Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, 3 Jan 2008
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
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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