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The Johnny Maxwell Slipcase: "Only You Can Save Mankind", "Johnny and the Dead", "Johnny and the Bomb"
 
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The Johnny Maxwell Slipcase: "Only You Can Save Mankind", "Johnny and the Dead", "Johnny and the Bomb" (Paperback)

by Terry Pratchett (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 752 pages
  • Publisher: Corgi Childrens (6 Oct 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0552553824
  • ISBN-13: 978-0552553827
  • Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.4 x 5.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 254,397 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #47 in  Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators > P > Pratchett, Terry

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Product Description

Review

Impressively original' Daily Telegraph 'Inspired Imagination' Independent 'A Terry Pratchett classic' The Times

Product Description

This work is a 3-book collection of the following three titles: "Only You Can Save Mankind" The aliens in Johnny's computer game aren't supposed to surrender. They're supposed to die...'Impressively original' "Daily Telegraph." "Johnny and the Dead" When Johnny discovers he can talk to the dead, he has bad news for them. They're going to have to move...'Inspired imagination' "Independent". "Johnny and the Bomb" There's more to the local bag lady than some dubious black bags. Suddenly Johnny and his friends find themselves back in 1941 - in the Blackbury Blitz...'A Terry Pratchett classic' "The Times".
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Cooool...., 30 Jan 2006
By The Reviewer... (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews
I think that Terry Pratchett's books for children are often better than his discworld books. It is definitely the case with this trilogy. The hero, Johnny Maxwell is called upon in the three different books to solve three different problems -
In "Only you can save mankind" a "shoot alien spaceship" game turs out to be happening in real life. Johnny Maxwell must save the aliens and get them back to their own planet. Even "Wobbler", Johnny's overweight nerd friend, can't beat the game...
In "Johnny and the dead", Johnny finds he can talk to the dead and has to help them move before their cemetary is bulldozed.
In "Johnny and the Bomb", Johnny and his friends get transported back to the time of the war, where bombs are falling everywhere.

I liked these books because they are so unusual. There are not that many people who effectively mix science-fiction and comedy. I like it. Johnny's friend "Wobbler" is especially likeable - a computer geek (or is it "dweeb"?) who beats every game first time. The only negative thing I have to say is that they are all about a completely different subject, and somehow you expect a trilogy to be one big story. However, it is a light-hearted and fun read.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Not just for kids! ... Perhaps., 5 Jan 2007
By Lucy M "lucy" (yorkshire, UK) - See all my reviews
I'm not embarrassed to admit that I have happily read these books as an adult. I don't think many readers of Pratchett's novels would disagree that his writing style is adaptable and so imaginative that people of any age can enjoy it. That's definitely the case with this trilogy (it actually is one, too), despite the fact that they're clearly aimed at children. They do no harm as a quick and easy read for us "grown ups", but it certainly doesn't hurt if you're still in touch with your inner child.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Ageless Books, 28 Nov 2008
By Craig Lam (Aberdeen, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Short:

These are the rarest of children's books - ones that you can enjoy as a child, and then love again as an adult. Pratchett's wit made me laugh at 10, and at 21 I can still find them funny and moving, perhaps even more so. Lovers of Discworld or Good Omens will find a lot to love about the descriptions and situations in the Johnny books. I'd say they're a perfect introduction to Pratchett. They're inoffensive without being soft, and smart without being difficult for children to understand.

Long:

The Johnny books are, first and foremost, fun to read. Pratchett's descriptions and dialogue are funny and colourful as always, though his use of footnotes and paragraph long metaphors are less in evidence than usual. The plots in each of the books are tight, touch on issues below the surface of what's happening, and are never needlessly dumbed down for the audience. The last point is something I'll return to later in this review.

Johnny is very easy to relate to - a sort of pubescent everyboy with an overactive imagination and trouble at home. His friends are painted with equal skill and humour: Yo-less is a black kid, so named because he isn't cool and he doesn't say "yo*"; Kirsty is a voracious overachiever and is constantly in exasperation with the boys, I am still in love with her; Big Mac is a clueless skinhead who has an inexplicable talent for mathematics; and Wobbler is such a nerd that he WISHES he were a nerd.

These divergent personalities interact and play off each other delightfully, and they have far greater depth than most characters in young fiction. Most importantly, none of them are stereotypes, and all of them are sympathetic.

The books aren't just rereadable because you'll love the characters. You'll find themes that go beyond the surface plot. Only You Can Save Mankind has an important message about respect for life, whether it's human or not, or even real or not. The other books carry their own themes, but I'll let you (or your children) discover them!

Adults will notice that real events of the time parallel with the story, and a great deal of subtextual information is there for the perceptive reader. Pratchett has pulled off a very difficult balancing trick here: there's plenty of adventure and comedy, but there's substance as well.

All in all, I can't wait till my nephew is old enough to read these books, or for me to read them to him...if only for the excuse to read them again!


*Remember these books were written in in the early/mid 90s, when it was wicked to say wicked, and using "yo" as a greeting was assumed to be the province of black kids.
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