First Escape (Dopple Ganger Chronicles) [Paperback]

G P Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dopple Ganger Chronicles | Publication Date: October 9, 2009

At Isambard Dunstan's School for Wayward Children, life is trouble for 14-year-old identical twins Sadie and Saskia Dopple and their friend, former thief Erik Morrisey Ganger. But what starts out as a perfectly normal day of food fights, rioting classmates, fires and (yawn) threats of expulsion goes suddenly and horribly wrong when a mysterious, wealthy woman appears at the school and adopts Saskia...without her sister. On her own in a mansion full of dark secrets, Saskia stumbles upon a conspiracy that threatens her very life. Meanwhile, desperate to find her, Sadie and Erik escape from the orphanage with a gang of enemies in hot pursuit. Faced with perils beyond their imagination, the trio must decide who to trust and what to believe if they are to survive.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–7—Part fiction, part graphic novel, and part picture book, The Escape is a tale of Saskia and Sadie Dopple, twin orphans, forcibly separated by an eccentric cast of characters; and ex-burglar Erik Ganger, who aids them in reuniting. Set in Britain in the early 20th century, the story has a gothic feel, if a slightly absurd one, reminiscent of Lemony Snicket's "Series of Unfortunate Events" (HarperCollins). Saskia is adopted by wealthy writer Muzz Elliott, whose grandfather lost quite a bit of gold at her estate. When criminals seek to dupe Elliott and replace her, both Elliott and Saskia are in mortal peril. Meanwhile, Sadie and Erik escape from the orphanage, only to fall into the clutches of an insane retired magician. The prose flows somewhat awkwardly into paneled storytelling and back out again, and while the style is innovative, the pacing doesn't work consistently in the two formats. Additionally, bits of religious philosophy seem tacked on rather than integral to the story. While fans of Snicket or Roald Dahl may enjoy the absurd tale, and the narrative's mix of prose, panels, and pictures is intriguing, the story itself falls short.—Alana Abbott, James Blackstone Memorial Library, Branford, CT
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Billed as an “illustronovella”—a mix of prose and graphic novel—this first entry in the Dopple Ganger Chronicles boasts an enticing design, moderately successful story, and Taylor’s signature blend of frenzied atmospherics that’s equal parts mayhem and mystery with a modern Victorian sensibility. Orphaned twins Sadie and Saskia Dopple are separated when Saskia is adopted and bustled off to live in a creepy mansion. Sadie escapes the tightfisted rule of the orphanage to reunite with her twin, and the children are beset from all sides by menacing grown-ups whose plots, while not always clear, are always nefarious. The points in which the action shifts from paragraphs to panels can seem arbitrary and disjointed, leading characters to sometimes speak things aloud that are better left to straight description. The brief cameo by an “angel,” who alludes to higher-purpose adventures, suggests the series’ religious theme. That hint is so understated here it may go entirely unnoticed, but expect a higher religious profile in subsequent books. Grades 6-9. --Ian Chipman --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Authentic Media Word (October 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860247741
• ISBN-13: 978-1860247743
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,097,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A motorcyclist and former rock band roadie turned Anglican minister, Graham Peter (G. P.) Taylor has been hailed as "hotter than Potter" and "the new C. S. Lewis" in the United Kingdom. His first novel, "Shadowmancer," reached #1 on the "New York Times" Best Sellers List in 2004 and has been translated into 48 languages. His other novels include "Wormwood" (another "New York Times" best seller which was nominated for a Quill Book Award), "The Shadowmancer Returns: The Curse of Salamander Street," "Tersias the Oracle," and "Mariah Mundi." Taylor currently resides in North Yorkshire with his wife and three children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing..., September 13, 2008

By 

S. Stevenson "FictionAddict" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First Escape (The Dopple Ganger Chronicles) (Hardcover)

I'm always on the lookout for really good new books, and when I saw G.P. Taylor's newest book: THE FIRST ESCAPE, I thought it looked like it'd be pretty good. I had seen the cover art for some time and definitely wanted to read through it. When I finally did get my hands on the book, my emotions were mixed.

I knew that this book was a "new" format called the Illustra-Novel, and being a fan of comics / manga, I thought it sounded pretty good. While the cover art for the book looks great, I will say that when I saw the graphic novel sections, I was disappointed. First off, I'm a fan of old-school animation (not super old, mainly I'm thinking eighties, early nineties -- when animation was smoother). The drawings in the comic blocks are very squared off and modern-looking. Something I almost detest in modern cartoons. So initially it was a bit of a jump to get into it and get past the drawing style.

One thing I must point out is that this novel format is not revolutionary. All the buzz around the book is about how it's a mix of traditional novel and comics and illustrations. There have been other books before this one that have pulled off the same feat: THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABARET being one -- combining text and full page illustrations, where each page is a comic block in itself. And there are also the SPROUSE BROS. 47 R.O.N.I.N. books that contain sections in traditional comic-book format. I thought both of those pulled off the idea a little better than THE FIRST ESCAPE did. I will say however, that there are some very interesting graphics every now and again -- that I wish there had been more of -- where a real photo was used and then almost brushed to give it a very eerie, gothic look. Those were amazing, and had me wishing for more of the same rather than the block-look drawings.

Setting all of the comic and graphic elements aside, the one thing that Taylor really has going for him is the story here. He does a good job of presenting interesting twists into the story that definitely kept me interested. About thirty pages in (and they move very swiftly), he had me pretty much hooked. This, book one in the DOPPLEGANGER CHRONICLES, centers around three orphans, Saskia & Sadie (twins) and Erik. Together and separately, they come across a few very interesting mysteries when Saskia is taken away by an eccentric old lady to a huge mansion. Secrets and betrayals abound, and soon all three children find themselves in the biggest mess of their lives. Taylor throws in a few intriguing details here and there that definitely lead the reader to believe that there will be a bigger, more over-arcing storyline to come in later books.

The plotting is very tight, and while the climatic ending kind of circles around for a bit, it all goes down very smoothly and swiftlty. I definitely would say that the tween set is going to go for this Illustra-Novel, having grown up on the newer generation of cartoons. I only wish the drawing could have been in a different style -- if it had, I think I would have bumped this up to 5-stars for sure. Crossing my fingers that the next installment will be even better.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great New Series for Tweens and Teens (and even adults ;) ), June 2, 2009

By 

Carrie D. Fox (Adams, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First Escape (The Dopple Ganger Chronicles) (Hardcover)

An amazing new book is out for tweens and teens. "The Dopple Ganger Chronicles: The First Escape" is a harrowing tale of two girls that live in an orphanage. They are twins who like to cause a bit of trouble here and there but when a woman comes in who wants to adopt only one girl there is uproar and we get to see the tale unfold of Saskia and Sadie Dopple and their friend, Erik Morrissey Ganger, a former thief. Saskia gets adopted by a rich, but slightly strange woman. While we watch as Sadie and Erik escape the orphanage to find Saskia we also watch a tale unfold at the mysterious mansion that Saskia has been whisked off to. As Saskia stumbles on a plot that puts her life at risk and Erik and Sadie have a gang of enemies chasing them, the three all have to make decisions on who to trust and what to believe. The book is written well and has an interesting feature: it contains comic book illustrations of some of the action and adventure! This book will be interesting to both girls and boys because of that feature I think. I had my 10 year old daughter read it and she absolutely loved it. The comic book illustrations amused her and she called the book, "awesome and very exciting" and declared the illustrations to be "very cool." I enjoyed it as well, so I think that it is a great book for all ages even though it is aimed at youth.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The First Escape (The Dopple Ganger Chronicles), June 1, 2009

By 

Linda Creibaum - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The First Escape (The Dopple Ganger Chronicles) (Hardcover)

You know before the end of the first page that "The First Escape" will be a dark story, and it is. The illustrations are spiky and dark, the humor is dark, the protagonists are dark, and the villains even darker. No innocent victims, the Dopple twins instigate mayhem at every opportunity at the School for Wayward Children where they live.

"The First Escape" of G. P. Taylor's "Doppleganger Chronicles" had been on my read list for a long while because of the intriguing name and the publicity comparing it to the J.K. Rowling and Phillip Pullman series of novels. In fact, this tale reminds me more of Lemony Snicket's "Series of Unfortunate Events," but with Taylor's twins Saskia and Sadie Dopple plus friend Erik Ganger substituting for Snicket's Baudelaire orphans. In this adventure story the three teens plunge from crisis to catastrophe and back again beginning even before Saskia is taken for adoption and Sadie runs away from the school to find her. Every few pages reveal a new misadventure or narrow escape, and there's the rub.

The award-winning author spends so many pages on the calamities that there is little left for character development, and the incidents in Taylor's illustronovella often go far beyond the bounds of simply bad taste--literally. He gives a sketch of the facts as to why the children are at the school, but few personality traits displayed are of the heart-warming variety. We never really get to know the characters, and I still wonder why Erik joined the twins he initially seemed to dislike.

I thought the plot was interesting, the end was satisfactory, and some of the tricks with the type fonts were intriguing. Ultimately, however, I found it distracting to move back and forth between graphic and traditional illustrated novel formats, especially in a book whose chapters alternated between what was happening to each twin as the two came closer together. I do not recommend "The First Escape" as a book for younger children because of the disturbing nature of some of the characters and events. Older children and young adults who enjoy fast-paced reading, dark events and unruly teens may enjoy it.