InterWorld by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of InterWorld
Book Review: A MUST READ by sunny green
Summary: 5 Stars
INTERWORLD by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves, shows both authors amazing writing skills. Neil Gaiman has written short stories for kid's comic books, film and young adult novels (coralline, The Graveyard book). Michael Reaves writes comics (Superman, Batman) and novels. He wrote for star trek and star wars. In this book both authors combine their incredible skills to create this masterpiece.
This book includes magic science fiction and fantasy. No matter what genre you like you will love this book. This book is about a boy Joey harker who suddenly gets sucked in to another world were he gets taken by an older Joey harker from another universe. The older Joey harker takes him back to a base that has Joey harkers from all different worlds and dimensions. There he is trained. This organization keeps the balance between magic and science and after failing a test that was a trap by the enemies he is brain washed and sent back to his world were weird stuff keeps accruing that makes it seem like part of his memory is still there then something accurse that brings back all of his memory and he is left with the choice of his family or the people he left behind in the enemies planet.
No matter what genre is your favorite genre you will like this book it is a real mix between science fiction and fantasy. I loved everything about this book from the writing to the plot to the characters this is a great entertaining thought provoking book that I would say is a must read.
Book Review: A book for pre-teens
Summary: 2 Stars
Neil Gaiman is one of those authors that you either love or... actually, i think everyone loves him. There are a lot of people (such as me) that will buy anything with Gaiman's name on it, even the constantly repackaged short stories that cause you to buy the same story three times
i bought this book thinking this was a Gaiman book. Which was dumb of me. This book isn't "Gaiman's InterWorld", it's Gaiman and Reaves' InterWorld, and my guess is that it's really Reaves' InterWorld. i've written quite a few short stories and screen plays and my own experience is that there is no such thing as a two-author story. If a book claims it had two authors, it normally means one person wrote the story and the other provided some ideas or acted as a sounding board. But having two authors influence the final product equally is nearly impossible - one author's style and vision inevitably takes over. i don't know Michael Reaves (other than knowing that he's a prolific writer of TV screenplays) but my guess is that this is his book. There's nothing here that feels like Gaiman. Nothing. That's not a bad thing - there are plenty of good authors - just understand that this probably isn't a Gaiman book
So is it good? i honestly don't know
i've learned that there are stories that appeal to people of all ages and stories that only appeal to a particular group. When she turned 10, Amber found a few of the latter. She loved them. Wanting to be able to talk to her about them, i read the books and utterly loathed them. They weren't bad books, they just didn't appeal to people out of their target audience
And that's what Interworld is. This might be a great book for pre-teens, but i don't think anyone else will like it. i personally hated it. i'm not sure why but i think it's because i've read too many books. There are no surprises in this story, no originality and no subtlety. Everything in the story is cliche. The bad guys are cartoonishly evil, the world is ridiculously polarized (witches vs. robots), the plot could have been generated with a computer playing madlib with a generic hero story template and every plot point is drawn in big crayola letters and highlighted in neon, a heavy handed treatment to make absolutely sure you know what's going on
It took me a while to realize that these are not bad things. At some point, you had never read a novel. You had read Pokey Little Puppy and Fox in Socks and at a certain age decided to tackle a novel. That's a hard transition. Much of what happens in an adult novel - the nuanced world views, subtle character interactions, assumptions of knowledge about the world - is hard to understand for someone new to novels. There is a need for stories that help readers make the transition. Starter novels. Novels with training wheels. And that's what InterWorld is
Many stories appeal to all ages. All of Neil Gaiman's children's stories are like that, most notably the juvenile novels Stardust and Coraline and the movie Mirror Mask. i can't name a single Gaiman kids story that wasn't enjoyable for adults (although the opposite is certainly not true). And that's part of why this novel doesn't feel like a Gaiman book. Even his Alice Cooper graphic novel, which was often criticized for being formulaic and cliche, had an unmistakable Gaiman feel to it. i don't think Neil Gaiman is capable of not writing in the style of Neil Gaiman. And this isn't a Gaiman book
So it's not a Gaiman book. Is it good? i truly don't know. i was offended by how bad it was, although if you imagine you're reading a script for a TV series pilot it feels more in place (TV shows, especially kids action shows, tend to be ham fisted and cliche). But i don't think i'm this book's audience. This was a one star book for me, but if you're a preteen who enjoys series like Warriors and The Death Gate Cycle, maybe you'll like InterWorld too. Wish i could tell you
Book Review: A compelling and imaginative tale
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been a fan of Gaiman for some time now, and Interworld was a title that intrigued me from the start. The story was well constructed and completed a wonderful introduction to a strange multiverse of characters and struggles.
If I had one complaint, it would be that the story was too short. We received only the briefest of introductions to a vast and somewhat timeless struggle between this group caught between two powerful organizations. I'd easily recommend this book to friends looking for a quick read, or to teens getting into fantasy reading.
Book Review: Couldn't put it down!
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed this book. I was hooked! I couldn't put it down. Once finished it left me wanting more. This could easily be the start of a whole series. I will hope for greater character development and depth to any more books if Gaiman and Reaves do continue with this story line.Book Review: Debt of gratitude
Summary: 3 Stars
Don't the authors owe an large debt of gratitude to Diane Wynne Jones for this particular multiverse concept? Readers might prefer her Chrestomanci books.The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1: Charmed Life / The Lives of Christopher Chant