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The Shapeshifter #3
Going to Ground
When Dax receives an urgent call, he knows he has to drop everything and race to the aid of his friends. But that's not as easy as it sounds. Strange things are happening-unbelievable occurrences that seem to be following Dax and his friends wherever they go.
And that's not all that's after them . . . Government agents are stalking their every move-tracking them down. The very people who are supposed to be protecting them seem to be the biggest threat. Who can they trust? Where should they run?
Each of the friends must call upon their special powers to try to outwit their pursuers-but will these abilities spell the end for them all?
And that's not all that's after them . . . Government agents are stalking their every move-tracking them down. The very people who are supposed to be protecting them seem to be the biggest threat. Who can they trust? Where should they run?
Each of the friends must call upon their special powers to try to outwit their pursuers-but will these abilities spell the end for them all?
352 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2007
30 people are currently reading
292 people want to read
About the author
Ali Sparkes
121 books146 followersAli Sparkes (born 1966) is a British children's author.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 23, 2024
I love me a good road trip story and this one is no exception!
(When Dax receives an urgent call, he knows he has to drop everything and race to the aid of his friends. But that's not as easy as it sounds. Strange things are happening-unbelievable occurrences that seem to be following Dax and his friends wherever they go.
And that's not all that's after them . . . Government agents are stalking their every move-tracking them down. The very people who are supposed to be protecting them seem to be the biggest threat. Who can they trust? Where should they run?
Each of the friends must call upon their special powers to try to outwit their pursuers-but will these abilities spell the end for them all?) ~ Blurb from Goodreads
The scenes where Dax was in his Peregrine Falcon form were a lot of fun. They remind me a lot of the scenes in the first entry where Dax was in his fox form for the first time and the reader got to feel the excitement Dax felt and experience the world through the eyes of another creature, but because the falcon is a much different beast from the fox and because Dax has much more experience with shapeshifting, they didn't feel like a complete rehash.
There was a scene in chapter three that was so damn effective. So in chapter three, Dax's younger sister Alice catches Dax transforming into his fox form and Dax has to scramble to convince her that what she saw was part of a dream, as he's not quite ready to reveal his power to her yet, and whether this method worked or not isn't revealed. Not only did this scene catch me completely by surprise, but it also created a lot of suspense. Is Alice going to blab about Dax's power to as many people as possible? Will she keep his power under wraps?
I loved this novel's approach to the plot. So, instead of trying to do another variation of the "Year in the life of Dax at COLA college", this novel goes for more of an on the run/road trip kind of story. Not only did it shake up the series, but it also took advantage of the aftermath of the last entry's events and really put the abilities and skills of Dax and his friends to the test.
I thought Clive's contributions in this novel were pretty cool. So Clive is Dax's nerdy best friend who was established in the first entry and he gets some awesome moments here where he I also like how he
The ending was pretty interesting. So basically, The more subdued nature of this ending was a great way to distinguish this entry from the more bombastic ending of the previous entry and I love how it strikes a perfect balance between happy and tragic in a way that feels believable yet satisfying.
There was this one moment that I just hated. So in chapter nine, Lisa makes their taxi driver stop at a gas station because "This is where it started" and Lisa gets out with Dax following. Long story short, they get spotted by some government agents and things get worse. In other words, this whole thing could've been avoided if Lisa didn't force the taxi driver to stop at the gas station. Not only was this an incredibly forced way to add conflict, but the fact that Lisa never realizes how dumb it was to deliberately put everyone in danger for no good reason and the fact that no one calls Lisa out on it was mind boggling and super unbelievable. Honestly, if adding conflict was the goal here, why not have Lisa get spotted by the agents after she finishes using the bathroom at the gas station? Why not have the agents hiding in vehicles on the side of the road and give chase when they spot the taxi Dax and the gang are in? At least then it would add conflict in a plausible way.
The orb thing that pursues Dax and the gang, in addition to the government agents, is a little confusing. So basically, this orb thing has the power to manipulate electric pylons and electricity in general and it turns out that this orb thing is actually Gideon's sister Catherine, who basically died in the previous entry. The orb thing also just disappears during a battle it has with Gideon near the tail end. This makes absolutely no sense. While it was established that Catherine could absorb other people's powers, she was otherwise just a normal human being, so how did she even survive and whose powers did she absorb that allowed her to become the orb thing? Now, to be fair, it is possible that this may be explained in a later entry, but as of now, it's just headscratching.
Overall, Going to Ground was a really fun page turner of a novel that successfully carved out its own identity.
Overall Grade: A-
(When Dax receives an urgent call, he knows he has to drop everything and race to the aid of his friends. But that's not as easy as it sounds. Strange things are happening-unbelievable occurrences that seem to be following Dax and his friends wherever they go.
And that's not all that's after them . . . Government agents are stalking their every move-tracking them down. The very people who are supposed to be protecting them seem to be the biggest threat. Who can they trust? Where should they run?
Each of the friends must call upon their special powers to try to outwit their pursuers-but will these abilities spell the end for them all?) ~ Blurb from Goodreads
The scenes where Dax was in his Peregrine Falcon form were a lot of fun. They remind me a lot of the scenes in the first entry where Dax was in his fox form for the first time and the reader got to feel the excitement Dax felt and experience the world through the eyes of another creature, but because the falcon is a much different beast from the fox and because Dax has much more experience with shapeshifting, they didn't feel like a complete rehash.
There was a scene in chapter three that was so damn effective. So in chapter three, Dax's younger sister Alice catches Dax transforming into his fox form and Dax has to scramble to convince her that what she saw was part of a dream, as he's not quite ready to reveal his power to her yet, and whether this method worked or not isn't revealed. Not only did this scene catch me completely by surprise, but it also created a lot of suspense. Is Alice going to blab about Dax's power to as many people as possible? Will she keep his power under wraps?
I loved this novel's approach to the plot. So, instead of trying to do another variation of the "Year in the life of Dax at COLA college", this novel goes for more of an on the run/road trip kind of story. Not only did it shake up the series, but it also took advantage of the aftermath of the last entry's events and really put the abilities and skills of Dax and his friends to the test.
I thought Clive's contributions in this novel were pretty cool. So Clive is Dax's nerdy best friend who was established in the first entry and he gets some awesome moments here where he I also like how he
The ending was pretty interesting. So basically, The more subdued nature of this ending was a great way to distinguish this entry from the more bombastic ending of the previous entry and I love how it strikes a perfect balance between happy and tragic in a way that feels believable yet satisfying.
There was this one moment that I just hated. So in chapter nine, Lisa makes their taxi driver stop at a gas station because "This is where it started" and Lisa gets out with Dax following. Long story short, they get spotted by some government agents and things get worse. In other words, this whole thing could've been avoided if Lisa didn't force the taxi driver to stop at the gas station. Not only was this an incredibly forced way to add conflict, but the fact that Lisa never realizes how dumb it was to deliberately put everyone in danger for no good reason and the fact that no one calls Lisa out on it was mind boggling and super unbelievable. Honestly, if adding conflict was the goal here, why not have Lisa get spotted by the agents after she finishes using the bathroom at the gas station? Why not have the agents hiding in vehicles on the side of the road and give chase when they spot the taxi Dax and the gang are in? At least then it would add conflict in a plausible way.
The orb thing that pursues Dax and the gang, in addition to the government agents, is a little confusing. So basically, this orb thing has the power to manipulate electric pylons and electricity in general and it turns out that this orb thing is actually Gideon's sister Catherine, who basically died in the previous entry. The orb thing also just disappears during a battle it has with Gideon near the tail end. This makes absolutely no sense. While it was established that Catherine could absorb other people's powers, she was otherwise just a normal human being, so how did she even survive and whose powers did she absorb that allowed her to become the orb thing? Now, to be fair, it is possible that this may be explained in a later entry, but as of now, it's just headscratching.
Overall, Going to Ground was a really fun page turner of a novel that successfully carved out its own identity.
Overall Grade: A-
December 5, 2019
I really enjoyed this book and all in the series before it. It is an exiting page turner with lots of emotion and back stories with lots of references to past events earlier in the Series. To understand it and enjoy it the most i would recommend reading the previous books, it is book 3 of a long series. The genre is a mix between fantasy and reality fiction. The ending is good and satisfying with an underlying cliffhanger that is not dramatic but leaves you wanting to read the rest of the books. I would recommend this book and the entire series to anyone who enjoys a gripping book with lots of changes in pace with lots of mystery, confusion and surprises. Also people who like realistic magic and Fantasy.
December 28, 2021
This might be the best book so far. Well done, Ali, the series gets better as it goes on!!!
January 20, 2017
The 'road trip' book - not my favourite of the original five, but contains many beautiful scenes, like looking after Mia at the campsite and 'every COLA for every COLA'.
June 11, 2023
Quite a decent book if I do say so myself.
I started reading this book about a month or so ago, stopped reading it for a little while but then picked it up again to finish of the story.
OK, so if I remember correctly, after tregarran college was washed away by Catherine, all the COLA's had to be homeschooled. Dad had to go back to his tiny little house with his half sister, step mum and dad (who was always at work). The COLA's were monitored by men in vans who had special equipment to pick up supernatural activity although, it confuses me why the COLAs weren't supposed to use their powers. Dax, of course couldn't resist shifting, so he shifted to a Peregrine Falcon to play a prank on the guys who were monitoring him. He flies to the supermarket to grab a bag of maltesers. He then shifts back to the falcon and drops the Maltesers on the van mid flight (on purpose of course). A few days later Owen Hind goes to his House to tell him off. A couple of days later Dax recieves a call from Lisa (I think???) and Lisa Calls to say that Gideon (Dax's best COLA friend) is in trouble. Dad shifts to the falcon yet again and meets Lisa discreetly at the train station. From here Lisa Calls Gideon to convince his dad that he wants to go to the shopping centre to buy a CD with his pocket money (or something similar to that). Gideon's Dad is convinced and they both go to the shopping centre together. Gideon is wearing this hat over his face to make himself seem almost unrecognisable. Dax visits the shopping centre and tells Gideon his scheme. They switch clothes and Dax (pretending to be Gideon) runs to Gideons dad and gives him a note. He then jumps out of a window and shifts again to the falcon. Here's a brief note describing the rest of the story. Gideon, Lisa and Dax head down to Mia's house as she has been using too much of her healing power kn her drunk dad. Lisa's butler drives them somewhere for safety. They stop off at a service station to discover pylons have been melted nearby and government officials belive that this is Gideons doing. The four of them ditch Lisa's butler and they head on a coach. More pylons were Melting ne They go off the coach and head towards Dax's bolt hole 'The Owl Box'. Not long after this they all split up and go on the Run again as government officials are still trying to catch them. On their journey they discover a floating orb which seems to always be lingering near to where the pylons were Melting. Eventually, once Gideon and Dax get to a rock for shelter, Spook creates an illusion of Gideons Dad in order to trick him and allow the government officials to capture him. Despite this, Owen ends up capturing just Dax and telling him he's on their side. Dax doesn't trust him at first (he turns into a fox in order to bite him) but he does believe believe him eventually. The government officials then whisk the 4 COLAs towards the new school. On their way, the orb strikes again, it destroys their makeshift coach, pylons (of course) and takes hold of Gideon. The orb is highly electrified although Gideon was somehow unaffected by this. Towards the end, the orb turns out to have been Catherine (Gideon's sister who destroyed tregarren). In conclusion, this was quite a good read. I will be reading more books in the series.
I started reading this book about a month or so ago, stopped reading it for a little while but then picked it up again to finish of the story.
OK, so if I remember correctly, after tregarran college was washed away by Catherine, all the COLA's had to be homeschooled. Dad had to go back to his tiny little house with his half sister, step mum and dad (who was always at work). The COLA's were monitored by men in vans who had special equipment to pick up supernatural activity although, it confuses me why the COLAs weren't supposed to use their powers. Dax, of course couldn't resist shifting, so he shifted to a Peregrine Falcon to play a prank on the guys who were monitoring him. He flies to the supermarket to grab a bag of maltesers. He then shifts back to the falcon and drops the Maltesers on the van mid flight (on purpose of course). A few days later Owen Hind goes to his House to tell him off. A couple of days later Dax recieves a call from Lisa (I think???) and Lisa Calls to say that Gideon (Dax's best COLA friend) is in trouble. Dad shifts to the falcon yet again and meets Lisa discreetly at the train station. From here Lisa Calls Gideon to convince his dad that he wants to go to the shopping centre to buy a CD with his pocket money (or something similar to that). Gideon's Dad is convinced and they both go to the shopping centre together. Gideon is wearing this hat over his face to make himself seem almost unrecognisable. Dax visits the shopping centre and tells Gideon his scheme. They switch clothes and Dax (pretending to be Gideon) runs to Gideons dad and gives him a note. He then jumps out of a window and shifts again to the falcon. Here's a brief note describing the rest of the story. Gideon, Lisa and Dax head down to Mia's house as she has been using too much of her healing power kn her drunk dad. Lisa's butler drives them somewhere for safety. They stop off at a service station to discover pylons have been melted nearby and government officials belive that this is Gideons doing. The four of them ditch Lisa's butler and they head on a coach. More pylons were Melting ne They go off the coach and head towards Dax's bolt hole 'The Owl Box'. Not long after this they all split up and go on the Run again as government officials are still trying to catch them. On their journey they discover a floating orb which seems to always be lingering near to where the pylons were Melting. Eventually, once Gideon and Dax get to a rock for shelter, Spook creates an illusion of Gideons Dad in order to trick him and allow the government officials to capture him. Despite this, Owen ends up capturing just Dax and telling him he's on their side. Dax doesn't trust him at first (he turns into a fox in order to bite him) but he does believe believe him eventually. The government officials then whisk the 4 COLAs towards the new school. On their way, the orb strikes again, it destroys their makeshift coach, pylons (of course) and takes hold of Gideon. The orb is highly electrified although Gideon was somehow unaffected by this. Towards the end, the orb turns out to have been Catherine (Gideon's sister who destroyed tregarren). In conclusion, this was quite a good read. I will be reading more books in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2023
3.7 stars - oddly specific, yes.
After loving the previous instalment of this series I was eager to read Going to Ground and, yes, I really enjoyed it. However there were some chapters where I found myself bored. Things were happening, but at a slow pace, and the things weren’t quite exciting enough to keep me intrigued. I can see the the riddles given to Dax by the wolf are a recurring element in probably each of the books, and they do contribute greatly to the mystery of this series. Once again, I loved the climax of the book - the author writes it so fantastically, I think I involuntarily shook my head in surprise at the suddenness of it all, and afterwards things were resolved nicely - but of course, the perfect gap left for the next book. I partially guessed some of the plot, and knew some other things that were meant to be a little obscure, but I think that comes from being a bit older than the target audience. Nonetheless, I adore each of the characters AND the twist at the end was very unexpected, and improved my thoughts about the book instantly. I am still deadset on reading the rest of the series - there’s still so much to happen!! A satisfying read - not my favourite so far, but it hasn’t deterred me from the series.
After loving the previous instalment of this series I was eager to read Going to Ground and, yes, I really enjoyed it. However there were some chapters where I found myself bored. Things were happening, but at a slow pace, and the things weren’t quite exciting enough to keep me intrigued. I can see the the riddles given to Dax by the wolf are a recurring element in probably each of the books, and they do contribute greatly to the mystery of this series. Once again, I loved the climax of the book - the author writes it so fantastically, I think I involuntarily shook my head in surprise at the suddenness of it all, and afterwards things were resolved nicely - but of course, the perfect gap left for the next book. I partially guessed some of the plot, and knew some other things that were meant to be a little obscure, but I think that comes from being a bit older than the target audience. Nonetheless, I adore each of the characters AND the twist at the end was very unexpected, and improved my thoughts about the book instantly. I am still deadset on reading the rest of the series - there’s still so much to happen!! A satisfying read - not my favourite so far, but it hasn’t deterred me from the series.
September 2, 2018
Have been reading this one out loud to my boys and we've all LOVED it! Following on from the dramatic end to the previous story this story opens with all the COLA children scattered across the country, trying to recover from an attack that has left them bereft of their beloved Tregarren College. Dax, Gideon, Mia and Lisa are forced to flee, spending time out in the wild avoiding those looking for them. Ali Sparkes has woven another finely crafted tale around this band of misfit Children Of Limitless Ability, they are a likeable bunch and the story moves along with good pace.
October 23, 2018
Been a while since I read the first two books in this series. I was gonna translate this one to Dutch for my cousin, but that never really got far. But I liked the story, so I'm continuing on with the series anyway.
This one felt very quick. It was just constantly on the run. But we still saw some important developments in the world of the colas, which is what's really got me hooked on this series. I can tell that there's some big things to discover there and I'm very excited about that
This one felt very quick. It was just constantly on the run. But we still saw some important developments in the world of the colas, which is what's really got me hooked on this series. I can tell that there's some big things to discover there and I'm very excited about that
January 10, 2022
I can't recommend this series enough, I can't put the books down.
April 2, 2022
ain't no way bro like so many plot twists and surprises you can't even guess the ending I'm so done with this series dhdndjsn
May 19, 2022
i love they
March 31, 2025
Not as good as the second one. This one almost felt like a filler book. However, that ending was phenomenal! The twists are goooood!
June 4, 2021
Again, I loved this book - this is such a fantastic series, and each book has something new and interesting to keep you hooked.
April 8, 2020
'We're being dowsed.'
Sparkes does it once again: Keeping you at the edge of your seat, trying to figure out what's happening, why, who's doing it and how they're doing it.
Even more so than in Book 1 and 2, everything is shrouded in mystery. The main characters are running, but they haven't got a clue why or what from. And neither do you, reader. You can keep on guessing, and maybe you'll guess correctly as for the 'who', but I doubt you'd guess correctly as for the 'how' and 'why'. Ingeniously played and written once more.
In Book 5, I'll be talking a bit more about Mia, but right now I already want to say that there are some small signs that she's not… how to put it... 100% as you'd think she'd be. There's more to her than it would appear. That's all I say for now; if you're re-reading the books, maybe you'll find the very careful hints towards what's coming as well.
Clive becomes a sort-of main character. I never really cared about him one way or another in the first two books, because he was just one of those slightly weird not-quite-important characters, but Sparkes does him justice in Going to Ground. You'll find out more about him, and he's pretty cool.
The book is a bit of a road trip, which is always nice. It also harks back to Book 1 with Caroline Fisher - the journalist. Remember I told you how they were already foreshadowing things back then? You could argue that was just for later on in the same book… Personally, I've always felt Caroline was talking about something bigger, like this thing. It's a shame she's not actually present in the book - that would have been even better - but I was glad she was brought up as an off-screen important character all the same.
And once again, there's the ending.
In hindsight, I guess, you could look back at the ending of Book 2 and go, 'Well, that's not too surprising.' You may not have seen it all coming, but now that it's come, it's all logical, normal, in a way.
Not so here. Your mind will be blown, believe me. It takes up to the very last pages until we finally learn what has been going on during the book, and how it all fits together. And then there's another big surprise/shock (call it what you want) coming, five pages before the actual ending. Even bigger than the ending of Book 2. Yes, I'm serious. It harks back to the ending of Book 2, and there's no way you'll be able to see it coming. There's no warning, no foreshadowing. It's just… A bomb will be dropped right onto your head.
8.4/10
Sparkes does it once again: Keeping you at the edge of your seat, trying to figure out what's happening, why, who's doing it and how they're doing it.
Even more so than in Book 1 and 2, everything is shrouded in mystery. The main characters are running, but they haven't got a clue why or what from. And neither do you, reader. You can keep on guessing, and maybe you'll guess correctly as for the 'who', but I doubt you'd guess correctly as for the 'how' and 'why'. Ingeniously played and written once more.
In Book 5, I'll be talking a bit more about Mia, but right now I already want to say that there are some small signs that she's not… how to put it... 100% as you'd think she'd be. There's more to her than it would appear. That's all I say for now; if you're re-reading the books, maybe you'll find the very careful hints towards what's coming as well.
Clive becomes a sort-of main character. I never really cared about him one way or another in the first two books, because he was just one of those slightly weird not-quite-important characters, but Sparkes does him justice in Going to Ground. You'll find out more about him, and he's pretty cool.
The book is a bit of a road trip, which is always nice. It also harks back to Book 1 with Caroline Fisher - the journalist. Remember I told you how they were already foreshadowing things back then? You could argue that was just for later on in the same book… Personally, I've always felt Caroline was talking about something bigger, like this thing. It's a shame she's not actually present in the book - that would have been even better - but I was glad she was brought up as an off-screen important character all the same.
And once again, there's the ending.
In hindsight, I guess, you could look back at the ending of Book 2 and go, 'Well, that's not too surprising.' You may not have seen it all coming, but now that it's come, it's all logical, normal, in a way.
Not so here. Your mind will be blown, believe me. It takes up to the very last pages until we finally learn what has been going on during the book, and how it all fits together. And then there's another big surprise/shock (call it what you want) coming, five pages before the actual ending. Even bigger than the ending of Book 2. Yes, I'm serious. It harks back to the ending of Book 2, and there's no way you'll be able to see it coming. There's no warning, no foreshadowing. It's just… A bomb will be dropped right onto your head.
8.4/10
February 24, 2025
This series will never stop being one of my favourites and it’s an absolute travesty that everyone doesn’t know about it. I love these characters and they’ve helped me through so many years. Since the beginning I have been here. So 2008. I’m so thankful for these books.
Reread in 2025:
I decided to reread the whole series and sequel series for comfort. Genuinely it’s such a shame that Ali doesn’t get money per time I listen to this…she would be very rich
Reread in 2025:
I decided to reread the whole series and sequel series for comfort. Genuinely it’s such a shame that Ali doesn’t get money per time I listen to this…she would be very rich
June 9, 2009
can't wait for the next one, a cross between the X-men and grotty potter
December 11, 2010
Nice development in the Shapeshifter series. All of the books were well written with good plot development and great characterisation.
January 6, 2011
one of the best books ever!
April 12, 2013
Awesome book!
June 22, 2014
cool book. tre sheek or shrek. whatever. catherine get's eaten by a pirate and luke becomes dumb. loving it
July 31, 2011
probs my favourite out of the series :)
July 12, 2012
Good, not the best but still ok.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews