Interworld is light, fun book for the Tweener and MG crowd. And, of course, we goofy adults that enjoy such literature, enough that we read and review it.

The story is set in a multiverse. A place where all variations of earth (and other places) exist. In this book, those universes extend past what we might expect. There are earths with varying degrees of tech, and earths with varying degrees of magic.

The setting is very important in this book. What little description is used --this is an action genre book, and it moves quickly ahead, without a great deal of verbiage wasted on scenery and such -- focuses on the inter-dimensional space that lays between worlds. The authors do their best to extract their physics from String Theory and whatnot, and they do pretty well making it kid-friendly, interesting, cool, and understandable.

It's here afterall, that a good percentage of the action takes place. And it's here where Joey picks up his side-kick, a multi-dimensional creature he calls "Hue". [Hue communicates with colors].

As far as characters, Joey is done fairly well. The rest of the cast is rather standard -- the commander who's stern stuff and who everybody calls the 'old man'. There's the strong guy, and the tech wizard.... Well, if you've seen those old war movies, I'm sure you can guess the rest (if you keep in mind that magic needs to be added.)

By adult standards, the plotting isn't thorough. There's nothing in the way of foreshadowing, and frequently solutions are sort of pulled out of a hat, but again, that's probably only going to bother adults and not kids who want an action story.

The story, by the way, focuses on Joe's not fitting in. For one, he's the new guy. And for another, he managed to get the guy who was sent out to 'bring him in' killed.

There's enough emotion along the way that the book isn't totally void. And there's plenty of action and 'science'. It's not as good as Heinlein's "The Rolling Stones", but it's meant for a similar audience.

Talking Points:::
Despite my criticism, I have to say that I found Interworld to be fun read. I'd suggest it for younger teenagers looking for adventure.

It's a quick read with some novel ideas that ought to make people think.

**The one concern I haven't mentioned yet is the mild cursing. There's a "son of a bitch" and "damn" or two. Certainly not a problem for teenagers, but the back cover mentions that this book is for those as young as 10 years. As a mom of a 9 y.o. I know that they haven't all been exposed to cursing yet. (Yes, you may applaud my self control)

Pam T~
mom and reviewer at BooksForKids-reviews

I don't really like SF so I was not crazy about this book. There are lots of worlds so I found it ahrd to follow, but the action was great! ( )

This exciting book which includes both fantasy and a little sci-fi would probably appeal to a younger teen who has enjoyed the Percy Jackson series or othe Neil Gaiman adventures. ( )

Teenager Joey Harker, who is notable in his hometown only for his terrible sense of direction, finds himself in alternate universes where he is hunted by the magical HEX and technocratic Binary and aided by InterWorld, a corps of "Walkers" able to cross between universes, after which Joey has to decide whether to join InterWorld or return to his own world.

This was a run-of-the-mill juvenile science fiction story, which reminded me of Heinlein juveniles (except for the absence of romance). I was disappointed, because my expectations for Gaiman were high and because not all raised issues were resolved (such as Hugh's importance). While the Audible version was well-done, I don't recommend the book or the audio to Gaiman fans. ( )

Joey Harker strays from an exam assignment to end up very lost and discovers he has the ability to travel between worlds. Adventure ensues.

This book wasn't like most Gaiman material. It was very fluffy, but I still enjoyed it quite a lot. As a quick adventure story, it was a lot of fun and easy to digest. It also gave me a lot of neat sci-fi ideas to consider as someone who hasn't spent a ton of time in the genre. ( )