An exciting adventure | The Last Book In The Universe

Read it, liked it | The Last Book In The Universe | Rodman Philbrick

books:


	• The Last Book In The Universe Rodman Philbrick Blue Sky Press, 2002 - 224 pages average customer review:based on 113 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

The last book in the universe

This book is about a boy named Spaz. He works for the latch boss as a person who breaks into houses and steals from them. He then gives the items he stole and gives them to the latch boss who is named Billy Bizmo. He sometimes lets Spaz have some of the things he steals. He meets a proov one day and she gives him some edibles. Spaz gets a letter about his sister being very sick. He then decides to get Ryder, who is an old man that he stole from, and go get his sister. On the way he runs into some interesting people and meets up with the proov from before. She takes them to Eden which is where all the proovs live. They cure his sister Bean and then get taken back to where they live.

for more information click here

An exciting adventure

The Last Book in the Universe
Rodman Philbrick

Spaz receives a message from his dying sister, who wants to see him one last time. It is a future year, and the "Big Shake" has devastated the earth. Spaz receives a message from his biological sister, Bean, who wants to see him one last time before she dies from leukemia. To do this, Spaz must travel across multiple "latches", or different neighborhoods controlled by gangs. This book is perfect for middle school - age readers.

The setting of this book was very interesting, and for that matter practical. "The Big Shake" does seem like something that could happen in the near future. And as a result of that earthquake, as in the book, our civilization on Earth could very well collapse. Also, the prospect of genetically enhanced humans is on the horizon. This book does predict human kind's grim outlook.

Really the whole prospect of genetically enhanced humans seems very realistic. As in the book, they probably would treat normal humans as we today treat other, less intelligent animals. In the book there is an entire minefield that protects the "proves" from the "normals". The "proves" have built an entire city, that is perfect, and excluded the "normals" from it.

In the book, the normal humans have resorted to barbaric tactics, including the "mind probes". Gangs run their society, and life doesn't seem that easy. They use the mind probes to escape the true reality of their existence. The book really gives you a strange feeling of what's to come.

This book is really best suited for younger readers, preferably middle - schoolers. This is due to the fairly poor use of vocabulary, and the young characters. The book did keep me going though, and I read it in a matter of days. It really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

for more information click here

Read it, liked it

If you are looking for a high action Si-fi story, "The Last Book in the Universe," is what you are loooking for. When Spaz hears about his sister slowly dieing, he embarks on a dangerous quest across latchs to find her. He is delayed by the ever dieing latchs and the crazed humans who live there. He travels to the paradise city of Eden, which turns out to be everything he dreams of. This paradise quickly turns into devastations as Spaz is sent back to the latch he has come from, to later find out that bad things can happen to good people.

for more information click here

Immersive, thought-provoking, and moving

Although I'm hardly a "young reader," this little book is one of my favorites. I just re-read it for the third time, and I must say that of all the "future worlds" I have visited in science fiction, this is one of the most vividly painted. It is more character-driven than many dystopian stories, although the social messages are clear enough - here, "mind-probes" are the ultimate drug, genetic "improvements" are not all positive, discrimination can take many forms, etc. But the book does not preach or belabor the negatives, nor does it dwell on the futuristic wonders. It just uses this world as a fantastic backdrop to a fast-paced "quest" story that shows how love, courage, kindness, and hope can survive even the worst disasters.

I read and enjoy adult fiction and non-fiction in a number of genres (including science fiction), and I never care if a book is long if it successfully immerses me in its world (e.g., I love several of Neal Stephenson's books including The Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon , though I have not yet tackled his baroque trilogy). But it seems that the "young reader" category has inspired Philbrick to do more in 223 pages of large type than many "adult" authors accomplish in 500 or more. This book is just so impressive in its inventiveness, and deeply moving at the same time.

Although the ending is sad in a way, it is also hopeful, and I find myself wishing for a sequel (the set up seems to be there). I also think this could be a great movie.

for more information click here

"The Last Book in the Universe" by Rodman Philbrick

This was a page-turning novel with addictive characters and a descriptive atmosphere. The plot consists of a young man who pursues on a journey to save his 12-year old sister from a disease that could kill her. He travels with an old man named Ryter, a teenage girl named Lanaya, and a toddler by the name of Little Face. I thought that this book was one of adventure and partly sci-fi. I encourage you to read this epic novel and to find out what will become of his sister. -Paxton

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, page 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

hot