Tag: Finn

Shane Hegarty – Darkmouth: Worlds Explode | Review

Title: Darkmouth: Worlds Explode

Author: Shane Hegarty

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 464

Rating: 8/10

 

Shane Hegarty - Darkmouth: Worlds Explode

Shane Hegarty – Darkmouth: Worlds Explode

 

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

I absolutely loved the first Darkmouth book, and I gave it a ten out of ten in its review – that’s why the publishers offered to send me a copy of the second book in the series, a challenge which I gladly accepted. In fact, they sent me two copies, and so I donated one of them to the book exchange at my local arts centre. I know for a fact that at least one person (Amanda, I’m looking at you) has read it since then, which is cool!

Now, I didn’t enjoy the second book as much as the first one, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it – it’s just that the first book was so, so good that any sequel would struggle to do it justice. The good news is that the story does continue to develop throughout this, the second book in the series, and it leaves room for a lot of development in future releases.

And so with that in mind, I’d still very much recommend this book, especially for someone in their early teens. But the good thing about the Darkmouth series is that it also has some appeal for adults – I’m 26 at the time of writing, and yet I still thought it was awesome. Even though I didn’t rate this book as highly as the first one, I still can’t wait for the series to continue, and I’m not even the right target audience.

 

Shane Hegarty

Shane Hegarty

 

One of the other cool things about Shane Hegarty and his Darkmouth books is that there are a series of YouTube videos that you can watch to learn more about Darkmouth, whether we’re talking about the place or its residents. In fact, it’s easy to feel at home in Darkmouth, and you almost get the feeling that it’s a real place that you could visit, if you wanted to.

I haven’t left myself much room to talk about the story line, but it pretty much follows straight on from the first book, with young legend hunter Finn trying to rescue his father from the Infested Side, where the Legends live. The only problem is that Finn’s a little clumsy, but he tends to get things done somehow, in his own special way. Of course, he’s joined by his best friend Emmie, as well as a number of other supporting characters, some of whom are better than others. Niall Blacktongue even makes an appearance, so keep ’em peeled for that! Be sure to let me know what you think if you read it!

 

Shane Hegarty - Darkmouth

Shane Hegarty – Darkmouth

 

Click here to buy Darkmouth: Worlds Explode.


John McNally – Infinity Drake: The Sons of Scarlatti | Review

Title: Infinity Drake: The Sons of Scarlatti

Author: John McNally

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 404

Rating: 8/10

 

John McNally - Infinity Drake: The Sons of Scarlatti

John McNally – Infinity Drake: The Sons of Scarlatti

 

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

To begin with, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book – I was worried that it was going to end up being a rip-off of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and it’s certainly true that the author was probably influenced by that. However, this book offers so much more.

Loosely speaking, it follows the story of the young Infinity Drake (Finn for short), as he helps his Uncle Al to save the world from a terrorist conspiracy. The terrorists have released the scarlatti insect, an extremely dangerous creature which threatens to spread across the majority of the civilised world, wiping out 6 billion people.

Finn and his Uncle Al team up with some science folks to carry out an audacious plan – a crack military team is to be shrunk down to the size of fingernails and send to track down the terrorists’ scarlatti by releasing, tracking and following a second scarlatti, the only other insect of its kind in the world. Sounds like nothing could go wrong, right?

 

John McNally

John McNally

 

Wrong. The mission is compromised, and the special forces team has to operate off the radar, with no way of getting back in touch with HQ. Plus they have to deal with insects and animals that are bigger than they are, and when your grenades are the size of a speck of dust, it’s pretty difficult to take down an angry carnivore.

This book would be perfect for young adults with an interest in science, because science plays a key role throughout the manuscript. Whether the science that McNally speaks about is possible or not, it’s certainly plausible – the only thing that threw me off was a momentary reference to Google Analytics, which was poorly researched. I use Google Analytics all of the time for work, and so I know when someone’s talking out of their arse. In this instance, McNally was.

But overall, it’s pretty good for what it is, an escapism tale targeted at younger readers with a love for science. Infinity Drake is a relatable hero, even to myself – the series will be continued, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he gets up to in the next book.

 

Infinity Drake Promo

Infinity Drake Promo

 

Click here to buy Infinity Drake: The Sons of Scarlatti.