Category: science fiction

Jurassic World, directed by Colin Trevorrow (12)

22 years after the events of Jurassic Park (1993), Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning dinosaur theme park, Jurassic World, asJurassic World [DVD] originally envisioned by John Hammond. After 10 years of operation and visitor rates declining, in order to fulfill a corporate mandate, a new attraction is created to respark visitor’s interest, which backfires horribly. Steven Spielberg returns to executive produce the longawaited next installment of his groundbreaking Jurassic Park series, Jurassic World.

It’s the best of the five Jurassic’s It’s not for the people who get scared. C.S. (S2) *****

The Girl With all the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing9780356500157-1 at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair.
She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite. But they don’t laugh. Melanie is a very special girl.

Post-apocalyptic zombie-ridden Britain plays host to the ultimate road trip. Will humanity survive in the face of so many ‘hungries’? Beautifully written, thought-provoking and surprising. Read it. Mrs N. (English) ****

Maximum Ride 1: The angel experiment by James Patterson

Fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it’s like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the ‘Flock’ – Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel – are just like ordinary kids – only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time – like when Angel, the youngest member of the ‘Flock’, is kidnapped and taken back to the ‘School’ where she and the others were genetically engineered by sinister scientists.Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, California, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare – this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf ‘Erasers’ in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb – now her betrayed and greatest enemy – that her purpose is save the world – but can she?

I love this book because there is a lot of mystery and love. You have not lived until you have read Maximum Ride! 😉 T.L. (S2) *****

Time Riders by Alex Scarrow

Liam O’Connor should have died at sea in 1912. Maddy Carter should have died on a plane in 2010. Sal Vikram should have died in a fire in 2029. Yet moments before death, someone mysteriously appeared and said, ‘take my hand’. Liam, Maddy and Sal have been recruited by the TimeRiders, to stop time travel from destroying the world.

This book is OK and it has a good story. Anon (S1) *****

Maximum Ride: School’s out, forever by James Patterson

“It’s 24 hours since Max Ride and her fellow bird-kids escaped the New York Institute, and they’re still on the run. But the six companions — 98% human, 2% bird — came away with some vital information. If they can decode the garbled words and numbers, perhaps they’ll find out where their parents are. There’s a lot of trouble ahead for Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman and Angel — not to mention Total, the talking dog. Their enemies, the fearsome Erasers, have acquired a new skill — they too can now fly. After an air-battle, the badly hurt Fang ends up in hospital. There the FBI track down the flock, who have even ended up going to school! But that doesn’t quite fit in with searching for parents, or with what the insistent Voice in Max’s head keeps reminding her – that her mission is ‘to save the world’.”

Quick, snappy narration & short chapters. A little simplistic in places but an enjoyable read. ***
Anon, (Staff, 2008)

Maximum Ride: The final warning by James Patterson

“Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel are six extraordinary kids created by the crazed Uber Director in a twisted laboratory experiment that left them with the ability to fly. They are back for another wild adventure as they try to save the world …and themselves. The Uber-Director sees the group of friends as his opportunity to become a billionaire: he seizes his chance to cash in that lucrative price tag by planning a worldwide auction with the children being offered to the highest bidder. But first his mutant army must track them down and capture them – which won’t be easy. Meanwhile, in hiding from their predators, all six of them wake one evening to find they are being given an important mission – to save the world from global warming. Led by heroine Max, their task takes them in a fast-paced, high-speed chase across the world to the South Pole but, as ever, danger is never far away …”

Quite a disappointing end to the series. Although it has a valuable message about global warming it isn’t what we’ve been led to expect. **
VB, (Staff, 2008)