Kenneth Oppel

Second read. First was probably when it was new. Still makes me sniffle. Thank goodness we've made some progress about the ethical treatment of (other) animals, though probably not as much as we need to.

Oppel tries to make the father a reasonable man, with his own issues that make him less attached to his 'subjects' but I just cannot sympathize with him... I think Ben is right to think that he, too, is being treated almost like an unsatisfactory subject himself.

I love that even tertiary show more characters, like Tim, Mike, Hugh, Susan (the evil grad student?) are real, not cardboard icons. Such a rich exploration of so many themes, so much to think/ talk about. I would love to read and discuss this with young teens. show less

Moral conundrums rarely appear in middle grade novels. Or really any novels. It's much easier to write good and bad guys who only do good or bad things respectively and leave it at that. But I love complexity and ambiguity and myriad greys. So this is my jam. There's a blob of ink spontaneously turning into a sentient being once it escapes from the sketch book of a graphic novelist. Like every fictional new sentience it soaks up English and USian culture pretty quickly and without wasting show more too much in-story time, because a montage of years passing while a new being slowly observes and learns the complexity of human behavior, the way a human does, really stretches out the timeline.
Anyway, new life, new friendship, moral confusion about what is the right thing to do as for Inkling's well being, as well as to what extent a human should take advantage of Inkling's abilities. So that's good.
There's a family grieving the loss of the mother, the overwhelmed father and son struggling to maintain a semblance of the life before, and the dad is not quite making it. But again, ambiguity: he's failing his children, Ethan and Sarah, somewhat, but he's trying, and his grief is almost palpable, as is theirs.
There is also, surprisingly, quite a bit of intense skullduggery and a tremendous scene that leaves the reader a little breathless. That was unexpected too.
Also, there's a lot about art, and the creation thereof, and the emphasis on Talent that can impede the acquiring of Skill.
So really, there's just a tremendous amount of great stuff here that makes it a compelling novel for any reader, of any age. It is a standout book and I really hope a broad range of readers will give it a go.

Library copy. show less

Incredibly successful as an adventure novel. It's been a while since I read a book in first-person, and it threw me off for about a page. But Oppel is quite talented at writing a scene you'll get engrossed in, right from the start. The journey to the Hyperion, and once they get there, is so interesting I always wanted to keep reading more. Additionally, I'm impressed by the research that Oppel puts into his settings and stories. I felt like I learned a lot about survival (or not) at high show more altitudes. This is also an interesting take on the concept of an "airplane" in a steampunk setting.
All of this good was somewhat soured by the stupid love triangle that was shoehorned in, and the fact that Matt Cruse can't be normal about women. Early on he gets made insecure thinking that his "friend" Kate de Vries won't want to date him if he's poor, even though to the reader it's obvious this is something he invented in his mind. He spends the rest of the book being absurdly jealous, while at the same time fantasizing about a new character, Nadira. It bothered me that the book spend so much time on this, when the adventure was so much more interesting. It was disappointing that the two female main characters, despite having interesting lives and goals of their own, are only seen through the eyes of Matt, who is interested in them as nothing other than romantic objects. I would have rated it higher if not for this aspect.
For a book written in 2005, it's decently diverse. Although there's many things it tries at but doesn't really follow through on. Like the first book in the series, there are moments where it tries to hint at feminist thought and the idea that women are capable/interesting in their own right--while the aforementioned romance issues play out. I also thought it might be getting somewhere when Nadira insists early on that she's not a "gypsy", but Roma. Unfortunately the rest of the book doesn't really touch on this issue, and not only does she continue getting called a gypsy for the rest of the book, but she's also described as "exotic" etc. Overall it felt like the book was trying, for when it was published. I appreciated the ship's crew being Sherpas, due to their experience working at high altitudes, and the scenes of Miss Simpkins being scandalized by seasoned food. This probably passed for a decent amount of progressiveness in 2005, so at least I'm glad it was there.
This book is much more suited to YA audiences than middle grade. show less

Xavier Oak, his dad, and his very pregnant stepmother have gone to their cottage for a weekend at the lake. When they wake up the next morning, the cottage is somewhere else - instead of the lake, there's a farm with goats and chickens, and no roads, Internet, or signs of other humans. When they explore the area, they discover that the farm is contained within an invisible dome that immediately heals itself when they try to break through. Are they part of a top-secret experiment? Held show more captive in an alien zoo? There's no way to find out - and no way to escape.

Time passes. Xavier's little brother is born. The farm seems utopian - the weather is perfect and there are no pests or predators - but Xavier misses his mom and older brother, and is painfully aware that he's never going to have the opportunity to have sex or a romantic relationship. Three years after their arrival, another family appears in the dome. Xavier is elated that the new family contains a girl his age, but the Jacksons have very different beliefs and viewpoints that lead to conflicts and changes to life in the dome.

At the beginning, Best of All Worlds feels a lot like a post-apocalyptic survival story - there's no other humans and the Oak family has to learn to live off the land. (Though they definitely have things easier than in a lot of post-apocalyptic stories.) The mystery of the dome adds an intriguing and disturbing twist. I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going on, but when the Jackson family arrived, I had mixed feelings. While it was interesting to read about how different people cope with this strange situation, the Jackson and Oak families felt a lot like right-wing and left-wing clichés, making their interactions and reactions to each other seem fairly predictable. It was also very obvious which side the author's sympathies lay on.

The ending was... frustrating. It seemed very abrupt and left (for me) a lot of unresolved issues and unanswered questions. Are their captors/saviors aware of the differing political viewpoints of the Jacksons and the Oaks? Did they put them together on purpose to see what would happen?? What's with seeming to reward them for killing the coyotes? Although the ending of the book seems to suggest that their unseen captors have a largely benevolent purpose, some of their actions still make me feel that the Oaks and Jacksons are being experimented on/studied to some extent, which feels more than a bit creepy. Was that the author's intent? Not sure... I feel that this book is making very a obvious political/environmental message, something that I'm not super fond of in novels (regardless of what the message is and whether or not I agree with it). I dislike the left-wing/right-wing binary and would have liked to have seen more nuanced ideas and more subtle messaging.

Still, I found this an interesting book and a mostly enjoyable read. I suspect I'll be thinking about it for some time to come. I'd read a sequel if the author writes one, because I'm curious to know what might happen next. show less