Meltdown

2099 #5

by John Peel

When a bloody revolution takes hold and a threat to humanity is revealed, only a renegade band of teens and thieves can save it.

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Science Fiction

149 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

John Peel is the author of Doctor Who books and comic strips. Notably, he wrote the first original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, to launch the Virgin New Adventures line. In the early 1990s he was commissioned by Target Books to write novelisations of several key Terry Nation Dalek stories of the 1960s after the rights were finally worked out. He later wrote several more original Daleks novels.

He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).

Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..

Reviews

[Joe Kessler · Rating 2 out of 5]

After a promising start, this middle-grade sci-fi series has stalled out in a major way, and I can only hope that the sixth and final volume manages to tap into that original sense of imaginative fun that propelled the earlier books. Just like in the last entry, Jame's corner of the story about the rebellion against the corrupt ruler on Mars is the sole piece that's really still effective here, though it remains sadly isolated from everything else. His clone brothers are meanwhile stuck in their same old patterns: the psychopathic Devon again terrorizing people on the moon, while Tristan and his new friend Genia spend the whole novel trying to track down that villainous doppelgänger (and being inexplicably accompanied by the boy's ex-girlfriend Mora, who brings literally no relevant skills to the table). At least Shimoda finally makes headway in cracking the big conspiracy case she's been investigating, although it's fairly inert in how it plays out on the page.

As we head towards the conclusion, Devon is holding Earth hostage with a ship full of radioactive waste and has set up bombs to explode behind him on Luna, while the Quietus conspirators are heading off to join the Martian administrator, who's managed to suppress the local resistance movement with his own threats of widespread violence. Will the clones meet up before the end? Will we get more of that goofy futuristic worldbuilding that initially drew me into this setting? I'm pretty sure I read this far way back in the day, but it turns out I don't remember any of these later installments at all.

[Content warning for gun violence.]

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[Lisa Overberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

This good versus evil book must be read as part of the series; it is difficult to understand if read alone. Moral issues of power, computer control, surveillance, and loyalty are woven into the plots. Good clone-twin (or triplet) teen Tristan and his friends plan to save the Earth from being overtaken by evil clone Devon, who had been raised by 'bots, away from all human contact. There is also a plot to destroy the vulnerable human colonies living in high-tech burrows beneath the Moon's surface as well as those living on Mars. The teens successfully use their computer hacking skills to destroy the Doomsday Virus, but a ship filled with radioactive waste has been diverted from its path toward the Sun to impact with the Earth. The reader will find the resolution in book #6, Firestorm.

Genre: Science fiction, fantasy
Reading level: 5.1
Grade level: 6-8
Lexile: 640L

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to re-read it, but I remember thoroughly enjoying this series.

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old school dystopian at its best.