Customer Reviews

The Angel Factory

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Angel Factory" is one of those rare SF stories that focuses less on actual SF elements than on things that actually make you think. It's far from flawless, but

Thomas Wisdom's family is nice. Too nice. His parents are models of patience, wisdom and kindness, and his sister is the idealized teen daughter (now dating a boringly perfect surfer). Somehow this all seems unnatural to Thomas, and soon he finds out why: His parents, his sister, his slightly nutty dog, and many other people across the world are humanlike alien constructions called "Angels," controlled by an immensely powerful intelligence from a far-off planet, sent to infiltrate human society and save us from ourselves. He himself is adopted, the son of a jaded but kindly ex-barmaid, and the only family member who is really human.

Thomas is at first willing to accept the angels and even help them, but his friend Gip is still suspicious. They uncover evidence that one of their teachers was killed for hacking into secret files about the angels, and Thomas begins to rebel against his parents and what they want for humanity. But who can he trust -- and will he be the next to mysteriously die if the angels think it's all for the best?

Terence Blacker raises a lot of questions in his novel. Is it better to give up free will for security? How much free will do we have? Do we need some bad mixed in with the good to be really, genuinely human? And should you not feel bad because that irritatingly perfect neighbor with the perfect kids might really be an angel? In the manner of Lois Lowry's "The Giver," he presents you with these questions without battering your head with them.

His writing style is pleasantly evocative, especially the soothing alien voice that tells Thomas what he should do. His angel characters are all quite flat, but that was probably intentional. Thomas is a lot more vivid, especially his growing paranoia and his hysterical response to learning that he was adopted. His buddy Gip is even more colorful, weird and X-filesian and harboring a secret of his own; Thomas's mother is a good foil to the perfect parents -- she's flawed and hardened, in a humiliating job, but she clearly cares about him.

The biggest problem is the ending. Blacker twists up a lot of sugarcoated, sinister threads and hints -- we see what the angels will do to protect their secret agenda, including murder of a few troublesome individuals. Basically, they are cold and ruthless underneath the "all-for-the-best" niceness. Yet it seems like he wasn't sure what to do in the final chapters, so wrapped it up in the most convenient way possible. Except it's also the most improbable way, short of having the pod people arrive for a showdown with the angels.

"Angel Factory" doesn't get quite as far as it clearly wishes it could, but it's a pretty good SF read. For people who liked "Giver," and "Dark Side of Nowhere."

This was one of the best books I have ever read. You could never guess what is going to happen next. It keeps you wondering until the end. It never gets boring and is exciting all the way through. It makes you wonder about your world and if there are people like angels sent to help us.
I have read this book three times and I have recomended this book to others and they all loved it too.

If aliens invaded Earth with the intention of saving humankind from its self-destructive traits, would humans accept the limits to freedom to destroy? Thomas Wisdom seems to have the perfect family life - until he discovers their real identities and his own key role in helping to save the planet from itself. His one friend can only help him if he betrays his family in The Angel Factory, a moving and highly recommended story of the future.

Wow, but this was one of those books that was a complete waste of a dead tree! The characters were flat, whiney at best, and seemed to have no desire beyond the need to prove themselves morally superior to rest of the world. I don't care how you turn it, it's still obnoxious.

The story tries to pass itself off as a semi sci-fi examination of the positives and negatives of humanity and its morals, all through a teenage boy who is learning that there is something off about his adoption.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just too cynical to appreciate these kinds of things, but if it can't give me good characters and a decent plot, the message doesn't matter all that much.

Have you wondered if everyone around you weren't actually humans but people sent to Earth to help save mankind? Sounds weird right? In the book, The Angel Factory by Terence Blacker, a kid my age finds out that everything he ever knew was one big secret. The story is about Thomas Wisdom, a smart popular kid with a loving family who supports him in everything that he does. They do seem a little too perfect but Thomas doesn't seem to think much of it until one day, everything changes. Thomas' friend, Gip, helps him realize that him and his family isn' t like any ordinary family. This journey of finding out who he really is takes him from London to California.
Terence Blacker keeps people on their toes throughout this entire book, and he never gets his readers get bored. I would recommend this book to young adults who like to read books that will keep them interested to the very end of the book. The surprise ending will make the book worth reading.

Thomas seems to have a perfect life, and one day he realizes it is just too perfect. As he starts to uncover the truth about his family, his past and his future, Thomas questions concepts like family, friendship, good and evil.

This is a wonderful story, a great mystery and one that you'll want to read all the way through in one sitting!

This was a terrific book. The story is about a boy who discovers his parents are from a parallel universe. The boy is caught between the angels from his parent's world, who want to save the human race from destroying itself, and real world with all its good and bad qualities. I read it in one day and couldn't put it down.

My daughter chose to read this book from the list of summer reading at her school. Her brother read it for school 2 years before. Both felt it was appealing for both boys and girls. They also felt it was teenage appropriate. There are many surprises in the book, characters are not who you think they are. They said it was well written and our only problem is that it is out of print. It is currently being reprinted and we would recommend this book to adventure lovers stuck in middle school!

I thought this was a great story, but was very distracted in the early chapters by a glaring (to this California native) error in geography. The family is supposed to be vacationing in Santa Barbara. The text refers to their visits to Hollywood Studios and Disneyland as if Santa Barbara is in the LA area -- it's not. You certainly can visit those places from St. B. but you'll be driving 2-3 hours each way. Later the boyfriend, Luke, says he wants to go to a surfing competition UP the coast in Ventura. Ventura is an hour or so SOUTH of Santa Barbara. This was really annoying me so I had to mentally substitute Santa Monica (in LA and fits the details better) for Santa Barbara. Blacker and his editor need to look at a map.

From the beginning to the end, The Angel Factory was a compelling novel. Young little Thomas Wisdom had perfect parents, a perfect family, a perfect life. All that changes when he finds out a secret about his parents and himself. The truth, if he is willing to believe it, will change his life and the lives of billons of people like him. One wrong move and that's the end of the world. The book kept me interested and surprised throughout the whole book. This book was a fantasy book but it seemed like real things happened. People who like fantasy books would like this book. I think it should be read by people who are in sixth grade and above. It was one of the best books I've ever read!