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Alien Adventures #3
The Search for Snout
Somewhere Snout is waiting.
Rod Allbright and his alien friends face the biggest mystery of their lives: where in the wide, wide galaxy is their missing friend Snout, the Master of the Mental Arts?
Their death-defying search for their friend leads them across the stars to the Mentat, the mysterious home of the Mental Masters. But the clues they uncover there only deepen the mystery — and the danger.
For Rod and his friends have stumbled into something far bigger and more dangerous than any of them had dreamed of. At stake are their honor, their lives, their sanity, and (just possibly) the fate of the universe.
Rod Allbright and his alien friends face the biggest mystery of their lives: where in the wide, wide galaxy is their missing friend Snout, the Master of the Mental Arts?
Their death-defying search for their friend leads them across the stars to the Mentat, the mysterious home of the Mental Masters. But the clues they uncover there only deepen the mystery — and the danger.
For Rod and his friends have stumbled into something far bigger and more dangerous than any of them had dreamed of. At stake are their honor, their lives, their sanity, and (just possibly) the fate of the universe.
192 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1995
About the author
Bruce Coville
294 books1,240 followersBruce Coville was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1950. His family lived in farm territory, about twenty miles north of Syracuse. Bruce grew up around the corner from his grandparents' dairy farm, where he spent a great deal of time as a child, dodging cows and chores to the best of his ability. As a young reader he loved Mary Poppins and Dr. Dolittle, and still has fond memories of rising ahead of the rest of his family so he could huddle in a chair and read THE VOYAGES OF DR. DOLITTLE. He also read lots of things that people consider junk (Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and zillions of comic books). His only real regret is the time he spent watching television, when he could have been reading instead. (A mind is a terrible thing to waste!)
His first book, THE FOOLISH GIANT, was published in 1978. It was illustrated by his wife, Katherine, whom he had married in 1969. This was followed in 1979 by SARAH'S UNICORN, also illustrated by Katherine. After a long period of working separately, the Covilles began collaborating again with SPACE BRAT and GOBLINS IN THE CASTLE, both published in 1992.
Before getting published Bruce earned his living as a toymaker, a gravedigger, a cookware salesman, an assembly line worker, and finally as an elementary school teacher (second and fourth grades). He left teaching in 1981 to devote himself to becoming a full time writer - though it took another five years to achieve that goal!)
Bruce has published over 100 books, which have appeared in over a dozen countries around the world and sold more than sixteen million copies. Among his most popular titles are MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN, INTO THE LAND OF THE UNICORNS, and THE MONSTER'S RING. In 2001 he founded Full Cast Audio, an audiobook company dedicated to creating unabridged, full cast recordings of the best in children's and young adult literature.
His first book, THE FOOLISH GIANT, was published in 1978. It was illustrated by his wife, Katherine, whom he had married in 1969. This was followed in 1979 by SARAH'S UNICORN, also illustrated by Katherine. After a long period of working separately, the Covilles began collaborating again with SPACE BRAT and GOBLINS IN THE CASTLE, both published in 1992.
Before getting published Bruce earned his living as a toymaker, a gravedigger, a cookware salesman, an assembly line worker, and finally as an elementary school teacher (second and fourth grades). He left teaching in 1981 to devote himself to becoming a full time writer - though it took another five years to achieve that goal!)
Bruce has published over 100 books, which have appeared in over a dozen countries around the world and sold more than sixteen million copies. Among his most popular titles are MY TEACHER IS AN ALIEN, INTO THE LAND OF THE UNICORNS, and THE MONSTER'S RING. In 2001 he founded Full Cast Audio, an audiobook company dedicated to creating unabridged, full cast recordings of the best in children's and young adult literature.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 13, 2023
So rarely are things from your childhood actually exactly as good and awesome and deeply lovely as you remember them to be.
February 17, 2018
Whooooa, I didn't even remember I had read this book (I mean, it's been about two decades, let's not joke around) but that cover is so familiar I feel like I can still feel the worn edges of the library's copy from all that time ago.
March 6, 2022
The library never had a copy of this book when I was a kid, so I got to read the first, second, and fourth books in the series, but not this one. Well, now I’ve finally read it. Not bad.
January 16, 2020
It was OK for a kids' book but poorly written in some places.
For example, on page 100 (speaking about the cruelty of the main villain called B.K.R. in the story) it reads:
"Some were as subtle as making comments that seemed friendly but were carefully phrased to create confusion and self-doubt in the listener. Others were as blatant as tearing the wings from little flying animals, then letting them lose to suffer..."
Lose? Lose instead of loose? Who edited this? If I were the author I would fire my editor for letting something like that slide! Or I wouldn't have made that mistake to begin with. Why did nobody notice this obvious error? Maybe the animals really did lose just to add insult to injury.
The only other place I've seen 'lose' confused with 'loose' is on social media. The place where overly confident and opinionated people can't write proper English.
I'm pretty sure this book was written in North America too and not some country like the U.K. or Australia where certain words carry an alternative spelling.
For example, on page 100 (speaking about the cruelty of the main villain called B.K.R. in the story) it reads:
"Some were as subtle as making comments that seemed friendly but were carefully phrased to create confusion and self-doubt in the listener. Others were as blatant as tearing the wings from little flying animals, then letting them lose to suffer..."
Lose? Lose instead of loose? Who edited this? If I were the author I would fire my editor for letting something like that slide! Or I wouldn't have made that mistake to begin with. Why did nobody notice this obvious error? Maybe the animals really did lose just to add insult to injury.
The only other place I've seen 'lose' confused with 'loose' is on social media. The place where overly confident and opinionated people can't write proper English.
I'm pretty sure this book was written in North America too and not some country like the U.K. or Australia where certain words carry an alternative spelling.
April 26, 2018
Coville is a genius. To be sure, when I first read the Alien Adventures series, I had actually never seen Star Trek, so the references (including in the title of this installment) totally escaped me at the time. This quest tale is great for its depth layered behind what is, on the surface, a gag-filled fun, brazen adventure-type story. (Hey - again with the Star Trek parallel!)
August 29, 2021
Heck yes. Things get pretty weird, wild and out of this world in this third installment of a favourite from my youth. I think the world expanding on this one is what made it quite beloved in my memory and pretty dang fun to revisit. Just got number #4 in the mail so we'll see if I can squeeze it in to finish my summer series!
August 29, 2023
And now we're off to the races! The first two books in this series were fun, but kind of fluffy. The Search for Snout seriously raises the stakes, moves the plot into overdrive, and introduces some pretty decent sci-fi concepts. Classic Coville.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 2, 2021
I think this is Coville's best book. It's a fun read even as an adult and even after all these years.
March 15, 2023
Reading these books with my kids and suddenly realizing where my love for sci-fi started. They are so much fun and such a great introduction to the genre for my kids!
September 20, 2024
I remember this book being my favorite of the quartet, when I was a kid, and I think I know why: it's a worldbuilding dump, including and I will always be weak for fun worldbuilding reveals.
Other things I liked on reread:
- Rod is genuinely conflicted about leaving his mother and younger siblings; they're treated as equally important parts of his family to his missing father, and his choice to go is partly about them, not just himself. (In general, the way this series handles the 'hero missing his father' plotline is nuanced and sympathetic, and doesn't have the... weird attitude that fathers are more important than all other family, which can come up in similar plots.)
- Phil comments that Earth is not far from having whole libraries stored on a single flat piece of technology: 1995. Original Kindle e-reader released: 2007.
- The Mentat is just cool, and in general this series does a great job of making its alien people and planets downright weird.
- Grakker's conflict over Snout is, once more, convincing me that Coville is a Spirk shipper. Like dang.
Other things I liked on reread:
- Rod is genuinely conflicted about leaving his mother and younger siblings; they're treated as equally important parts of his family to his missing father, and his choice to go is partly about them, not just himself. (In general, the way this series handles the 'hero missing his father' plotline is nuanced and sympathetic, and doesn't have the... weird attitude that fathers are more important than all other family, which can come up in similar plots.)
- Phil comments that Earth is not far from having whole libraries stored on a single flat piece of technology: 1995. Original Kindle e-reader released: 2007.
- The Mentat is just cool, and in general this series does a great job of making its alien people and planets downright weird.
- Grakker's conflict over Snout is, once more, convincing me that Coville is a Spirk shipper. Like dang.
October 10, 2010
Omg I read this book a long time ago and while I was reading it and after I was done with it I thought it was absolutely amazing. When I first saw it I thought it would be so hard to read because it was one of those brick-like books. But anyways I start to read it and I can't put it down!
It's been a long time so I don't remember the characters. But it follows the journey of some kids that are travelling across space for some reason to stop a sort of evil that's going on. (Yeah I know, terrible summary huh)?
What I really like about this book is how they go through so much obstacles, challenges, surprises, characters and experiences. There's so much imagination in this book, I was actually surprised I had read such a huge book. But I do recommend you read this because it is a very interesting kind of book. (But not if you don't like sci-fi kind of stuff.)
It's been a long time so I don't remember the characters. But it follows the journey of some kids that are travelling across space for some reason to stop a sort of evil that's going on. (Yeah I know, terrible summary huh)?
What I really like about this book is how they go through so much obstacles, challenges, surprises, characters and experiences. There's so much imagination in this book, I was actually surprised I had read such a huge book. But I do recommend you read this because it is a very interesting kind of book. (But not if you don't like sci-fi kind of stuff.)
August 28, 2015
After rereading this, I'll leave the 5 star rating, but there were some slow parts in the middle that seemed like attempts to stretch the length of this book to be consistent with the others. The ending was great, however. It could have easily concluded the series since it concluded what I felt was the major unifying factor of all the books. I don't remember much about the next book. Much like my reread of the My Teacher Is An Alien series, I remembered significant bits from the the first three books, but the last book is a blank.
June 22, 2017
the last I read of a great series.
June 10, 2012
I adored this series as a kid. I loved everything Coville wrote, but this series was near the top.
Currently Reading
April 23, 2014This book is great and it has alot of adventure and alot of mystery. It takes aeile to get into but then it really good.
October 31, 2021
Third book in Rod Allbright’s adventures, and it’s another fun one. The pace is a little faster the second, back like the first, and the alien planets were interesting.
December 11, 2021
This book is the definition of perfection in my opinion I probably read this book 3 time.
March 3, 2015
This book is really interesting.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews