Review: #299
Title: Space Demons: The Trilogy
Series: Space Demons - all three books
Author: Gillian Rubinstein
Read Before: yes
My Comments:
Space
Demons – The story presents an interesting proposal and idea. It is about a computer game that immerses the
player onto a whole new level, pretty much virtual reality (you must take into
account that the book was written back in 1986). It also deals with a lot of different issues
that are deeper than at first glance, such as hate, the separation of your
parents and friendship. These are
handled very well, and don’t seem out of place here. The content is interesting; you want to find
out what’s going to happen and how it is going to end. It’s also a bit freaky and too close to
reality sometimes, such as seeing things out of the corner of your eye and
feeling that something’s behind you.
While the characters may get annoying at times, it’s very understandable
and you see a progression as it goes on.
An original piece of work quite unlike anything you’ve read before,
6.5/10.
Skymaze –
It follows a similar structure to Space Demons, in that the protagonists
receive the next game in the series and it comes into reality. While not as freaky compared to the last
book, there is a silent yet dangerous atmosphere. Inside the titular maze, it feels secluded,
and that there are heavy penalties for the actions of the protagonists. Two annoying characters appear, and as you
would expect, all the characters accept each other by the end of it. There’s also a new set of issues that the
book deals with, moving away with a stepfamily, siblings and just growing
up. Skymaze is very interesting, you
want to know more about it, learn its secrets and what happens when the
characters go further into the game. It
has also brought up one question that must be answered, where did the games
come from and what were their purposes?
Sadly, it is not answered here, 6.5/10.
Shinkei – I
feel that this book is a sequel in name and characters only, since it lets of a
very different feel and tone. Whereas
the last two books focused upon the characters getting through the levels of a
game, here, it’s more farfetched and unpredictable, in that the game’s
artificial intelligence pretty much sets out to take over the world. The games’ creator is finally revealed, and
this supposedly third and final game, Shinkei, is quite a disappointment
compared to Space Demons and Skymaze.
While it’s more ambitious (making dreams come to reality), the whole
book is spent on the characters travelling to Japan, getting away from pursuers
and entering the game where there’s a bunch of fantasies dreamt up. It’s just more cluttered and unfocused. Some of the characters were annoying,
particularly Ben, it seems that their flaws were brought out even further,
seemingly inconsistent with previous books.
The resolution isn’t that great either, the whole book is full of
spiritual concepts that it doesn't really work.
Generally, the biggest problem is the lack of mysteriousness that made
the previous two books so enjoyable, 6/10.
Overall – It’s
a very nice trilogy of books, the third part can feel unnecessary and tacked on
as it doesn't keep the same mood and feel of the previous books. I liked seeing each character develop, while
their flaws are not completely erased by the end, it creates a sense of
reality. It’s well worth your time to
try it out.
Rating: 6.5/10
