5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Alluring...but..., November 3, 2009
This review is from: Pastworld (Hardcover)
Pastworld is a theme park that is run by the Buckland Corporation. It is a complete authentic reproduction of 17th century London. Everything is authentic, the dress, the lack of electricity, even the 17th century laws. Everyone who visits Pastworld has to be authentic, right down to the luggage they carry and the toiletries they use, the entire theme park has been designed that way.
But despite the fact that Pastworld has a few electronic security measures, crime runs rampant within the park. Underground "unofficial" beg and steal from the "gawkers" or visitors to the park, and sometimes do worse than just steal however. There is a notorious criminal that is terrorizing the park. He's known only as the "Fantom" and he murders his victims before removing organs and heads to terrorize the city. But the Fantom has more in mind than just causing some discomfort to the park gawkers, he's looking for someone. A young girl who has no idea she's living in a theme park, someone who can help him carry out his evil plot...
To start off with, I liked the general theme of Pastworld. It sort of reminded me of a cross between "The Truman Show" and a Charles Dickens/Sherlock Holms mystery novel. I thought Ian Beck had a lot of good ideas going for Pastworld.
However, I just could not get into Pastworld. First off, I felt that it was overly violent for a YA audience. I get blood, that's fine, but dismembering, decapitations, and removing organs? Really? I got the idea with the murders, I felt the extra embellishments of violence were unneeded to make the point.
I also felt zero connection to the characters. I found it annoying that the character of Eve, someone who was central to the entire plot of the book was only written about in diary format. Pastworld kept skipping from third person to first person and it distracted from the plot as opposed to adding to it. I just felt that the characters were sort of glossed over in an attempt to further the plot. I didn't feel like any of them had any depth and because of that, I really stopped caring.
Overall, I found Pastworld to be pretty disappointing. It's a shame really because Ian Beck had a really great and original idea that unfortunately just didn't come to fruition for me.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Happiness Is To Be Found In The Present, Not The Past Or The Future, January 7, 2010
This review is from: Pastworld (Hardcover)
The year is 2050. After the great financial apocalypse, Buckland Corporation built a sky dome, hundreds of feet tall, over London. The city was converted into a theme park designated as Pastworld. Wealthy visitors known as Gawkers travel there to watch its citizens live in the recreated Victorian squalor of the 1800's. It is a primitive world where visitors hope to satisfy their perverse, morbid curiosities by witnessing hangings, amputations and brutal murders, especially murders committed by the Fantom.
The Fantom is a mysterious, black caped figure who disembowels and dismembers his victims. He escapes his pursuers by leaping from tall buildings. He controls the ragged men, an army of street beggars and thieves. He searches for a young girl named Eve who, until recently, believed she was actually living in Victorian London, unaware of a modern world existing outside the domed city. A young visitor, Caleb Brown, is framed by one of the ragged men for murder. With the help of Eve and her circus friends, he tries to escape the hangman's noose as well as escape the clutches of the Fantom.
Dorothy traveled to the Land of Oz, experienced numerous adventures, some of them heartwarming and some of them horrifying, and eventually said, "There's no place like home." When will people learn that happiness can be experienced at home with family and friends? Dreams of traveling to other worlds, whether they exist in the past or the future, can turn into nightmares. This idea has been expressed before in Michael Crichton's "Westworld" and Richard T. Heffron`s "Futureworld" where lifelike androids provide entertainment for wealthy patrons; unfortunately, something goes amiss in these theme parks and there are horrifying consequences.
Ian Beck's superb science fiction horror novel "Pastworld" is a youth-oriented version of "Westworld" and "Futureworld." The central characters are young people, Eve, Caleb, Jago and Bible J, who are all approximately seventeen. They are trapped in Victorian London, victims of a simulated, artificial world controlled by computers. Because Pastworld is covered by a dome, I had fond memories of the classic "Logan's Run," which also involves trapped citizens who endeavor to escape a city of domes.
"Pastworld" is one of the most bizarre, intriguing novels I've read for young adults. Though it is primarily a science fiction horror novel, it has strong elements of mystery and romance. Fast paced and gripping, it raises a lot of moral and ethical questions concerning what vacationers deem as entertainment. Is it moral to keep humans trapped in a world without the modern, technological advances of transportation, education and medicine? Pastworld reminds me of a zoo where visitors goggle and stare at the misfortunes of others. Similarly, many people today enjoy traveling to third world countries where they satisfy a morbid curiosity by watching the suffering of the impoverished.
I grew up enjoying the Hammer horror films that were popular in the sixties and seventies, especially the ones with gothic settings of foggy London during the 1800`s. Frankenstein, Dracula, Jack the Ripper and other supernatural creatures haunted these films. Therefore, I was compelled to read "Pastworld." In a way, I am as guilty as the wealthy visitors who pay to visit this theme park. One of the characters, the Fantom, especially intrigued me since he was dismembering his victims like Jack the Ripper. Other mysterious characters of interest were the beautiful, tightrope walking Eve, the thieving street urchin Bible J, and Caleb Brown, the wealthy young lad who is framed for murder and whose father has been abducted by the Fantom. Who (or what) is the Fantom? That is the mysterious question that compelled me to keep reading.
"Pastworld" is highly recommended reading for all science fiction horror fans ages thirteen and above. With its many hidden dangers, Pastworld is one theme park I do not wish to visit. I'm quite happy living in the year 2009. I'll find happiness with my friends and relatives in the present. Perhaps I'll visit Walt Disney World. At least I don't have to worry about the exhibits eating me ("Jurassic Park"), shooting me in a gunfight ("Westworld") or replacing me with an android ("Futureworld").
Joseph B. Hoyos
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great trip to the past and future of London!, October 26, 2009
This review is from: Pastworld (Hardcover)
I went into this purchase intrigued with the concept that I read on the preview here on Amazon. While at times it was somewhat hard to follow where teh author was going in the book there was enough mysticism to get me through to the end.
After I read it and let it begin to sink in I found that I enjoyed the book even better as I reread some of the chapters that at first seemed somewhat fuzzy when reading it though the first time.
While I would recommend this for older young adults (14-17) due to the complexity of plot and some macabre I feel that the journey is worth it.
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