GALAX ARENA
By Gillian Rubenstein (Lian Hearn)
Published in 1992
Sci-Fi
This book involves 3 children who have been kidnapped and taken to “outer space” where they have been used to perform for the “Vexa”. The story is told from Joella’s point of view. The reason they we’re kidnapped was because they wanted to use their gymnastic talents to perform. Unfortunately, Joella does not have the abilities of her brother and sister, and cannot perform like them. They meet new people in “Galax Arena” who are also performers, called the Peb. The Peb have created their own language to communicate to each other thoroughly.
When they attempt to make Joella a performer they realise she doesn’t have the skills of her brother and sister, proving useless, and she is then sent out to become a pet for the “Vexa”. From there on it becomes a desperate race to escape from “Galax Arena”
The author wrote this book because the themes are like an exaggerated version of society today. It includes realistic and common themes like freedom, survival, and exploitation. It outlines the significance it has on the other audience, from the actual their point of view.
At the beginning we start off at the end of the story, after the children have come back and are living an uncomfortable and unstable lifestyle. Then the main character joella tells a story from her point of view as a flashback. They take off from when they got kidnapped, and when they got introduced to the Galax Arena all show more the way til the end where they escape.
The main themes are freedom, survival, relationships and exploitation. The author chose these because they are realistic and confronting topics however they have been exaggerated and made more interesting. She tells the story from Joella’s point of view to more thoroughly express the pain. She also uses descriptive language to make it more realistic. The setting is unnatural and uncomfortable, and affects the reader.
My favourite part of the book was the beginning. It perfectly captures the feeling of emptiness and loneliness after a tragedy. It sets the scene and the mood for the whole book. In general the book is suspenseful and really tragic. Some of its strengths were the suspense, making it hard to stop reading, it also has a good story line. One of its weaknesses, I thought, was the way it slowed down so much as it entered the lowest point of the story; where it was too depressing and really made me want to stop reading. In this part it conveyed the feeling of lost hope and the devastating reality, and the feeling that things could only get worse from there.
Young adults would probably prefer this book, as opposed to younger more innocent children. This book is rather dark and would be enjoyed by adults as well. show less
By Gillian Rubenstein (Lian Hearn)
Published in 1992
Sci-Fi
This book involves 3 children who have been kidnapped and taken to “outer space” where they have been used to perform for the “Vexa”. The story is told from Joella’s point of view. The reason they we’re kidnapped was because they wanted to use their gymnastic talents to perform. Unfortunately, Joella does not have the abilities of her brother and sister, and cannot perform like them. They meet new people in “Galax Arena” who are also performers, called the Peb. The Peb have created their own language to communicate to each other thoroughly.
When they attempt to make Joella a performer they realise she doesn’t have the skills of her brother and sister, proving useless, and she is then sent out to become a pet for the “Vexa”. From there on it becomes a desperate race to escape from “Galax Arena”
The author wrote this book because the themes are like an exaggerated version of society today. It includes realistic and common themes like freedom, survival, and exploitation. It outlines the significance it has on the other audience, from the actual their point of view.
At the beginning we start off at the end of the story, after the children have come back and are living an uncomfortable and unstable lifestyle. Then the main character joella tells a story from her point of view as a flashback. They take off from when they got kidnapped, and when they got introduced to the Galax Arena all show more the way til the end where they escape.
The main themes are freedom, survival, relationships and exploitation. The author chose these because they are realistic and confronting topics however they have been exaggerated and made more interesting. She tells the story from Joella’s point of view to more thoroughly express the pain. She also uses descriptive language to make it more realistic. The setting is unnatural and uncomfortable, and affects the reader.
My favourite part of the book was the beginning. It perfectly captures the feeling of emptiness and loneliness after a tragedy. It sets the scene and the mood for the whole book. In general the book is suspenseful and really tragic. Some of its strengths were the suspense, making it hard to stop reading, it also has a good story line. One of its weaknesses, I thought, was the way it slowed down so much as it entered the lowest point of the story; where it was too depressing and really made me want to stop reading. In this part it conveyed the feeling of lost hope and the devastating reality, and the feeling that things could only get worse from there.
Young adults would probably prefer this book, as opposed to younger more innocent children. This book is rather dark and would be enjoyed by adults as well. show less