Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble (Noah Zarc, #1) [Kindle Edition]

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble
By: D. Robert Pease
ISBN: 9780615524993
Published August 13, 2011 by Walking Stick Books
Available Format: Paperback, ebook

My Rating: '''''

Noah Zarc is a twelve-year-old boy living in the future. He and his family command a ship that retrieves animals from the past in preparation for re-inhabiting a post-apocalyptic earth. Noah, although he is a paraplegic, is a fantastic spaceship pilot and time-traveler. He thinks his life just can't get much better...until his dad is trapped in the Ice Age and his mom is kidnapped and taken to thirty-first century Mars. Noah quickly learns things aren't as they seem, and he has to find the strength within to pull through it all. The fate of the future world is in his hands.

This book is amazing! It is slightly above my kids' reading level, but it was still tons of fun for me. I love how it takes the story of Noah's Ark and interprets it in the future. It also teaches a lesson about how we are abusing the earth's resources and basically killing our own planet every day.

Since Noah is paraplegic and primarily in a "wheelchair," there is also the message of not letting disabilities hold you back. His physical condition is certainly not dwelt upon. We know he uses the chair and a special suit that helps him walk when needed, but he carries on just like any other child--well, any other child in the future. The focus is on his talents, his incredible wit and ability to pilot spacecraft better than anyone else in his family. Sure, it is bothersome at times to depend on other things to help him move around, and he sometimes uses his chair as an excuse to not help his brother and sister (with little success), but not once does he let his condition define who he really is.

Some of the time travel stuff was pretty much beyond my comprehension, but it isn't written in a way that you need to understand what they're saying. Actually, most of the characters don't understand it either, so it just brings the reader into the story even deeper.

It was loads of fun to travel into the past to the end of the Ice Age and learn that cavemen weren't as dumb as we think. And then, in the same breath, we get to go to the future and see what life on Mars might be like. All through the story, you never know where or when you'll find yourself! What a splendid adventure!

Ok, I might as well admit it right up front - I am not a sci-fi kind of gal - especially in books. So, how did I come by this novel? Well, I became acquainted with the author through Goodreads, in a Group Discussion. Bob Pease spoke about his new novel "Noah Zarc", and as someone who loves lighthearted plays on words, and as someone familiar with bible stories, "Noah Zarc" went on my radar. I also enjoy occasionally reading a book aimed at younger readers. In short, I agreed to read and review "Noah Zarc", which Bob Pease kindly gifted to me in eBook format. Challenging, because as of yet this writer does not own an eReader!! But, an on-line eReader program helped! I advised Bob Pease I would do my best reading and then writing about his book.

"Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble" captured my attention slowly - not that the book was slow - I was slow. My lack of sci-fi lingo and imagination started to cause me trouble. So, I read about three chapters, was caught by the storyline, and read those chapters again - and I was hooked! Now I get it! And I freed my imagination for time travel and for fantasy.

The novel is told from the perspective of Noah, at 12 he is the youngest of three children in the Zarc family. Noah was born paraplegic, so spends his time in a wheelchair - unless he is out chasing bad guys, and wearing his EV (Extra Vehicle) suit, which allows him to run. Oops! Now you know there are bad guys in this novel. Actually bad guy singular - but a powerful and threatening character. Noah's wheelchair is actually called a magchair, whose movement is controlled by Noah speaking or thinking thoughts, which are transferred to his chair, via a neuro-implant at the base of Noah's skull.

Alright, let's get a few facts out of the way. The story is set in 3100AD after the cataclysm on Earth - which left Earth devoid of human and animal life, left uninhabitable. Human life exists on Mars and Venus. The Zarc family lives on the ARC, Animal Rescue Cruiser, which is the size of a large city! Most of the ARC is set up as rainforest, desert, water, or grassland, whatever is necessary to accommodate a large animal population. The job of the Zarc family is to travel back in time to earth 2100AD, which is prior to Earth's cataclysm. The Zarcs collect and bring back to the ARC two of every kind of animal, one male and one female, keeping them housed on the ARC.

Of course life does not go smoothly and the Zarc family find themselves on different space ships, jumping and travelling through - time, meeting new friends from 8500BC, and fighting the evil forces of Haon who does not want the animal rescue to succeed. Noah finds himself in the most difficult situations - often by choice - struggling to bring his family safely back together.

I think if I was to say too much more about the plot and storyline, I would have to declare "spoiler alert"! I will say that Noah meets more than one kind of mammoth, in his travels!

This book is fun! It is fun for many reasons, one of which is Noah's age - twelve. In 2012 we marvel at the knowledge and computer skills of 12 year old young people. Well, it looks like by 3100AD those same twelve year olds will be commanding spaceships and time travel. Isn't it amazing to think about those possibilities? Individuals requiring wheelchairs are regarded as no different than individuals who walk under their own power. Isn't that a wonderful thought? And don't we all want to live like The Jetsons? One of my favourite cartoons from the past! Being transported long distances, within our own ARCS, via "the series of tubes that crisscrossed the decks allow[ing] the spheres (think chairs) to travel at extremely high speeds while keeping their passengers safe in gel-padded seats" (page 16).

For Noah, he feels the best when he is out of his magchair, and into the pilot seat of a space ship. I think we can all find a comparable instance in our own lives, and identify how Noah is feeling.

One of the traits of this novel that I especially appreciated was the kindness and concern expressed by the characters to each other and everyone they meet. Also, the concern for safety popped up quite often in the book. We find out that no one has a perfect life, (sound familiar?), or has been born into perfect circumstances; but "what makes each of us special is how we deal with our circumstances" (page 41).

The rulers and law-enforcers in "Noah Zarc", is the Poligarchy. Noah's older brother, Hamilton, supports the Poligarchy's mantra: "We must atone for our past sins. We must keep earth from being destroyed again" (page 120). Follow the laws. Be good people. Environmentally conscious. Does this sound familiar?

A storyline within the story is undeniably biblically based. D. Robert Pease does this skillfully and gently, not forcing any doctrine on the reader. However, as a person whose belief system is biblically based, this theme was very enjoyable and contained a good amount of humour! Even to the scouting robot belonging to Noah's parents, Hannah and Noah Sr., whose acronym is M.O.S.E.S. (Mobile Oriented Spacetime Energy Signal).

One of my favourite things about this book is the enjoyment it gave me, and the enjoyment the characters had in their lives. The author's ability to spin the tale and include the reader stands out throughout the storyline.

Even someone - me - devoid of any experience with sci-fi, is sure to find pleasure in the Zarc family adventures. The reader does not need to understand outer space and time travel lingo to go with the flow of Noah's adventures. Noah doesn't understand, so I felt quite at home!

Some of the actions detailed by the author did get a little out of sync in a couple of places, and I would have enjoyed reading the ending of some of the secondary story lines, especially those related to Noah's older sister Sam. There is the occasional happening that is a little far-fetched. At those moments I dismissed my logical brain, and went back for more fun!

The author touches on some social awareness issues, including child labour laws - or the lack of them. But it is done in such an easy way; it would not become a burden to the young reader.

One of my favourite scenes involves something we all battle today - automated phone systems. If you have ever tried to reach an individual within an organization, you will laugh out loud at Noah's brief predicament!

For my first venture into young reader fantasy, Pease definitely caught and held my attention. "Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble" will be a wonderful adventure for many young readers.

I highly recommend this novel, and trust it will be enjoyed by many young minds.

I was also thinking: the good guy's name is Noah, and the bad guy's name is Haon. Does that strike anyone else as funny.......?

A thousand years in the future, mankind has practically destroyed the Earth, wreaking havoc on its environment and animals before being forced to relocate to Mars and Venus while the Earth slowly recovers. The Zarc family is allowed to travel back in time to save two animals of every species from extinction, and bring them to new habitats on their ship, the ARC--Animal Rescue Cruiser--in order to repopulate the Earth when it is ready. To most people, the Zarcs are interplanetary heroes. To Haon, they are messing with things better left alone in order to steal the Earth from its rightful inhabitants: humans. And Haon will stop at nothing to prevent them.

Twelve-year-old Noah Zarc believes in what his family is doing, but when Haon kidnaps his mother and strands his father in the Ice Age, Noah, his brother Hamilton and his sister Sam are determined to rescue their parents, no matter what. After time-traveling to the Ice Age, Noah has a close encounter with a mammoth that attacks the ship, and befriends an Ice Age girl while Hamilton goes after their mother. He returns with word that Haon has kidnapped their mother to force her to create a nano virus that will destroy all animal life on planet Earth--and everything the Zarc family has worked so hard to save. So begins Noah's quest to save his mother and the future of animalkind on Earth from Haon's grasp.

Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble is an adventure-filled journey that jumps from present-day Earth to the Ice Age, Mars, and medieval Scotland. With plenty of advanced tech--from assassin bots to thermsuits to the ARC itself--the future looks like a pretty cool place to be, and Noah's mission to save his parents, even in the midst of overwhelming danger, proves that things haven't changed too much, even with mankind scattered amongst the stars. With the heaps of trouble Noah gets into, the prospect of more will keep the reader turning the pages in anticipation as Noah heads towards his inevitable clash with Haon--and discovers some astonishing things about his family along the way.