Customer Reviews

Pod

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

POD by Stephen Wallenfels is a gripping story told in alternating first person chapters by a teenage boy and a twelve-year-old girl. Earth has been invaded by alien, gigantic spheres that hover in the air and destroy any human who ventures outside.

Josh is trapped in his house with his engineer dad in Washington state, while Megs is alone in her mother's car in a hotel parking garage in Los Angeles. Each of these main characters is distinctly portrayed. Josh's voice sounds authentic whether he's talking about normal teenage feelings or life and death issues. Megs reports her fears and extraordinary, brave actions with simple clarity. Day by day, these two kids tell their devastating stories as their situations deteriorate. Josh worries as his father becomes compulsive about cleaning house, organizing their dwindling food supply, and talking to Josh about things he can't even bear to contemplate. Which death is best - zapping by aliens, slow starvation, or suicide? Megs must contend with the violent thugs who've taken over the hotel and are trying to find her - and the gun she's discovered in an abandoned car. Should she trade the gun for the tiny hostage kitten she loves or risk her tenuous hold on life to attempt a rescue mission?

Although the Pearls of Death (PODs) are the cause of their terrifying conditions, Josh's story focuses on the dynamics of a small family within the confines of home; Megs' story features the reactions of a slice of humanity in a wider world. These two well told survival stories, side-by-side, make a very appealing novel for both boys and girls, twelve and older.

No clear explanation is offered for the alien invasion, but there are plenty of hints to generate readers' speculation and desire for a sequel.

Review by Sheila Kelly Welch

"Birds fly from branch to branch. A gust of wind sends leaves skittering across the patio floor. Storm clouds gather and darken a turbulent sky...Sirens pierce the moment...I reach for the door. `Josh, wait!' The urgency in dad's voice stops me cold. He's looking up. I follow his eyes...Dropping down through the clouds, silent like a spider on a web, is a massive black sphere."

What would you do if one day you couldn't leave your house anymore? And if you did, these giant black spheres hovering throughout the sky would zap you and you'd disappear FOREVER? Would you try to stay alive inside a house, a car, a hotel, or wherever you happened to be, or ...would you choose to go outside?

Megs got trapped in a parking garage. Josh and his dad got stuck at home. Every day, they manage to survive one more time by scavenging food from empty cars or from eating one more canned good from the pantry. But how much longer can they hold out? How long will the black spheres be there, hovering... waiting?

When will the black spheres finally DO something? Or is it really the other people in the hotel Megs has to worry about? And is Josh's dad more of a threat than the black spheres? It takes more than hope to stay alive in this crazy, black sphere-filled story.

Find out what happens when the world as people know it gets suspended in an eternal Now, with no end in sight and no way to fight the black spheres.

Reviewed by: Erikka Adams, aka "The Bookbinder"

On an ordinary day, an army of black, pearlescent balls descend from the clouds and hover in symmetrical patterns over, seemingly, the entirety of the Earth. No one knows what they are or why they've come. The lone warning is an unbearable metallic screeching noise audible only to humans. But the noise is far less terrifying than what happens next: The balls hanging in the sky release beams of white light that instantly vaporize any person unlucky enough to be caught without shelter. With anyone who ventures outside instantly "deleted," those left alive must try to figure out how to survive with no chance for escape and in near total isolation.

The science-fiction title POD, an unexpectedly absorbing first novel by author Stephen Wallenfels, had the honor of being the launch title for newcomer namelos press. Intended to be the first of a trilogy, POD is remarkable and captivating, a far cry from the cookie-cutter apocalyptic narratives one usually encounters. Expect no cannibals, no lone anti-heroes wandering about in a dusty wasteland, no senseless, over-the-top gun battles in a culture that wouldn't have had the technology or raw materials to manufacture ammunition. Speaking cinematically, POD has more in common with Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 masterpiece "The Birds" than with the "Mad Max" franchise or any of its clones. POD concerns itself with a larger question: How do ordinary people adapt to a new normality in the aftermath of an inexplicable, cataclysmic event?

Nearly sixteen, Josh is trapped in his small house in Prosser, Washington with his increasingly obsessive-compulsive engineer father and the family dog. Josh's mother was out of town when the PODs struck, and he and his father must grapple with the hope of her survival against the likelihood of her death as their supplies dwindle. In an underground parking garage in Los Angeles, twelve year old Megs and her mother were on the run from her mother's abusive boyfriend. With her mother gone on an errand moments before the PODs attacked, Megs must fend for herself while hiding her presence from the thugs who have taken over the hotel and now prowl the garage with increasing regularity. Certain that her mother is alive and will come back for her, Megs must balance her desire to remain in the garage with danger she faces in choosing to stay--or not.

The story, told over a period of 28 days by the two narrators in short, alternating chapters, becomes increasingly addictive as days pass and the PODs continue their dark sentinel in the sky. Despite their youth, the narrators avoid sinking into pathetic whining and approach their predicament with realism and remarkable common sense, a refreshing change from the trend of cloying sentimentality that tends to make young characters act younger than they ought to be. Josh and Megs are active participants in their survival, not merely hangers-on to the adults around them. They must make choices with real consequences about how they will continue to live and what meaning they can derive from the world around them.

Don't let this novel slip though your hands. Exceptional and unexpected, POD is a gem not to be missed, even by those who aren't normally fans of the sci-fi genre.

POD is a nicely done alien invasion story chronicling the experiences of two teens when alien pods drop down from the sky, effectively imprisoning everyone in their homes or buildings. There are no easy explanations here; we don't really know why the aliens are here or the reasons behind their actions. By the end, I kind of thought I knew, but nothing is ever spelled out. The sense of mystery that runs throughout the book makes for some very tense moments that will keep the reader glued to the page just waiting for that explanation. The characters are fully realized and it was my fondness for them that really heightened the suspense. Each of the two main characters are forced to face situations that are well beyond their ability to comprehend, and you really find yourself invested in their futures. The door is wide open for a sequel and I do hope one is coming. This is a well written, expertly paced Sci Fi story that will appeal to both boys and girls, fans of dystopian fiction, alien stories or tales of the paranormal. Quite a bit of violence and a little language make this a tale for high schoolers and adults.

POD is the story of an alien invasion of earth as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy in different cities. Wallenfels' use of the first person point of view, the short, intense chapters and the deft way he switches from one character to the other all serve to bring the tension in this story to a boiling point and keep it there. The aliens remain faceless and mysterious throughout, making them even more menacing.

Although POD is classified as a book for readers aged 9 to 11, I thought it was also very much an adult read. The story is intense and the characters extremely real and easy to identify with. Mr. Wallenfels' writing is smart, snappy and fast moving.

I'd highly recommend POD, not only to young adults, but to anyone who enjoys a good story.

The stark cover begins the journey by Stephen Wallenfels, into a world all too familiar yet completely alien. The perspective of a Northwest writer living in a small comfortable community crammed with engineers shines eerily true in Josh and his Dad. I was thrilled by the unrelentingly pace of this book. It beacons for a series like few other novels. I immediately began passing the novel to friends. My mother who never reads fiction, admitted that way before page 44 she was hooked. She also admitted that although the writing was not Pulitzer Prize winning, it added texture, pace and a home grown feel to the book.

Don't be tempted to give this to a young reader. The reading level of 9-11 years is simply a rating of the ease of reading, not the content. The book is not a horror book or terribly grotesque, but it does contain elements that are not for young readers.

3.5 stars.

First thing's first. I don't like cliffhangers. I especially don't like when they sneak up on me until I'm two chapters from the end and I realize there's waaaay too much to resolve.

Ladies and gentlemen, POD.

A well-written novel, Wallenfels tells two separate stories after giant spheres dropped from the sky and begin zapping people in the streets, essentially locking survivors inside their homes. As the days unfold, there's the developing relationship between a boy and his father and his ball-licking dog. There's also the story of the young girl left waiting for her mother in a parking garage that eludes the looting "peacekeepers".

It all unfolds quite nicely. Each day brings something a little different from the spheres, or Pearls of Death, as the boy calls them. And the catharsis reached between the boy and his father is moving. The girl is a regular Bruce Willis crawling through ventilation ducts to save a kitty. The only flaw, the girl felt more like a seven year old, not twelve. But the characters were authentic, becoming desperate and, in a state of survival, animalistic.

But then there's that cliffhanger.

There's resolution in the boy and girl's stories, but you won't find out anything about the PODs. You'll just get dropped off on the day they disappear and people can finally leave their shelter. Now they're heading for LA. The end.

If you're okay with that, I recommend this YA Sci-fi novel.

Great Book! I wouldn't consider this a sci-fi book so much as a thriller for teens.

If someone had asked me to read a science fiction novel about an alien invasion, I would have run the other way. I'm not a fan. This book has changed my mind. The foundation may be the invasion, but you never see the aliens and the focus most definitely is not on the aliens. Steve Wallenfells is a great writer. The reader's attention is focused on two young people as they cycle through a range of emotions and actions in order to survive. The plot pulls you in so completely that you begin to contemplate what you would do in such a position. If every single comfort and convenience were stripped away from you right now, what would be left? Who would you be? That is the essence of POD.

Pod by Stephen Wallenfels (2010)

This book was shortlisted for the 2010 Cybils which is why (as a round 2 judge) I read it.

Pod features dual story lines. One features Josh who is 15/16 in Washington state and one features Megs who is 12 in California. Both of them have to fave some MAJOR problems when aliens land. Or hover. Whatever.

I didn't mind the dual story lines. I thought the contrast was interesting between the two locations and by the end I'm pretty sure there is some connection between the stories (as improbable and thin as it is).

The alien premise was interesting and not having any closure (why did they come? etc.) was annoying but ultimately realistic I guess.

My main problem with Pod is that I hated Josh. He is a complete jerk, totally self-absorbed and ultimately a bad caricature of just about every annoying teen stereotype I can think of. I thought it was ridiculous how he second guessed his father at every turn with the water and food rationing. I was insanely annoyed by the ending of Josh's storyline. It was, simply put, sloppy storytelling (and did I mention annoying?).

Megs' storyline is less troubling because she wasn't such an annoying character and it is clear she understands that survival was really important-unlike Josh. But she seemed a little flat (all of the characters did actually-it might have had to do with the sparse writing or maybe this one just really tried my patience). I also don't think she sounds at all like a twelve year old.

Megs' vocabulary includes a lot of expressions a twelve-year-old wouldn't know. Similarly why does a child know about cracking open oysters? Why does she know about dehydration and how crying might not be the best thing when you're already short on water? I get that her home life isn't great but I don't get how she would know those things or any number of other things.

I can see the appeal of the premise and the characters but for me Pod was ultimately really unsatisfying and deeply frustrating.