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59 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
How do you revisit a classic plot?, July 18, 2008
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"The Lord of the Flies" was one of the most unsettling books that I read at school (over 45 years ago!). It combined the horrifying realization of the Milgram experiments - that decent, ordinary people could behave in unspeakable ways with the minimum of a contextual shift - with an entirely believable set of characters in an all-too-plausible situation. I could identify with them, see friends (and rivals) around me who would react as Golding's creations had done. And the basic plot seemed wholly original: it wasn't one of the classic patterns that writer after writer had taken a crack at.
So how would you update it for the 21st century? How do you achieve the sudden enforced isolation of a group in an alien environment? In an era of GPS and satellite communications, it's hard to disappear, impossible to isolate. "The Truman Show" suggested a way that might work for one person, and "Gone" borrows some ideas from this world-in-a-bubble, but as the idiom goes "that doesn't scale". How about the characters - and the audience? And who is the audience, anyway? Golding wrote his masterpiece as an allegory for all ages, but that's a rare achievement.
Michael Grant decides to focus on the "young adult" audience, which means that the book has to compete in a world of "Buffy", reality TV, and videogames. In keeping with the zeigeist, the isolation of the young protagonists is achieved through a science fiction device: a "rapture of the adults". And the games begin.
OK, so I'm not the target audience of this book, but no matter. If adults can cross over to "Harry Potter", I don't see why I can't enjoy "Gone". And I did. Mostly. The first half of the book is really strong: some great scenes that Golding would have enjoyed. There are touches of Stephen King, and some wholly convincing character development. The childcare and McDonalds subplots are wonderful. I care about these people.
After that, things start to drift out of focus. We have a variety of "supernatural" plot elements which are never adequately related to any kind of underlying truth. It's OK for an author to leave the reader in a state of uncertainty; here it feels as if the author is uncertain - or perhaps he wants to keep his options open. There are a couple of "deus ex machina" moments which seem horribly out of place, although they would certainly provide opportunities for some cool CGI in a TV adaptation. (I'm sorry, that sounds cynical.) The inexorable march to the climax (announced with a count-down timer on each chapter) takes us to an interesting nexus which leaves far too many things unresolved. For the next book? For the TV series?
I'm glad I read this book, and I really enjoyed bits of it. There's a lot of good writing, and great plot potential. I wish that the author had shown more confidence in the strength of his core ideas, and hadn't felt the need to toss in so many distractions. Another Amazon reviewer wrote "Gone has just about everything in it...suspense, action, mystery, romance, supernatural sci-fi...all that good stuff." Exactly. A little less would have helped.
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow! Fantastic!!, June 27, 2008
Welcome to the FAYZ, short for Fallout Alley Youth Zone. There's no one who's over the age of fourteen; they've all "poofed," they're just gone. But the strangeness only starts there. There's a circular wall, or maybe dome, surrounding the land within a ten-mile radius from the nuclear plant. The wall is impenetrable and burns you if you touch it. There are strange mutations in the animals, such as seagulls with talons, winged snakes, and talking coyotes. Some kids have also developed strange powers. The rules of the world are changing, and Sam is running out of time before he turns fourteen and is bound to poof.
The kids from Coates Academy come down to the town of Perdido Beach, and one of them, named Caine, basically takes over. He acts as if he's benevolent, but people are dying, and it's because his sheriff and Captain Orc's little gang of bullies keep beating people up who break the rules imposed on them by Caine. And while some of these rules are actually valid, others prevent people from gaining any power to oppose Caine.
Sam, Quinn, Edilio, Astrid, and Little Pete find themselves thrown together for survival. Sam knows that something is off about Caine, and he also has a power to shoot fire from his hands. They are constantly running from Caine or one of his allies. They eventually meet a girl Lana, who is a healer, and discover that Little Pete has special abilities of his own. When they save a bunch of kids with power from Caine, who had them imprisoned with their hands cemented in blocks, the kids join their movement to take Caine down. The struggle escalates, and all their lives are at stake.
When I first read the summary for this book, I was extremely intrigued. This new world is almost like a parallel universe. I really enjoyed the references to Harry Potter, Star Wars, Hollywood, Agent Orange (the bad), and other literary works. Reading into Astrid and Sam trying to figure out where they were and what was happening to their world was very stimulating. There is a lot of exciting action in this novel, and even though the kids' powers sometimes seemed like they were taken from the movie The Incredibles, I still enjoyed it. I wanted to cheer and scream at the ending of the novel, and I really hope there will be a sequel to this book. Gone was simply an amazing book; I don't think I can stress that fact enough, and I recommend it to everyone. This book is very thick, and I hope its length will not discourage anyone from reading this fantastic story.
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41 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lord of the Flies in a Left Behind world that turns Wild in the Streets, June 28, 2008
Abracadabra anyone over thirteen years old simply vanished. Preadolescent kids are stunned when they realize there is no one ordering them about. Soon that shock turns to fear as a tough mentality begins to create a social Darwinist environs.
With the help of his kinetic power, Coates Academy charming delinquent Caine takes control of Perdido Beach with an iron rule. Sam also has power but he is reluctant to use it as he blames himself for the disappearance. Whereas some of the children look to townie Sam to take charge, Caine tightens his hold through his academy Freaks minion. War in Fallout Alley Youth Zone between the two sides is imminent; though turning fourteen next week means Sam is GONE.
The obvious immediate perception is that of the Lord of the Flies in a Left Behind world that turns Wild in the Streets. The story line explores the reactions of the young when the older generations are suddenly GONE. Michael Grant targets teens, but does not dumb down his apocalyptic thriller, which will delight his audience especially with knowing what Sam knows will happen to him shortly; as he has one week left before he vanishes. Although he prefers not to get involved, he is a natural leader; as is Caine although their values differ. Thus good neighbor Sam expects an OK Corral like battle against Caine that he believes will determine the future, which he hopes is his legacy once he is GONE while his adversary's bully mentality is based on maximize your pleasure at the expense of others in order to live for today.
Harriet Klausner
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