The Resisters #1: The Resisters
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
In the tradition of Robert Heinlein and Ray Bradbury, million-copy bestselling Halo author and game developer Eric Nylund brings action-packed science fiction to a young audience with this riveting children's debut. Twelve-year-old Ethan Blackwood has always known exactly what he wanted—to win the state soccer championship, get into the best high school, and become an astronaut. Then he meets Madison and Felix, who tell him something . . . insane. They claim that 50 years ago, aliens took over the earth, and everyone past puberty is under their mind control. Ethan doesn't believe it. But then he sees for himself the aliens' monster bug robots and the incredible way that Madison and Felix have learned to fight them. So Ethan Blackwood has a choice: he can go back to his normal, suburban, protected lie of a life—or he can become a Resister. This is science fiction on the lines of Scott Westerfield and Cory Doctorow for middle graders.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When the aliens come, they'll take over our minds and absorb us into a collective, according to Nylund (author of several novels based on the Halo video games) in this series launch, set well into the future. Twelve-year-old Ethan is a star soccer player (a sport now played in mechanical suits). After a party, he is kidnapped by a pair of kids named Felix and Madison, who give Ethan a Matrix-style awakening: aliens took over the planet 50 years ago, and adults are under their control. Kids are free because their brains aren't fully developed, but join the collective when they mature. Ethan also hears the story from the other side that aliens offered humanity unfettered communication and empathy, leading to the end of war. Nylund does a solid job of keeping Ethan off-balance, and readers who are looking for a quick SF adventure will enjoy the mind-control story and the protagonists' insectoid battle suits. The plot holes, exposition dumps, and predictability (Ethan disobeys orders and saves the day on multiple occasions), however, prevent the book from being especially memorable. Ages 10 14.
