Bites Back

Project Terra #2

by Landry Q. Walker, Keith Zoo (illustrator)

After narrowly escaping death and saving Pandora from destruction, Elara Adele Vaughn is back in action to start her second year at the Seven Systems Academy of Terraforming Arts. But she's done being a hero this time around--Elara just wants to learn how to build new worlds with her best friends Knot, Beezle, Sabik, and her alien-sponge roommate, Clare. But when an evil time-hopping force threatens to take down the galactic order, Elara's "normal" school year might turn into something weird. But what's a little danger for the Academy's most troublemaking student and her oddball crew of friends?

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, Time Travel

240 pages, Hardcover

Published June 5, 2018

About the author

Landry Q. Walker is a New York Times bestselling author of comics and books. His work includes Star Wars stories, Batman and Supergirl comics, and the Project Terra series of novels. He also co-created a Saturday morning cartoon called Scary Larry. He likes castles and robots and also pop-tarts. Most days he sits in his office and pushes buttons on a keyboard until stories somehow happen.

Reviews

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elara is excited but also a little nervous about heading back to school and seeing all of her friends. Everyone else was able to stay connected online over the summer, but her family lives too far out for communications to get through. So when she arrives at school she is super shocked to find that the school is now on a spaceship and run entirely by robots instead of adults and there are new classes on war strategies and such. Evidently a man called the Watchman has taken over the ruling body of the universes, convinced everyone that he has a safer way to raise the youth, and taken over education. Everyone keeps acting like everything is fine and dandy, but Elara knows something is deeply wrong. Why is everyone acting so strange?

I like that these Project Terra adventures are really smart scifi adventures. There's some solid science principles involved as the basis of lots of the tech and plot points. (There's also a bit of a convoluted timetravel plot line involved that had some question marks, but the author figures out ways to cover the potential pitfalls of that mostly convincingly.) Light dystopia fans will get into the plot line and how Elara has to save herself and her friends from the new system in charge of the school. It looks ok on the surface but the farther you get into the book the more messed up it shows itself to be. I liked that Elara is learning about how to lead without being bossy and to listen to others in this one. There are quite a few other fictional characters I can think of who'd benefit from those lessons and I hope that readers can learn these lessons the easy way through Elara's adventures. I have several students eagerly awaiting this now that I'm done with it. The first book has been decently popular. Recommended to smart scifi fans, boarding school story fans, safe dystopia fans, and timetravel fans.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Flashbacks of planet-wide destruction, and some perilous situations faced but no one gets really seriously hurt.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

What I loved best about this book was not even part of the main plot of the story; it's the fact that her friends confronted her when she was being a jerk, and they called her on it! They basically told her, "Elara, you are being mean and losing your temper with us and not listening to us," and they made her own her problems and HELPED her work on this! This is major. A children's chapter book dealt with inner issues and personal problems successfully in a group of friends. Mind-blowing.

Okay, so there was a bunch of other stuff that happened to that was central to the whole plot of the book what with a new school year, and a completely new school and new teachers and a new Headmistress. Elara is sure that there is an evil plot happening at the new school, and she feels frustrated and ANGRY that no one will listen to her. Then confirmation seems to occur when her old time-travelling friend, Groob literally pops in and out of sight after uttering words that are not much help.

Stress, field trips, blowing things up, going planet-side, and much more happens. The characters are likeable though they haven't developed much, with a few notable exceptions. I would like to see more if there is going to be a third book.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously disappointing book which seems to reinforce the idea that girls should stay quiet lest they upset their friends.

Female protagonist is set up as the only one who isn’t brainwashed by an evil time-traveling megalomaniac. She tries to warn her friends who blow her off because she hasn’t got a solution to the problem. Then later those friends tell her that she didn’t listen to them and it hurt their feelings.

Would a male protagonist have had to learn the same lesson? Doubtful, in my opinion. Incredibly disappointing that even in a fun space romp girls can’t escape the message that they must worry about others’ fragile feelings above all else.

[Ms. Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fresh on the heels of saving the universe with her classmates, Elara is eager to go back for her second year at her prestigious terraforming academy. When she arrives, however, a whole host of robotic teachers seem to have taken over, and the school seems more like a military camp than a place where she can learn the art of making planets habitable. Her friends are all distant, too, and start ignoring her when she tries to discuss the changes with them. Can she figure out what's going on before she gets suspended...or killed?

This is the second in the series, but it definitely works as a stand-alone book. Great for anyone who likes books about weird boarding schools or mysteries.

[Megan Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would've liked it more if I'd read the first one (oops), but by the end of it, I would've definitely read the next one...which doesn't seem to exist. I liked the protagonist, but I loved how her friends called her out on her "I'll be the hero and save everyone" attitude. I think my students would enjoy this one.

[Fencerkitty19 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story, but for me, I didn't find much humor in it, even though it was supposed to be really funny.