Looking for the Audiobook Edition? Tell us that you'd like this title to be produced as an audiobook, and we'll alert our colleagues at Audible.com. If you are the author or rights holder, let Audible help you produce the audiobook: Learn more at ACX.com.
Release date: September 25, 2012 | Series: Recon Team Angel (Book 1)
It's 2030, and humanity is losing the war against alien invaders. A Band of Brothers meets Ender's Game in this sci-fi military thriller.
A team of six has been chosen . . .
. . . to infiltrate the enemy's headquarters in the heart of the Australian Outback. The six teens have been modified to look like aliens. They have spent years mastering alien culture so that they can talk, act—even think—like their enemies. But from the start, the recon mission goes terribly wrong. It's only when they are close to discovering the shocking truth of the aliens' plans that the team is forced to ask:
Who among them is a traitor?
Brian Falkner, author of The Project, Brain Jack, and The Tomorrow Code, delivers a page-turning military thriller with his signature heart-pounding action and unique sci-fi twists.
Hand this to teens who love playing Call of Duty and Halo!
"Falkner supplies a tight story that features a strong plot and believable characters. . . . [He] effectively employs the tropes of both survival and war stories to great effect. While an entirely satisfying read on its own, readers can only hope there is a second installment in the works."—Kirkus Reviews
{"itemData":[{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":13.87,"ASIN":"0375869468","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":8.09,"ASIN":"0375871888","isPreorder":0},{"priceBreaksMAP":null,"buyingPrice":8.99,"ASIN":"0375843671","isPreorder":0}],"shippingId":"0375869468::gY%2Bsuo4W61OBGfEPAhazj7%2B5%2FELVK74mPuvWfuqedbDFIHzaR08von%2FnspMDuFKIj%2F99L8fWVIZupkCjOXDOu1BKqA4Sio4s386rTu%2FYwQS71TZzGLgEcw%3D%3D,0375871888::jc55n8mVM0bjTrVeSpyQSjY1kppJh6S2EcRBoOXf7bH64wW5yAHMTHcd4vQbUcFtzL4cTU4inSbb3Pu5wDAmFHIf4DchWWaC8o67k8RQKvLbNHz0wkNfyg%3D%3D,0375843671::uJOIkD3HmLoCye5Z1qhgelYUANXV7SpSoyn5tST50B4vtfAZ3wELvmrn7xOa%2BFZHvk7YuSaxFwTHmILOXYct92yAzAyKRCkG%2FGVLPV5JCnFCR3V8f9YIhw%3D%3D","sprites":{"addToWishlist":["wl_one","wl_two","wl_three"],"addToCart":["s_addToCart","s_addBothToCart","s_add3ToCart"],"preorder":["s_preorderThis","s_preorderBoth","s_preorderAll3"]},"currenyCode":"USD","shippingDetails":{"xz":"same","yz":"same","xy":"same","xyz":"same"},"tags":["x","y","z"],"strings":{"addToWishlist":["add to wishlist","Add both to Wish List","Add all three to Wish List"],"addToCart":["Add to Cart","Add both to Cart","Add all three to Cart"],"showDetailsDefault":"Show availability and shipping details","shippingError":"An error occurred, please try again","hideDetailsDefault":"Hide availability and shipping details","priceLabel":["Price:","Price for both:","Price for all three:"],"preorder":["Pre-order this item","Pre-order both items","Pre-order all three items"]}}
Gr 7 Up-Recon Team Angel consists of six teens between the ages of 14 and 18. This squad stands between us, the people of Earth, and complete subjugation. It is the year 2030. Sixty percent of the surface of the planet is controlled by the Bzadian. Millions of people have died or been forced into refugee camps. Separated by water from the rest of the world, the last remaining outpost of freedom is the Americas. Now, thoroughly trained and disguised as "Pukes," six young people prepare to enter the belly of the beast and overthrow the alien command post in Australia. What they don't know is that one of them is a traitor. As much adventure thriller, on the order of Alistair MacLean, as futuristic speculative fiction, the novel has the feel of an early Heinlein work. Sympathetic characters, snappy dialogue, and quickly paced action make it hard to put down.-Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AKα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
About the Author
A native New Zealander, BRIAN FALKNER now lives on the other side of the Tasman Sea, in Australia. To research the settings for The Assault, he camped in the Australian Outback, sleeping under the stars and visiting Uluru. Brian is also the author of The Tomorrow Code, Brain Jack, and The Project. Find him online at brianfalkner.com.
Brian Falkner was born and raised in Auckland. He is the author of several novels for children and teenagers including, The Flea Thing, 2003 (AKA Henry and the Flea) which was shortlisted for the LIANZA Esther Glen Medal; The Real Thing, 2004; The Super Freak (AKA Super Freak) which was shortlisted in the NZ Post Awards 2006; and The Tomorrow Code (shortlisted, NZ Post Awards and the Esther Glen Medal, 2009). Brainjack won the Sir Julius Vogel Science Fiction Award (Young Adult).
Prior to becoming a children's author, Brian trained as a journalist and then worked as a reporter and an advertising copywriter, a radio announcer and an internet developer. His hobbies include scuba-diving, travel, amateur theatre, photography and rugby.
This science fiction war story was filled with action. A group of six young people have been trained to infiltrate the headquarters of the alien invaders who said they were coming to seek refuge from their dying planet but who now want to take over the whole Earth. This is the story of how they managed to get into the fortress and what they found when they got there.
The leader of the group is sixteen-year-old Lieutenant Ryan Chisnall. The other group members are his Sergeant Holly Brogan, Specialist Steven Huntington, Specialist Janos Panyoczki, Private Blake Wilton, and Private Trianne Price. Each of the members of the team has a specialty. Price is also called Phantom because she can move with so much stealth, Wilton is a sharp shooter, and Panyoczki is called Monster because he is so strong.
Chisnall has picked all of them for their strengths but he doesn't know that he has also picked one team member who is a traitor and is working for the aliens. Chisnall has to figure out who the traitor is after Huntington is killed and some important equipment is damaged. But he also has to complete his mission and get to the center of Uluru to find out what the aliens are hiding.
This book is filled with military jargon and lots of various weapons I found that there was a glossary at the end of the story that would have been more helpful had it been at the beginning. There isn't much character development in the story. The whole thing is written as though it was pieced together from mission reports and interviews with the survivors. It begins with a prologue that sets the stage and ends with an End Note that tells what happened to the characters of this book after this adventure ends.
This is essentially a war story. We don't really learn very much about the aliens who have invaded the Earth. While they talk about how our team has to learn the culture and language of the aliens, the actual aliens don't act much different that any human soldier would. Their "alien-ness" is conveyed by their physical appearance which includes a differently shaped skull, different skin tones, and different things they like to eat. They are supposed to have DNA that is 99% the same as human DNA.
I think this story will appeal most to those who really like war stories with descriptions of weapons and battles. I would have liked more character development and for the aliens to be more alien.
The Assault by Brian Falkner Earth is invaded, the invaders are as biologically as close to us as chimpanzees and they are winning our planet. A team of teenage commandos infiltrate their most secure facility and wreak havoc.
My first reaction to the age of the commandos was tainted by the reality of child soldiers in the African conflicts. After I scrubbed that image from my mind I was able to focus on the story. The story line is fine. The political logic regarding the arrival of the aliens seemed highly plausible. The behavior of the aliens was akin to the behavior of the European assault on colonial America.
Teenage abilities are often overlooked. I found nothing outlandish about the capabilities of teenage commandos. Kids are talented and far more resilient than what is commonly believed. I also liked the way Falkner showed the innate optimism and nobility of the young. Their unwillingness to randomly kill and their resistance to the "collateral damage" attitude was comforting.
The Bzadians are an alien society who was searching for a new home planet. They stumbled upon planet Earth during their search. For a decade or so all was well between the Bzadians and the Earthlings. All of that changed when the Bzadians demanded the whole planet to them selves. This will lead to global battle between the two races. After years of fighting, 6 of the remaining super teen soldiers are sent to spy of the Bzadians. As they become closer in enemy grounds, everything changes. What has happened? Who is the traitor? With all this said and done, I absolutely recommend this book. Although the beginning starts of confusing, the book is well written with great descriptions.
