Customer Reviews

Paraworld Zero

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Imagine if a mentally retarded monkey was given a keyboard. The keyboard is covered in honey and ants and he starts to bang at it. What would come out of that is pretty much this book.

The editorial review from "The School Library Journal" is the one to pay attention to, not the gushing endorsements which are strangely all shown twice. Also, in my opinion, many of the earlier reader reviews look more like requested endorsements than honest reader opinions, but maybe I believe that because I can't believe that anyone sincerely thought this book should be compared to any excellent work.

The writing is okay but only okay. It can't redeem the stiflingly cliched story line. This book starts with cliches and marshals them like soldiers in review. Then marches them through the pages, sometimes in column and sometimes in line abreast. This story smothers the reader in cliches. If you've ever read any coming of age story, you won't find anything new here.

This book might be entertaining to someone eight or younger. But really, why not read something with more flair, like "Time Warp Trio"? Or Kipling's "Kim" or "Jungle Book"? This is certainly not a book for young adults.

I would not be quite so harsh, given this is a first book, and authors should enjoy some encouragement, but the line of gushing reviews just rings so false to me, I feel someone needs to balance them. So this review is not harsher than I feel about this book, but it is harsher than I might otherwise voice.

Edit: I did a bit more research, because I'm just not used to reading something this bad in actual print. The author drew the cover himself, and it appears that the author fell in with a poor publisher (whom he is not longer with). In my opinion, a better quality publisher would have A) Not let the author do his own cover and B) either rejected this book or asked the author to improve it before publishing it.

Obey your first impulse when you see the cover, and avoid. There's nothing to see here. Move along...

This is one of the worst novels that I have ever read in my life. The writing was so poor, I honestly cannot begin to describe the pain this prose caused me. The descriptions are extremely immature, and resemble the ravings some mentally handicapped man narrating the story to hushed four year olds. The dialog is cheesy, cheap and EXTREMELY artificial. In the "Paraworld" no such thing as a plot exists, though despite that I gulped the entire book. It was an utter waste of my money, and my time.
The only reason it didn't get a single star, is because this is the work of a new author. Maybe, MAYBE, he'll get better as he writes more.
And as far as the cover art goes, I really don't want to comment on it. Really...

I liked the overall story style and the main characters, but overall I think that this book really needed another editor. There where just so many cliche line and characters. It got to the point that I would feel like grinding my teeth when some secondary characters would speak.
Though in the end it was worth reading and an enjoyable main storyline. I probably wont reread this book unless it is reedited, but I will read the next book in the series when he comes out with it. I expect the author to become a stronger and with a better publisher and editor this could be the start of a pretty good series.

Simon first learns about a paraverse when he meets Tonya. Their meeting is an unusual one, and so is just about everything else once they join forces in battle.

Living in Mrs. Trimble's orphanage provides a fairly loving environment for 12-year-old Simon, but it's definitely not very exciting. As a lowly seventh grader in the midst of older bullies, his life is filled with tormenting and teasing. That is until the arrival of Tonya, the thin, athletic, and mysterious young girl with the colorful hair.

It is immediately obvious that Tonya is not from anywhere nearby; in fact, she's not even from the planet Earth. She tells Simon she is from Paraworld 4329, which she explains is a parallel universe. Although it all sounds like a dream to Simon, she insists that parallel universes are extremely common.

With Tonya's help, Simon is able to escape from his tormentors. He soon realizes that Tonya has extraordinary powers, although her command of them is often at a beginner level. Magic is how things work in Tonya's paraworld.

As a result of Simon's adventures with Tonya, he finds himself in another parallel universe called Pudd. The people there seem friendly enough and offer to help when it becomes evident that Tonya is in danger from some less than desirable characters from a world intent on eliminating the use of magic. Simon and Tonya are soon involved in a frantic adventure that includes magical spells and creatures with names like menabaws and dragunos.

PARAWORLD ZERO is the first in the new PARALLEL WORLDS series by Matthew Peterson. Its rollicking adventure style reminds this reader of a cross between Harry Potter's adventures and those of Artemis Fowl. Colorful characters, fast-paced adventure, and clever humor make this an interesting read.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

In this alternate reality Slider-like adventure, once again the underdog finds that he isn't a total loser after all. This is a fantasy that teen and junior high boys can enjoy as well as girls, filled with themes that appeal to Young Adult readers. Just about everyone can identify with the characters, even though Tonya comes from a world where magic is a commonplace commodity and they study it in school. Simon, an orphan who knows nothing of his mother, is a really sad case who is seriously bullied by some nasty classmates. It seems like he is always running away from them. Then Tonya suddenly pops in and blows the bullies away with her magic skills. Unfotunately, she also demolishes some buildings and cars in the process. Somehow Tonya had gotten separated from her classmates, who were going on their first field trip. Everything she does makes matters worse until they finally manage to get into the jet stream, if you will, the superhighway between alternative worlds. But Butch, the worst of the bullies plaguing Simon, manages to get in with them and even steal the paratransmitter that is used to pass from one world to another. They end up in a world neither knows anything about, Simon nearly dying in the process.

From that point, everything is foreign to Simon, and Tonya finds herself frustrated by things she is no longer able to do. They are taken in by a family and go to school, where Tonya is embarrassed because the younger Simon is faring better than she is. She hates the world they are stuck on.

I will say that they eventually leave this world of Pudo, but there are some major changes in both characters before that happens. In the meanwhile there are some spies, assassins, traitors, rulers of various worlds, and Tonya's parents that enter into the story. More than once demons are summoned by the bad guys. These guys are a lot meaner than I expected at the beginning, and it was soon obvious that no one was safe from their evil deeds and murders. Simon and Tonya are pulled into the intrigues in some unsuspecting ways, leading to a rather tense and exciting tale.

Matthew Peterson has a sense of humor that teen and pre-teen guys will really appreciate. I like the detail that Tonya's hair changes color depending on her mood. Some scenes are a bit reminiscent of Harry Potter, like the car that flies (by magic) up the side of a high building when they are escaping the police on earth. A lot of the dialog between Tonya, Simon, and their Pudan friend Thornapple is full of kid sarcasm.

This book is quite moral, built on high values and a definite God-view of the universe. The magic is not of 'real' magic, but has to do with electro-magical waves that are in the air. God is constantly brought into the story, quite naturally, although not everyone believes or gives him control of their lives.

I definitely recommend this as a good read for Young Adults, both girls and boys. Full of action, humor, moral values, suspense, and some mystery.

Now, when somebody compares a book to Stars Wars and Harry Potter I am more likely to burn the book than read it. To me Stars Wars is only good sci-fi to people who don't read or watch good sci-fi. And Harry Potter is, I think, just a lot of hype. Also the latter books got very depressing. I enjoy them but I don't think of them as the best in their field.
But I picked up this book anyway. For a young adult book it did seem a tad darker. Few books, even adult books, deal with slavery for example. While the main character is a boy who many would call a loser I can't help but think of him as normal. Problems at school, problems at home, problems with girls. Good grief, that's everybody who ever lived. Simon Kent is the 12 year old we all know because at one point we were all him. Even when he finds himself an important alien on another planet things don't become better. He is looked at as an outsider, the food sometimes winks at him and he finds the culture he lives in upsetting in many ways.
Frankly, the secondary plots remind me more of Japanese anime/manga, that kind of soft fantasy, soft science fiction, that fills their stories. Cat girls with energy weapons. And my copy was autographed, so why not just grab it when it was also free?
The mixture did hook me and I finished it in a day. A rainy day but I can only take a point away because it, sometimes, seemed to lack in detail. I kept forgetting that some of the action was happening in New York. You could have easily replaced the city's name with Washington or Hollywood or Pete's World and it won't have caused a problem with the action. And there was action, adventure, some romance, perfectly blended together. I never felt the need to stop and question anything, there was never a bump in the road, the swift, of the story.
A must for anybody who just wants a easy, enjoyable read or for any young kid who like anime, soft sci-fi or, yes, Harry Potter.

This was a great book with an interesting concept. I can't wait to read future books. After my husband finishes the book, we're going to pass it to our children (11 and 12) to read.

The chases - gripping; the characters - well developed; the plot - compelling and seamless with the action; the cliffhanger - first rate! What else could you ask for? There is even a first kiss! Oh, and did I mention the humor? This book was FUNNY!

It wasn't a flawless book (it was a little heavy handed sometimes and maybe could have used a better editor), but I was really surprised at how much the author was able to bring me into this world (or should I say "paraworld"). When I finished the book, all I could think of is, "I don't want to wait until the next one comes out... I want to read it now!"

I really enjoyed reading this book. The main character was very likable. Plot was not too predictable. Cost of book was reasonable.