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Review: pod by Stephen Wallenfels

Pod by Stephen Wallenfels
Published by Templar
Source: Review copy


POD's - strange alien spheres hover menacingly in the sky, zapping anyone who ventures outside.

Josh is 15 and stuck in his house with his OCD dad. They're running out of food... Megs is 12, alone and trapped in a multi-storey carpark. The hotel next door is under the control of dangerous security staff, but Megs has something they want, and they'll do anything to get it...

When the aliens invade, the real enemy becomes humanity itself.

What would you do to survive?


***
If I had to compare Pod to anything else I would say it is like the film signs in that they are both about an alien invasion but focusing on the human side of that invasion showing how ordinary humans would deal with such an event rather than the government or the aliens themselves. I thought it was a really clever book and liked more and more as the story went on.

The story alternates between two voices Josh who is 15 and stuck with his Father at home and Megs who is 12 and stuck alone in a multi storey car park where a gang of rogue security guards are out to terrorise whoever they find.

The main focus of this book is the lengths both of the main characters have to go to to survive. Where as Josh is quite blase about it all, laughing at his dad when he starts to fill everything with water, Megs is more practical and spends a great deal of her time searching for anything at all she can eat. I actually found her story to initially more harrowing as she is is in constant danger compared to Josh who has it reasonably easy but doesn't know it and as a consequence I found him quite ungrateful and spoilt for.

For me the story went along quite nicely throughout the book and was an interesting read throughout. Megs story was the most engaging especially when she confronted the people in the car park who were terrorising the people living in the adjoining hotel. With Josh's story it wasn't until the very end that his story started to get more interesting and the very end was really quite horrible and has continued to make me think long after putting it down.

An interesting read which will give you a new perspective on the traditional alien invasion story and stay with you long after you finish reading it.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm glad you enjoyed it. I thought it was really good and am looking forward to book 2. I worried myself to death about Megs lol.
Sarah said…
I hadn't actually heard of this one before reading your review but it sounds really interesting. Another one I need to check out (please stop adding to my wish list lol) :o)
I thought this one was really great and surprising as well. I like it when books are able to surprise me.