Customer Reviews

The Return of the Breakneck Boys (The Fading Worlds, Book 2)

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

 

 

This book is similiar to the first of the series book, except the hero, Howard Bell ruins his flying machine, Yam-Yosh changes sexes, Howard goes to earth to find theses weird "carrier" aliens, and a mysterious woman has blocked his acess back to earth. That about wraps it up in a nut-shell. Note: it is very hard to find this book. You may wish to look for it ASAP as it becomes increasingly harder to find. Good Reading! Also, the author was supposed to write another book in the series called, "World of the Night Wind", but has never printed it. This is strange as it is advertised in the back of this book.

I found Geary Gravel's e-mail address and wrote him about the rest of the series. He said he's got a full schedule, but he's writing when he can find the time. I personally can't wait for the next book, since I've already read the first two about 10 times! I love these books!

*For crying out loud.
The first Geary Gravel book I read was The Pathfinders: The Pathfinders, featuring a delightful teenage heroine, Ai.
The present book, The Return of the Breakneck Boys, and its prequel, A Key for the Nonesuch A Key for the Nonesuch: (#1) (War of the Fading Worlds Bk 1) seem to be earlier works, whose main protagonist the author seems to identify with.
Howard Bell is a writer and fix-it man who finds himself transported into the middle of a no-holds-barred tournament between a host of armed militias, in a collection of worlds organized by vague menacing figures, called The Keyholders. There is a very limited amount of blood-and-guts, but the majority of the action devolves on creative problem-solving by our boy Howard.
Howard has made friends with some delicious characters, including the beautiful Alaiya, a fierce fighter who has taken our hero under her wing, and in this second book, Howard returns to Boston with Alaiya, to try and understand what brought him into this adventure to begin with.
There are a few interesting plot twists, and more interestingly, Howard and Alaiya begin to understand each other a little better--something we can all feel good about.
The hue and cry for a conclusion is understandable, since we never get a denoument with the shadowy Keyholders, though we do meet up with a Traveler and a Slake or two. Mr Gravel does not strike me as one who is driven to write--at least, not one driven to complete a series! Romantically, there is enough closure. I'm sure if a suitable final episode comes to Mr Geary's mind, we will see it, if not in print, at least on the Web!
Here's my suggestion: write a brief ending; it can be easily accomplished in less than a hundred pages. Then publish all three books as a single novel: The Breakneck Boys Bite Back! Bye Bye!

Archimedes, wiping a tear