Phoenix - Softcover

Said, SF

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552571342 ISBN 13: 9780552571340

Publisher: Transworld Publishers, 2015

Synopsis

Lavishly illustrated by the amazing Dave McKean, a powerful story of one boy who can save the galaxy

Lucky thinks he's an ordinary Human boy. But one night, he dreams that the stars are singing—and wakes to find an uncontrollable power rising inside him. Now he's on the run, racing through space, searching for answers. In a galaxy at war, where Humans and Aliens are deadly enemies, the only people who can help him are an Alien starship crew—and an Alien warrior girl, with neon needles in her hair. Together, they must find a way to save the galaxy. For Lucky is not the only one in danger. His destiny and the fate of the universe are connected in the most explosive way.

About this title

About the Author

S. F. Said is the author of Varjak Paw, which won the Nestlé Smarties Prize for Children's Literature, and The Outlaw Varjak Paw. Dave McKean has illustrated and designed many groundbreaking books and graphic novels including The Magic of Reality (Richard Dawkins) and The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman). He wrote and illustrated Pictures That Tick and the multi-award winning Cages. He also illustrated Varjak Paw and The Outlaw Varjak Paw.

From School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up—When Lucky wakes to a scorched bedsheet and the smell of smoke, his mother begins frantically packing his things. She rushes him out of their apartment and to a nearby space station, hoping to catch a flight off Phoenix, the moon they call home. Although desperately asking questions, Lucky can't get his mother to tell him what's wrong, and he is appalled when, after all flights off Phoenix are canceled, she accepts the help of a group of aliens known as Axxa, with whom humans are at war. But learning to trust the four Axxa offering him travel on their ship is only the beginning of Lucky's trek across the war-torn galaxy. He is the key to the conflict between humans and aliens; he just doesn't know it yet. Built around Axxa legends of the Twelve Astraeus, this sci-fi novel follows Lucky from one solar system to the next; Said creates not just a new religion and planet but multiple galaxies with a star at the heart of each, all connected to the Axxa pantheon. As the characters travel, revelations old and new slowly unravel and the secrets of Lucky's own past untangle. However, despite a fleshed-out narrative, captivating black-and-white illustrations, and themes of equality, connection, healing, and creation, Lucky's severe lack of self-confidence and general slow-wittedness may leave readers frustrated and make it difficult to form a bond with him. VERDICT For patient sci-fi fans searching for new characters in a unique world.—Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC

About this edition

• Publisher: Transworld Publishers
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0552571342
• ISBN 13: 9780552571340
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496
• Illustrator: McKean Dave