Tycho [Kindle Edition]

My son read this book over the summer and loved it! This is what he says about the book: "Tycho is about a boy who winds up on the moon because of a deadly virus on earth. While there, he has many adventures. My favorite thing about this book was that the characters could jump off huge cliffs without getting hurt. I also liked the huge vampire roaches! This is a must read for anyone who likes Syfy. I have other books by the author on Kindle and can't wait to start them."

I am usually not a fan of Sci-Fi, but I began reading this book and had to make myself stop to sleep on one occasion, and to go to church on another occasion, and then I literally could not put the book down!

Tycho is set in the future, and many things are different. When dealing with time, there is always one thing that doesn't change-human nature. Even though the locations and events are extremely different, the core of the story holds fast and true: we will survive!

There were times that I was so into the story, which is full of twists and turns, that I know I gasped out loud, because I scared my husband, who was soundly asleep beside me! Just when you thought you knew what was going to happen, well...

This book has something for everyone! Science Fiction action, Space travel, romance and adventure are all masterfully blended together to produce a piece which is in one word-AWESOME! This would make a great movie! Also, being a teacher, I can see how this would be a great book to read and discuss as a class.

I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Amy Magaw
Author of Home and Wheels of Love

Tycho, a sci-fi novel set not too far into Earth's future, focuses on the adventures of Tycho McGrath and a small group of family, friends and associates who are faced with a tremendous challenge: stay on Earth and most-assuredly die or steal a spaceship and relocate to the moon that was "terra-formed" a half-century before.

Once Tyke and the others make it to the moon (even though some perish in their ship's crash-landing), the next big challenge is to learn how to survive there. Even though it has an atmosphere similar to Earth's, the drastic changes in weather, etc. make it very difficult for the former residents of Earth to refer to the moon as a "home away from home."

Before long, Tyke discovers that the scientists who turned the moon into a little Earth were a bit too enthusiastic about the enduring effects of the drastic transformation.

Woodall tells an interesting sci-fi story, through the eyes of Tycho the young scientist, of what might happen to Earth if someone releases a virus - intentionally or not - that can kill every creature on the planet that has lungs. The novel's first chapters are interesting as Tyke and more than a few others develop the plan to steal the spaceship and head for the moon. I was hoping for a bit more tension here - as well as more description - of how the Orion Strain was rapidly making its way around the globe. I suppose I was thinking about the novel The Andromeda Strain as well as its film adaptation as I read the beginning chapters of Tycho. Woodall also uses the first two-three chapters to reveal how intelligent Tyke is. Learning that the narrator was not a typical nerdy/goofy/uppity teenager was a pleasant and welcome surprise!

Now the part of the novel that feels too much like a summmary (where it seems that Woodall wanted to "run through" the section as fast as possible to get to the "fun stuff") was the middle part. Let's just say that the summary part begins right when the characters fall into a routine of living on the moon to when another Orion Strain disaaster occurs.

But right about when Tyke convinces enough people that the moon is not a good place to raise a family to the very end of the novel (not including the epilogue!) is the best part of Tycho. Woodall paces the life-and-death action scenes with effective and mature dialogue. Getting to the last third of the novel made wading through the first 2/3 worth the effort.

Editing-wise, Tycho is relatively free of anything that detracts from the plotline. I also appreciate that the novel is completely free of any use of gratuitous profanity, etc. If this were a movie, it would have to be rated PG (and that is only due to a few places of blood and gore that is standard fare for all action/adventure novels).

I was given a PDF version of Tycho in exchange for my honest opinions about the novel.