Customer Reviews

Daniel X: Watch the Skies

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First let me say that I salute Patterson for reaching out to younger readers. As a homeschool parent, it is wonderful to find books that will inspire our kids to read - even if it is just "fun fiction."

This is the second book of the Daniel X series, and continues the story of a 15 year old with truly amazing powers. Not only can he transform himself, read minds, but he can literally change matter around him into anything he likes. He uses these remarkable powers to recreate his long lost friends and family, as well as battle the alien scourge out to destroy or enslave our planet.

The reading is at about a 5th-8th grade level, but my son who is in 3rd grade could read through it with little difficulty. In fact, he loved it! What's not to love... And it's all done with generally good-natured fare - nothing graphic or adult in any of it.

The Daniel X books are targeted for a slightly younger audience than the Maximum Ride books, and are probably better suited for boys. Similar to the Maximum Ride series, the book is broken up into very short chapters (many only 1-2 pages in length), making it perfect for a young reader. My kids are always telling, "Yeah Dad, I'll be there in a minute, just let me finish the chapter." *smile*

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I came to "Daniel X: Watch The Skies" a relative novice to the genre, or perhaps I should say genres as the story seems to be firmly in the realm of fantasy even as it employs the stuff of science fiction and super heroes. Having never read a James Patterson story before coming to Daniel X, I was more than a bit curious to open the cover of his latest effort in collaboration with Rust, especially since this book, although entertaining enough for a middle aged individual such as myself, is geared to a younger audience, which leads me to the first thing I would like to say about the book.

In the world of Daniel X, anything is possible, anything. So, for example, the fine imaginations of the writers give Daniel an index finger which functions as a gun barrel capable of shooting anything from a spit-wad to, well, anything. The finger is the least of it. Friends, family, an elephant, vehicles, bacon, all sorts of good stuff, so Daniel wills it, so it is done. Cool. And therein lies one of the nice things about this book, since anything is possible, the story can and does function on more than one level. Something for everybody then, and the story is, in some ways, the least of it, at least for older readers.

I was more taken with the writing than I was the story, which, predictable though it was, nevertheless was entertaining. The writing however, was, at times, very clever and very funny. The lists Daniel's imaginary mother creates to excuse his absence from school are but one example of how this story and the writing work on different levels for different readers. So, while having great fun with language, not only do the lists make us laugh, but they give us reason to pause and consider. Clearly, the authors have some feelings about the state of public education these days in these Uniteds: "...Stick this in your fascist helmet: We've looked over the terms of the No Child Left Behind Act and determined that if your school is doing the driving, we're okay with Daniel being left behind." Or, on the lighter side under yet dark clouds: "He's seeing Dr. Yvonne Yurmunni for interstellar impecuniosity," while "Dr. I. M. Trubbell is assessing the state of his bureaucratic mumbo jumbo allergy." Amusing,timely stuff written well.

I like the idea too, that the authors, through Daniel and his friends, flat out tell younger readers of this book, that reading and the search for knowledge are important, and so is effort. Friendship and the notion of caring for other living things, pets as well as people, are important too. These are fine ideas, and good then that they are expressed so bluntly in this book, even as older readers such as myself can taste the sting of rebuke for a world, at this point in time, which is, in no small part, of our own malodorous making.

Daniel X will give young readers thrills and chills even as it fills them with wonder. Older teenagers will begin to read between the lines and find some of the rich humor that runs throughout the story, even as they discover that Daniel speaks loudest for them, and never more loudly than when he is gently mocking the senior partners. As for older readers, well, I guess we're dancing just as fast as we can.

It sucked me in the pages with just the first chapter. Very fun, though it's sort of predictable at parts.
The action is more spread throughout, Daniel is becoming more one-of-a-kind, since he was a lot like Percy Jackson in the first one.
As I said, predictable, but intriguing. It's not a book I would buy, but a book I would borrow from the library again and again.

I would give the first book a 6.7/10, but this an 8.5/10.

Daniel X, alien hunter extraordinaire, is trying to save the planet and kill the aliens responsible for his parent's death. Daniel's super power is that he has the ability to use his imagination to create fellow alien hunters, a family, and some cool weapons, all while managing to get himself out of some seriously dangerous situations. Unfortunately, it appears that the same aliens that killed his parents are also trying to take over the world through the use of technology. The evil alien (who is constantly described as resembling a giant catfish) has released his henchmen on the town, and is determined to kill all humans for the sake of "entertainment". No one seems immune to the evil ones plans. He's forced people to dance to 80s music, and impregnated several of women in the town thru contaminated caviar (and they are eating fish food by the "buggy full"), and is leaving tons of dead humans in his wake. And half way through the story, you find yourself wondering just how will Daniel save the world, if he is having trouble saving himself?

I was a little disappointed with this book. To be honest I expected a lot more, or at least a story that was cohesive. I know....I know, I am constantly complaining about my declining appreciation for Patterson, and yet continue to read and review them. I guess what was a promising tale, ended up being somewhat disjointed and mediocre. And while Patterson may have been implying that society has become too dependant on technology (since that was the evil one's method to infiltrate society), and need to get back to reading books, this was not an example of a good read. And although it was a promising premise, the real question remains would I read another Daniel X book? Probably not unless someone can assure me that it would be worth the time and effort.

this book is about evil villian called number 5. one of the top ten baddies. #5 sent a can of fish eggs to everybody in the city, it contained an egg of #5's so when the women ate it they became pregnant with #5's babies. This book is soo adventurous and actiony! i couldn't stop reading it, i finished it over the weekend!!!

This book is a sequel to a pretty good book by James Patterson called The Dangerous Days Of Daniel X. Does it live up to it's predecessor? Not so much, unfortunately. The book is short and too watered down. None of the chapters are more than 5 pages long, and the type is pretty big. Also, unlike most James Patterson novels, it's not very funny. The jokes often fall flat due to bad timing and/or bad phrasing. As for the story, it feels sadly underdeveloped. Patterson could have done so much more with this novel, yet he seems to have decided to leave the bare bones of a story and skip all the details. I know he is trying to keep his stories kid friendly, but I think he can find a way to do this without cutting virtually all content and suspense. That's what really got me. Daniel and his friends are doing nothing of interest, and that seems weird for a book about alien hunters. Of course, there are battles and explosions, but all the detail is non-existent. I found myself having to make up my own scenes just to make the story interesting. Daniel also seemed to have a split personality. One moment he would be a suave hero, and the next he would say something stupid that made him look like a total nerd. Some books pull this off by providing a balance between the sides, but this is not one of them. His changes in attitude are random and flow horribly. He also appears to have no emotions, aside from anger, frustration, embarrassment, and sickness: aka vomiting. He does the last one a bit to much for my taste. He also has developed a bit of a narcissistic ego, as he talks about how awesome he is non-stop.
Hopefully, at this point in my review, you are asking yourself,"If he hates it so much, why did he give it two stars?" I gave it two stars for two reasons. One; as many flaws as the story has, it appears to have served its purpose of leading into the next story, which will, if we're lucky, be worlds better. And two; I can not judge for all. If you are between the ages of 8 and 13, you may like this book. However, if you're 14 or older, I suggest renting it from the library if you feel the urge to read it. It does have one or two interesting tidbits. Is it worth reading it to find these tidbits? Probably not. But considering it only took me 2 and a half hours to read it, it may be a good time waster.

Ahhhhhh!!!This book was waaayy better than the first much improved Mr. Patterson. Im not saying the the first Daniel X novel sucked or anything, but this one was much better if there was a sixth star id want a freaking seventh star. However I have just expressed how much I freaking LOVED this book there were a few very very VERY strange parts. !SPOILER! For example that the main was making the women of the town where this book takes place were getting pregnant from so called caviar that they ate was really Number 5's kind eggs.!END OF SPOILER! Anyways I would say good for ages 9 & Up. Five stars out of five ten out of ten,however you wanna say it good job Patterson

this is a book i would reccomend for someone who wants a book that is different but addicting! i loved this book! when i found out about the series i thought it would be dumb but i was proved wrong best alien-book series i have read.

Daniel X is a teen-age alien hunter with some special powers of his own. He rides a motorbike and can do wheelies on his front tire. He has four imaginary friends, but unlike most kids, he can materialize them and they often help him out when he needs help, or just keep him company when he needs company.

The town of Holliswood is being taken over by aliens - from outer-space. These particular aliens are able to manipulate the radio waves, and t.v. stations to control humans. They also like to eat humans, after they make them dance around, filming them for entertainment. The head alien is a director. Even though there are some horrific things that happen to humans, the way it's written it's not very graphic or gross. Most teens have watched plenty of movies and shows that contain much worse than is shown in this book.

Daniel X needs to find a way to stop the aliens from taking over the town, and eventually the whole world for the purpose of filming, eating and using the world and it's inhabitants as entertainment for the rest of the universe. But the alien in charge of this epic project, (alien no. 5) seems to always be one step ahead of Daniel X, and in fact is planning to use Daniel in the finale of the series that he's filming. Daniel X meets a young girl and her strange parents. He is has quite a challenge solving this crisis, things go wrong but he perseveres.

I found the narrative of this book interesting, and the dialogue between characters was pretty good. There's some snarky dialogue between aliens and Daniel X, and intelligent dialogue between Daniel X and his friends/family. Though gross things are happening, there isn't over the top descriptions, but there is enough to keep a teen or tween interested in the story. Daniel X also is not a do it yourself type of hero, he takes advice and help from his friends...although they are a product of his imagination. Maybe because it's written from the pov of a teenage boy, one who has been hunting aliens, but there doesn't seem to be much to his personality - there's a little history we learn as we read, and little things he quips. He seems to care about animals and humans. It's just not very in depth - the presenting of his personality.

This was a cute, light/horror sci-fi book. The only thing that kind of got to me, was more the set up of the book. There are 91 chapters in this 251 page book. How can that be, do you wonder? most of these chapters are two pages long. As in half of one page (the beginning of the chapter) and half or a little over half of the second page (that would be the ending of this epic chapter). So really, I believe this book could have been condensed into 125 pages (approximately). I don't know if the authors meant for the book to be set up this way as a dramatic way of separating scenes, or if this was done to "flesh out" the book. There were quite a few of the 2-page chapters that could have been combined. A few of the chapters were really a continuation of the previous chapter. That's my only complaint of the book, and it's not anything to do with content or writing talent.

Overall this is a entertaining book, a light read even with the horror aspects.

Daniel X watch the skies
James Patterson
Fantasy
Little Brown

Night is when your side of the earth is pointed at outer space. This the time when all the bad things happen to Daniel X. 15 year old alien hunter. What will Daniel X do to stop Number 5 a catfish like alien with inhumane plan. Can Daniel X stop him ?

Do you like series? 15 year old Daniel on a challenge to save the woman of Holliswood from number 5 a catfish like alien. Number 5 takes control of Holliswoods technology. Which is when Daniel meets him in the middle of a broadcast of the simpons. In which leads him to the radio station which almost kills daniel mentally Number 5 brings back horrible of Daniel's past over the radio which then daniel destroys the radio station. Which after that Number 5 daniel to a supermart where daniel finds all of Holliswoods woman buying fish. When number 21 stuns daniel. Then what you all want to happen daniel fights number 5 read this story to find out what happens.

Daniel X
daniel x is very athletic and strong physically and mentally. He also is very protective to the ones he love. Very nice Because he makes sure everyone is safe. Daniel is very smart because he does not just run into battle he makes plans and thinks things through. Only Daniel's enemy's don't like him everyone else likes him and likes to be around him. Daniel X is important because he is always saving the day.

Judy Blue Eyes
daniel thinks that Judy is very pretty. Judy is very brave she was not afraid of aliens. Judy is very knowing She always knows what to do in any situation. She is very strong for a girl about to enter collage. She is very willing to things that a lot of girls would not do. Judy helps daniel mentally through the the bad memories and wants to keep helping.

Joe
The oldest of the group. One of Daniels best friends. Joe is very good with Things that are mechanical like cars. Very smart with everything. Joe is the one who is always eating. Joe is important to the story because he is always building things to help out the group.

Daniel X is a suspenseful thriller James Patterson binds them beautiful. If you like series than you will love Daniel X. If you like suspenseful thrillers then Daniel X is for you. Daniel x is the kind of book that once you start reading you can't stop. If you like books that don't end than you will love Daniel X. I promise once you start read you won't stop.