Nicholas Fisk (1923–2016)

I honestly don't know how I would review this if I was reading it for the first time. I was quite snarky about the Divergent trilogy, would I find myself writing that the world is sketchy and ridiculous - why would cloned humans reappear with all their memories, and why would they be the age they were at death? But I am not reading it for the first time. This was probably the first science fiction book I ever read, a book that I have come back to year after year for comfort reading. I love show more (and over identify with) Brin so much - obnoxious, clever, cocky, caring and thoughtful Brin. And I still thrill when Uncle Rick walks in. It's very light and quick and page turning, and over far too soon, always leaving me bereft and willing Brin to live on after the final pages of the book. show less

This book changed my life.

I know we say that about so many things in this crazy world of ours, but this book really did.

I read it when I was about 9 or 10 and it opened up my imagination to new and exciting possibilities of the kind I'd never experienced before. It's an odd little tale, of mysterious sentient jewels that fall from the sky, but it has never left me.

It was one of the pivotal experiences of my life, and has led me to becoming a children's science fiction writer myself.

I show more loved it then, and I love it now. show less

My main memory of this book as a child is the discovery that one of the random passages of text you got given for 'reading comprehension questions' at school had been lifted from a Real Book, and that instead of being a strange stand alone out of context thing, it was from a complete story that no-one had bothered to give us.

The actual book isn't one of my favourite Nicholas Fisk's. Strange alien particles come down from the sky. The army want to blow them up. The children want to play with show more them. Are they good or bad? What should we do? The book asks the questions in an interesting way, but I find the answer at the end a bit far fetched. show less

This was a powerful and thought provoking book. It made a powerful impression on me when I first read it. The ending is not typical for a children's book, and in some ways it would require slightly more mature readers - but then that just adds to the power of the story.