Fourth World

Danny is different. He's slower than other kids his age, and prone to violent outbursts. But when Danny runs off to find his biological mother, his older stepbrother Christie impulsively follows him. Along the way the two boys are joined by a runaway girl, a bird, and a dog that can speak to humans. However, nothing can prepare them for what they learn when they finally locate Danny's mother at her laboratory, Fourth World. It seems Danny's mother has been performing experiments-secret experiments-with terrifying genetic significance... ( )

It's so hard to find good science fiction for younger teens, so I'm happy to recommend this first in the "missing links" trilogy by the author of the fabulous "The New Policeman." 15-year-old Christie and his older stepbrother Danny(who is "different" - autistic? Brain damaged? This remains mysterious until the end) are called away from Ireland to Scotland by Danny's mother. The messenger? A talking starling named Darling. On the way, they link up with Tina, a homeless teen, who has befriended a talking dog named Oggy. They all make their way to Scotland in the midst of what appears to be a world-wide energy/food crisis to Scotland, where Danny's mother lives on a compound where she conducts rather morally dubious genetic experiments. The science is nebulous, the talking animals are adorable (if unnerving), the altered children are disturbing - and the writing and plot are first-rate. Can't wait to read the next two in the series! ( )

A nice children's book. The story follows Christie as he journeys from Ireland to the North of Scotland in the middle of a fuel chrisis with his older brother Danny, a talking starling, a talking dog and a homeless girl called Tina. The aim is to find Danny's mother, a mysterious scientist who may hold the key to understanding Danny's apparent disability.

The writing is nice, clear, through the course of the plot the main character develops and learns they he didn't have it so bad after all. The science is, well, impossible...but not implausible. The thing that gets me as a scientist when reading these books is how implausible the science often is. And while we will never find a gene that on transfection confers the ability to converse coherently in human language to animals, granting that this is a fantasy setting and such a thing might occur (or that you could transfer one or two desirable traits from an animal to a child) the genetics behind it wasn't bad.

My only complaint would be that all the plot revelations came in the chunk at the end, with the majority of the book devoted to the journey. It made the plot seem a little...blocky? ( )