And just to finish... a fairly long message for the author:
Mr Lehane, you have talent, but if a highly educated 30-something adult keeps feeling like he's missing something, then your target audience is likely to feel the same. I won't read a sequel, but I do hope you will write another book at some point.
I suggest reading the Wayside School books, as I think your writing style and sense of humour would be well suited to writing books of that ilk; I genuinely mean it when I say that you have enough talent (albeit misfired in this instance) to make it as a writer of children's books.
If you find an illustrator to work with as well, you really could do something special.
Three chapters from the end, I almost gave up, which would have been my first one-star review (usually reserved for DNFs) in quite some time. However, that seemed a bit silly after reading 28 out of 31 chapters, so I forced myself through a speed read of the last bit.
Unfortunately, this isn't one of those two star books that I eventually adjust to a three star rating after the memory of it fades. This is one of those books that I am going to distinctly remember being poor, thus a two-star rated book it shall remain.
And just to finish... a fairly long message for the author:
Mr Lehane, you have talent, but if a highly educated 30-something adult keeps feeling like he's missing something, then your target audience is likely to feel the same. I won't read a sequel, but I do hope you will write another book at some point.
I suggest reading the Wayside School books, as I think your writing style and sense of humour would be well suited to writing books of that ilk; I genuinely mean it when I say that you have enough talent (albeit misfired in this instance) to make it as a writer of children's books.
If you find an illustrator to work with as well, you really could do something special.
February 26, 2017
M.B. Lehane combines every category I look for when selecting a family read; fantasy, adventure, humor, friendship, and great characters. I enjoy reading a book before my kids so I can build on it as we read. I am excited to see what my kids think about Conductoid.
Conductoid is about a brother and sister much like my kids and while my kids are not twins like Jack and Phoebe they are completely different.
From the first page you are thrust into the daydream world with Jack. He can't help himself. Jack is amazing in his dreams. Always the super hero and always saves the day. He even has a ceiling that rolls back so he can jet pack out of his bedroom anytime he is needed to save the world. Staying in reality isn't easy for Jack and why would he want to. He is constantly bullied, his mom doesn't seem to understand him. He and his sister don't get along and he is constantly in detention but what if Jack really is all he imagines. What if he is magical in other dimensions? What if he actually has powers.
The story isn't just about Jack and his specialty it is about family, trust, loyalty, perseverance and the secondary characters are just as important to the story too! I love Phoebe and Skye.
Like all the books this is being compared to; Harry Potter, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Percy Jackson, even Lemony Snicket (not a bad book in the bunch) Conductoid is also a great read for a boy or girl.
Conductoid is about a brother and sister much like my kids and while my kids are not twins like Jack and Phoebe they are completely different.
From the first page you are thrust into the daydream world with Jack. He can't help himself. Jack is amazing in his dreams. Always the super hero and always saves the day. He even has a ceiling that rolls back so he can jet pack out of his bedroom anytime he is needed to save the world. Staying in reality isn't easy for Jack and why would he want to. He is constantly bullied, his mom doesn't seem to understand him. He and his sister don't get along and he is constantly in detention but what if Jack really is all he imagines. What if he is magical in other dimensions? What if he actually has powers.
The story isn't just about Jack and his specialty it is about family, trust, loyalty, perseverance and the secondary characters are just as important to the story too! I love Phoebe and Skye.
Like all the books this is being compared to; Harry Potter, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Percy Jackson, even Lemony Snicket (not a bad book in the bunch) Conductoid is also a great read for a boy or girl.
June 5, 2017
I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways and have chosen to give my honest opinion about it.
I loved this book! My favorite part was the characters and watching them develop and engage with the story, it was truly marvelous to see how they'd react to the conflicts. The Conductoid idea is truly amazing, and the writing style was eloquent. The dialogue was enjoyable and just, wow, the world was just set up so well! I really hope the author explores more content like this, maybe a sequel??
I loved this book! My favorite part was the characters and watching them develop and engage with the story, it was truly marvelous to see how they'd react to the conflicts. The Conductoid idea is truly amazing, and the writing style was eloquent. The dialogue was enjoyable and just, wow, the world was just set up so well! I really hope the author explores more content like this, maybe a sequel??
June 10, 2017
A magical fantasy book with great characters that kept me laughing and smiling all the way through. A very clever imagination this author has, to be able to write such a great book. I can't wait to share with my grandsons when they get a little older. They will love it as much as I did. Great job!
August 12, 2017
This was a fun and easy read even though it's not usually my chosen genre. I would definitely recommend this book for fans of Harry Potter and the Percy Jackson series. It is by no means a rip-off of those books, but it has some elements in common, and fans would probably enjoy this book too.
July 2, 2016
Fantastic and very humorous book for kids and young adults (and adults....). Loved all the brilliant characters!
February 6, 2017
I love this book! I like the use of imagination in it! It really transports you & makes you think!
April 24, 2017
Engrossing, genre busting hilarity. Clever plot and social commentary. Throw in fantasy and good characters and can't wait for the next instalment from MB Lehane.
Andrew Ross
Andrew Ross
April 12, 2017
When I first saw Conductoid another reviewer had described this book as being in the same vein as Percy Jackson which left me both intrigued and skeptical, Rick Riordan is my favorite author so for someone to compare another book to his often leaves me disappointed.
This book though left me anything but disappointed, it was brilliant! with interesting characters, a healthy dose of humor, a unique story line unlike anything I have ever read before, and a writing style which truly is in the same vein as that of Percy Jackson I loved this book.
I don't only recommend this book I telling you to do yourself a favor go buy this book and you won't regret it.
This book though left me anything but disappointed, it was brilliant! with interesting characters, a healthy dose of humor, a unique story line unlike anything I have ever read before, and a writing style which truly is in the same vein as that of Percy Jackson I loved this book.
I don't only recommend this book I telling you to do yourself a favor go buy this book and you won't regret it.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews