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4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 3 Jan 2008
This review is from: Paraworld Zero (Parallel Worlds) (Paperback)
Simon first learns about a paraverse when he meets Tonya. Their meeting is an unusual one, and so is just about everything else once they join forces in battle.
Living in Mrs. Trimble's orphanage provides a fairly loving environment for 12-year-old Simon, but it's definitely not very exciting. As a lowly seventh grader in the midst of older bullies, his life is filled with tormenting and teasing. That is until the arrival of Tonya, the thin, athletic, and mysterious young girl with the colorful hair.
It is immediately obvious that Tonya is not from anywhere nearby; in fact, she's not even from the planet Earth. She tells Simon she is from Paraworld 4329, which she explains is a parallel universe. Although it all sounds like a dream to Simon, she insists that parallel universes are extremely common.
With Tonya's help, Simon is able to escape from his tormentors. He soon realizes that Tonya has extraordinary powers, although her command of them is often at a beginner level. Magic is how things work in Tonya's paraworld.
As a result of Simon's adventures with Tonya, he finds himself in another parallel universe called Pudd. The people there seem friendly enough and offer to help when it becomes evident that Tonya is in danger from some less than desirable characters from a world intent on eliminating the use of magic. Simon and Tonya are soon involved in a frantic adventure that includes magical spells and creatures with names like menabaws and dragunos.
PARAWORLD ZERO is the first in the new PARALLEL WORLDS series by Matthew Peterson. Its rollicking adventure style reminds this reader of a cross between Harry Potter's adventures and those of Artemis Fowl. Colorful characters, fast-paced adventure, and clever humor make this an interesting read.
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Blurbs from the back cover, 20 Dec 2007
This review is from: Paraworld Zero (Parallel Worlds) (Paperback)
Paraworld Zero has received a lot of reviews in the U.S. Here is the text from the back of the book and the blurbs from the back cover... only these are the unabridged versions.
Simon Kent is just an ordinary 12-year-old trying to cope with the loss of his parents and the bullies at school . . . or so he thinks. After meeting an outspoken girl with strange hair that changes colors with her mood, he is swept into a futuristic world filled with dragonlike creatures, vast technology, and enslaved giants.
But Simon also stumbles upon a secret: He can perform magic in this parallel world! While fighting mystical creatures, unraveling an ancient mystery, and even experiencing his first kiss, Simon discovers that he, an outsider from Earth, is the only person who can save the high-tech planet from an impending doom.
"It's always a pleasure to find a new writer who is comfortable in that marvelous borderland between fantasy and science fiction. Even more of a pleasure to find one with flair and humour and a truly original imagination. What do you get when the effect that produces parallel worlds also creates the phenomenon that we loosely call magic power? You get a lot of really weird beings with slightly faulty technology bursting into the lives of... well... some really weird people. You also get murderous villains, mighty warriors, goddess-like women, impossible problems and some of the wildest chases since the Keystone Kops. More fun than a barrel of computer games. Read it. Trust me, you'll have a terrific time on that borderland. Especially in the company of Matthew Peterson."
--Douglas Hill, bestselling author of nearly 70 books
"Flame throwing pigeons and demonic dumpsters. Funny and imaginative."
--Maria V. Snyder, award-winning author of Poison Study
"The exciting action of Star Wars with the humor of Napoleon Dynamite. I think Paraworld Zero has strong potential to be popular among readers."
--Diana Pharaoh Francis, author of the Path and Crosspointe series
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Cliched from One End to the Other..., 10 Feb 2010
By Jeff Walther - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Paraworld Zero (Parallel Worlds) (Paperback)
The editorial review from "The School Library Journal" is the one to pay attention to, not the gushing endorsements which are strangely all shown twice. Also, in my opinion, many of the earlier reader reviews look more like requested endorsements than honest reader opinions, but maybe I believe that because I can't believe that anyone sincerely thought this book should be compared to any excellent work.
The writing is okay but only okay. It can't redeem the stiflingly cliched story line. This book starts with cliches and marshals them like soldiers in review. Then marches them through the pages, sometimes in column and sometimes in line abreast. This story smothers the reader in cliches. If you've ever read any coming of age story, you won't find anything new here.
This book might be entertaining to someone eight or younger. But really, why not read something with more flair, like "Time Warp Trio"? Or Kipling's "Kim" or "Jungle Book"? This is certainly not a book for young adults.
I would not be quite so harsh, given this is a first book, and authors should enjoy some encouragement, but the line of gushing reviews just rings so false to me, I feel someone needs to balance them. So this review is not harsher than I feel about this book, but it is harsher than I might otherwise voice.
Edit: I did a bit more research, because I'm just not used to reading something this bad in actual print. The author drew the cover himself, and it appears that the author fell in with a poor publisher (whom he is not longer with). In my opinion, a better quality publisher would have A) Not let the author do his own cover and B) either rejected this book or asked the author to improve it before publishing it.
Obey your first impulse when you see the cover, and avoid. There's nothing to see here. Move along...
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
One of the worst fantasy/sci-fi book of my life, 3 Jan 2010
By Water Pastelz - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Paraworld Zero (Parallel Worlds) (Paperback)
This is one of the worst novels that I have ever read in my life. The writing was so poor, I honestly cannot begin to describe the pain this prose caused me. The descriptions are extremely immature, and resemble the ravings some mentally handicapped man narrating the story to hushed four year olds. The dialog is cheesy, cheap and EXTREMELY artificial. In the "Paraworld" no such thing as a plot exists, though despite that I gulped the entire book. It was an utter waste of my money, and my time.
The only reason it didn't get a single star, is because this is the work of a new author. Maybe, MAYBE, he'll get better as he writes more.
And as far as the cover art goes, I really don't want to comment on it. Really...
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Author with Potential, but in need of some editing., 18 Feb 2010
By T. Dannar "theduece" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Paraworld Zero (Parallel Worlds) (Paperback)
I liked the overall story style and the main characters, but overall I think that this book really needed another editor. There where just so many cliche line and characters. It got to the point that I would feel like grinding my teeth when some secondary characters would speak.
Though in the end it was worth reading and an enjoyable main storyline. I probably wont reread this book unless it is reedited, but I will read the next book in the series when he comes out with it. I expect the author to become a stronger and with a better publisher and editor this could be the start of a pretty good series.
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