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Only You Can Save Mankind (Johnny Maxwell)
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Review
"An impressively original book with its thrills and spills, its inventiveness, its wit and continuous readability. A rare treat--a top-quality gripping tale genuinely rooted in contemporary culture"
-"Daily Telegraph" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
-"Daily Telegraph" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
The first Johnny Maxwell novel by master storyteller Terry Pratchett - now available on CD read by Tony Robinson
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Only You Can Save Mankind is the first book in Terry Pratchett's Johnny Maxwell trilogy. While this is considered juvenile or young adult fiction, it's a lot of fun for adults as well. It seems a little strange to journey with Terry Pratchett to a place other than the Discworld, but this little jaunt is quite enjoyable. Johnny Maxwell is a rather typical twelve year old boy; he's not smart or popular or rich, and he tends to prefer operating below the radar of those around him. He is living in Trying Times, basically having to take care of himself for the most part while his parents argue and come ever closer to splitting up. Like any kid, he enjoys a good computer game every now and then, and his friend Wobbler, born to be a hacker, supplies him with just about any illegally pirated game he could want. As earth's last remaining fighter, he has destroyed all but the last big alien ship in the game Only You Can Save Mankind when a message suddenly appears on the screen: We wish to talk. Thus begins a journey that takes him inside the game as the Chosen One, the human who will lead the alien ScreeWee race back to safety beyond The Boundary. The reptilian captain of the ScreeWee is tired of fighting; the human fighters appear out of nowhere, kill and destroy ships in her fleet, and keep coming back no matter how many times they are killed. She has seen what happened to the Space Invaders and would rather surrender than die fighting.
You don't have to remember playing Space Invaders to enjoy this book, but it does make the story a little more enjoyable. As always with Pratchett, the characters are well-developed and quite remarkable. I really liked Wobbler, the future hacker who designed a game of his own called Journey to Alpha Centauri to be played in real time, meaning all the thousands of years it would take to reach Alpha Centauri is how many years the game would take you to actually finish it. Beyond the comedy present in this story, there is also a message. The backdrop of the earth-based events of the book is the Persian Gulf War, and the juxtaposition of this war that is real but seems like a game with the computer game that becomes real for Johnny Maxwell conveys a message about violence and one's attitude toward it. It is not an overbearing theme, but it is there to some degree, helping make this short novel much more than just a juvenile read intended to entertain the reader and nothing else. This is a short book that never falters from beginning to end, and it houses much more in its pages than might be apparent at first glance. It is not as complicated or brilliant as the Discworld novels, but it is a fun read nonetheless, sure to entertain Pratchett fans while capturing the attention and interest of young readers.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am only 15 years old but ANYONE of any age can and should read this book. There i was in my local (library that is!) looking through the sci-fi section and for some reason this book fell of the shelf. I picked it up and instead of putting it back it caught my eye so i loaned it out and to this day it is still my favourite book. This is the 7th time of reading this book after loaning it from my school library. A book you never want to put down. FANTASTIC!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Having read all the Disc World series I was supprised to come across the Johnny Maxwell books, as much to my embarrasment I had not heard of them before.
With wonderful observation on life, Terry brings together a lovable group of characters, which in my opinion rival the wonderful Famous Five and Serect Seven creations of my childhood.
Humour (as always from TP), imagination, subltle social comment on both sexism, racism and deprivation, this book is a wonderful read. Who else but Mr. Pratchett himself could link the Geneva converntion with a surrendering alien force in a computer game?
Don't think, just buy it!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
terry pratchett can you save man kind
fantastic reading for both my 8 year and 11 year old boys ... they read it over and over again at bedtimes. Great for peaceful evenings :)
Published 4 months ago by ricky
Another Fine read from the maestro
A great little story meant for the younger reader but I enjoyed it as much as Terry's other Johnny series.
Arrived quick as usual and undamaged, well packaged.
Arrived quick as usual and undamaged, well packaged.
Published 12 months ago by Mrs. F. Street
Saving mankind
This is my least favourite of the "Johnny" books by Terry Pratchett but since it went on the bookshelf at school - 11 year olds - I've found it hard to keep track of it. Read more
Published 17 months ago by M. Carstairs
Simple, engaging fun.
Having read all the discworld novels and felt they were getting a little formulaic, this book came as delight. Read more
Published on 18 May 2009 by Mr. M. Jones
Pratchett on Top Form
Only You Can Save Mankind is the first in the Johnny Maxwell series- and what a series!
This book, despite being for young people, is just as clever and strange as the... Read more
This book, despite being for young people, is just as clever and strange as the... Read more
Published on 2 Jun 2006 by Mrs. Gillian R. Michael
If not you, who else?
Johnny loves this computer game, Only You Can Save Mankind. But the aliens, the ScreeWee, don't. Johnny is, after all, the Hero with a Thousand Extra Lives. They all have one life. Read more
Published on 26 July 2001
An excellent book from the writer of the Discworld novels.
If you are a Discworld fan, and you like Terry's style of writing, you won't be disappointed. This book asks you to stop and think about some of the things you believe are... Read more
Published on 11 May 1999
Wonderful!
Are you among those who love to play video games like "Space Invaders"? Well, what would you do if you were in the middle of the final battle that's supposed to save... Read more
Published on 12 Nov 1998
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