By: Neil Gaiman, Michael Reaves Publisher: HarperCollins Average Rating: Binding: Library Binding Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 256 Publication Date: July 01, 2007 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Release Date: June 26, 2007 Studio: HarperCollins
In fact, he's the kind of guy who gets lost in his own house.
But then one day, Joey gets really lost. He walks straight out of his world and into another dimension.
Joey's walk between the worlds makes him prey to two terrible forcesâarmies of magic and science who will do anything to harness his power to travel between dimensions.
When he sees the evil those forces are capable of, Joey makes the only possible choice: to join an army of his own, an army of versions of himself from different dimensions who all share his amazing power and who are all determined to fight to save the worlds.
Master storyteller Neil Gaiman and Emmy Award-winning science-fiction writer Michael Reaves team up to create a dazzling tale of magic, science, honor, and the destiny of one very special boyâand all the others like him.
Interesting ^ I have been a fan of Neil Gaiman for quite a while, and this book certainly meets the standards I would expect from him. The storytelling is clear and compelling, and the world itself is interesting. It certainly takes the "Me vs. the world" story to a new level!
The only problem I had with the book is that it feels incomplete; the ending itself is fine, and the length of the novel is fine, but the story /feels/ like it ended short. Still, it's a good book and worth picking up!
Well-constructed story ^ This is a light, easy-to-read, and skillfully constructed tale. Arc is customary for the genre, the ordinary kid discovering special powers and that he's crucial for some larger battle. Prose is far superior to most other efforts in the genre, vocabulary is much richer and more interestingly chosen than the overwhelming majority of putative adult novels.
Imagery characterized by strong reliance both implicitly and explicitly on popular movies and TV shows. Implicitly, authors describe an image (for example, a grin turning over on itself) that directly evokes a particular famous image (the T1000's demise in T2); more notably, the narrative is full of express comparisons to various contemporary movies and TV shows.
Although the plot gets very ambitious, if not convoluted, as is customary with Gaiman's works he maintains a clear over-arching logic to the various special powers and plot developments. It is as a matter of fact quite impressive how seamlessly and effortlessly so many plot complications are handled.
This does lack, of course, the depth of characterization, the believability of characters, or the luminous prose of Gaiman's best work. But it does not aspire to be more than what it is, a light tale well-told.
How many Joeys are there? ^ InterWorld is the story of Joey, a teen boy who you'd not send on an errand to fetch you something from down the hall as he'd get lost. Still, somehow, it was a bit of a surprise to him when he managed to get so lost that he walked right into a whole 'nother world. Oh and when he did, he learned that he's a walker, one who walks between the various worlds -- an important role as he can lead teams who try to keep the peace in all of these worlds. But what if he'd rather go back home? It's possible. But it seems that is a one way trip, no more walking. So does he go home, knowing that he'll forget that all of these other worlds exist? Stay and become a peacekeeping walker? Maybe find a way to do all of the above?
The premise of the story is good. It just felt like there were some things that were slow, others perhaps a bit rushed. Some of the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more. Overall it was an okay book, but nowhere near as good as Gaiman's other works.
A Good Afternoon Read... ^ Interworld is not Gaiman at his best. I've seen his collaborations with Pratchett (Good Omens), and read a lot of his independent work, and this collaboration disappointed me a bit. The writing was fine, technically. It just wasn't what I expected.
The premise is really cool - who wouldn't like to read about a kid who can travel between dimensions? The science was a bit lacking though, and the story seemed like it had been cut from a longer series and pasted together, rushing from action scene to action scene without much time for exposition or world-building. As a result, it felt as though the main character had gone from ignorant, lost kid to savior of the multiverse in 6 seconds flat. For a young adult audience it's a great introduction to fantasy/sci-fi mashups, with a fast pace and and a quirky mystery aspect (the identity of Joey's helpers) which is revealed about halfway through the book, but it all ended too soon for me. I'd really love to see a few more stories come out in this universe - maybe following some of the other characters.
3.5 Stars - Fun SciFi/Fantasy Book for Youngsters (Interworld) ^ "InterWorld" is light, fun book for the Tweener and MG crowd. And, of course, we goofy adults that enjoy such literature, enough that we read and review it. The story is set in a multiverse. A place where all variations of earth (and other places) exist. In this book, those universes extend past what we might expect, in that there are earths with varying degrees of tech, and earths with varying degrees of magic.
The setting in this book is very important to it's success. What little description is used --this is an action genre book, and it moves quickly ahead, without a great deal of verbiage wasted on scenery and such -- focuses on the inter-dimensional space that lays between worlds. The authors do their best to extract their physics from String Theory and whatnot, and they do pretty well making it kid-friendly, interesting, cool, and understandable. And it's here afterall, that a good percentage of the action takes place. And it's here where Joey picks up his side-kick, a multi-dimensional creature he calls "Hue". [Hue communicates with colors].
As far as characters, Joey, the hero, is done fairly well. The rest of the cast is rather standard -- the commander who's stern stuff and who everybody calls the 'old man'. There's the strong guy, and the tech wizard.... Well, if you've seen those old war movies, I'm sure you can guess the rest (if you keep in mind that magic needs to be added.)
By adult standards, the plotting isn't thorough. There's nothing in the way of foreshadowing, and frequently solutions are sort of pulled out of the authors'... eh, hat, but again that's probably only going to bother adults and not kids who want an action story.
There's enough emotion along the way that the book isn't totally void. And there's plenty of action and 'science'. It's not as good as Heinlein's "The Rolling Stones", but it's meant for a similar audience.
Talking Points::: Despite my criticism, I have to say that I found "InterWorld" to be fun read. I'd suggest it for youngsters looking for adventure.
It's a quick read with some novel ideas that ought to make people think. The ideas of multi-universes is pretty well done.
**The one concern I haven't mentioned yet is the mild cursing. Certainly not a problem for teenagers, but the back cover mentions that this book is for those as young as 10 years. As a mom of a 9 y.o. I know that they haven't all been exposed to cursing yet. (Yes, you may applaud my self control)
Finally, for those expecting this book to have brilliant prose of Mr. Gaiman should know that it's not here. You are going to be thoroughly disappointed if you approach this book with that expectation.
Pam T~ mom and reviewer at BooksForKids-reviews (1043)
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