Spartanica

Spartanica

Ty and Marcus Mitchell are average middle school brothers growing up in a suburb north of Chicago until one night when they’re hurtled through an inter-dimensional gateway to a parallel world defined by its multiple moons and planet-wide apocalypse. As they struggle to figure out where they are and how to get home, the boys encounter refugees of “the last day” from the distant city of Atlantis and a mysterious girl called Bellana, the sole survivor and resident of the devastated metropolis of Spartanica. Ty and Marcus soon learn they only have seven days to get home. But before they can leave, they must battle through long-extinct deadly predators, find the elusive Professor Otherblood (if he’s still alive), and rescue a new friend from certain death. Is all of this insanity just Ty’s overactive imagination or are the brothers truly on the brink of being stranded in the brutal wasteland known as Spartanica?

Author: Powers Molinar

------------------------------

This was a fun young adult science fiction book.  The characters of Ty, Marcus, and Bellana are enjoyable to read about, their adventures are fascinating, and the world is vast and complex.  I am looking forward to reading more from this author - especially since Spartanica is the first book in The Survivors of Sapertys series.  This is not a book you can just power through and read quickly - although it's hard to go slowly!  The storyteller's point of view changes among the three main characters, and the world is described and defined through their unique perspectives, so this requires a bit more focus than usual.  The language and measurements of Spartanica were difficult to grasp at first since the contextual cues are initially vague - I could tell that one was a measurement of time, but not whether it was an hour or a century.  This is defined for the reader as Ty and Marcus figure it out, but was a little frustrating at first.  Place your trust in the writer - the ride is worth it!

Spoilers:  Ty and Marcus are very much alike in terms of their narrative style and I found it quite difficult to tell from whose point of view the story was being told unless the speaker was complaining about his brother. Which they both do.  At great length.  As I mentioned above, the contextual cues as to the meaning of Spartanican words are vague and are defined only after they have been used for several chapters.  This made reading quite frustrating for me and broke the willing suspension of disbelief - reminding me that I was reading rather than allowing me to stay lost in the story.  This book has a cliffhanger ending, so if this frustrates you, wait until the series is complete - the second book is still being written.  

I received a download of this book for my honest opinion.