The Boy at the End of the World

I read this science fiction novel because it is on the 2014 WA Sasquatch Reading Award nominee list. This contest is for 4th - 6th graders. I loved the fast-pacing, humor and diverse characters - a boy born from a pod, a robot, a juvenile pygmy mammoth and a genetically weaponized prairie dog. I believe it will appeal to kids for the same reasons I liked it. In a far future, after humans have devastated the earth, Fisher is born into chaos. But he is born as a boy of about ten, smart and able to problem-solve, which is critical in this new world of strange environments, animals and dangerous technology. The robot, Click, is programmed "to help Ark-preserved species survive so that they may reproduce and repopulate the Earth." His show more literalism reminds me of Data from Star Trek. The two set out to find other humans. While "fishing" for food, the boy sees a large mammal that he wants to kill for food. Click states that it may be more useful as a companion and guide and when the lumbering mammoth follows them, he names it Protein. Protein eats a lot and drops a lot of dung, but he is a loyal and affectionate companion who knows his way through the jungle. Later, the travelers meet Zapper, the intelligence-modified large prairie dog, who agrees to help them find the last remaining Ark. What sets this story apart from mere action-adventure is the friendship across human-animal-mechanical boundaries and the environmental message, realistically present, but not didactic. The novel also has one of the best opening hooks and endings of any children's book I've read. I hope that Van Eekhout writes a sequel. show less

Perfectly reasonable middle-grade or YA post-apocalyptic novel. Well written and fun. Maybe boring for a grownup, which middle-grade doesn't need to be.

Maybe a little too intense for elementary age. Raises lots of philosophical questions. Probably would have freaked me out as a kid, in the same way that Tuck Everlasting did. Man, I hated that book. As an adult, i enjoyed it. Quick, easy read. No swearing, minimal violence. My favorite parts were the prairie dogs and the sarcastic humor.

His name is Fisher. The world is dangerous. And he’s the only one in it. These are the things Fisher knows immediately on waking up, on being born from the survival pod ages after all the other humans have died. The journey to find any other humans will require Fisher to outsmart robots, evade the deadly gadgets, and win over a colony of warrior prairie dogs—all in a world that has been completely destroyed.

Definitely a post-apocalyptic adventure, as all of humanity has been destroyed--and with it much of the earth. Luckily (I guess) the humans knew they were on their way out, and preserved samples of most existing animals (including humans) in suspended animation tanks on giant arks, with robotic "custodians" and guards to keep show more them safe. However, those safeguards are all failing and Fisher's ark is destroyed, and his only hope for survival is in finding another ark with other people. It's mostly an adventure story--lots of battles and scrapes and that sort of thing as Fisher navigates across the former United States--but it's an adventure through a post-apocalyptic world that has reinvented itself to be nearly unrecognizable--boundaries have changed, earthquakes have altered the topography, the Mississippi river is a hundred miles shorter than it used to be.

Won't hold the interest of high school readers, but a great choice for upper-elementary and middle schoolers looking to get on the Dystopian & Post-Apocalyptic Bandwagons. show less

The first chapter sold me on this. Unfortunately, same thing happened with "Norse Code", another Van Eekhout novel. This one wasn't NEARLY as disappointing, but still... my big complaint is that the story is more about survival and full of action, rather than character, cleverness, and intriguing plot. I guess that's just my personal preference.

A boy wakes up as a result of an "Ark" preservation project. Except everything's gone wrong, and he's the only one who survived. And he's got a cute robot for an Obi Wan. A boy and his robot story? Who could resist? And it is pretty good, but it's not as much about that bond as it is about survival, and what happened to the world.

Which I guess is all right. The book is somewhere around the show more middle-grade/YA border though. As a result, you get some kiddie stuff like the pet mammoth who acts way too domesticated (and poops a lot) mixed with scary stuff like a robot with good intentions for humanity. You know what I'm talking about. show less

Really 3.5 stars. It is unusual to find good children's science fiction, especially one that explores serious themes. A lot of thought and care went into this story; I especially liked the new species that evolved on future earth. Fisher remains a bit of a blank slate; I didn't connect much with him, so am not giving it four stars. Still, definitely worth recommending to kids.

I've been looking for books with robots. This one hasn't gotten much attention, but it's a decent book. It has an older sci-fi feel to it, nothing like modern dystopian books (The Hunger Games, The Uglies, The 5th Wave). It has similarities to [b: The Search for Wondla|7327327|The Search for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #1)|Tony DiTerlizzi|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1361401746s/7327327.jpg|8944726]. A human in the future is on his/her own accompanied by a robot protector.

In some ways this is a complicated story. As the earth succumbs to man's environmental destruction, scientists save DNA from humans and animals to be used in the future to regrow humans. Fisher awakens from his pod on the ark amid destruction. All the other show more humans perish. A robot, Click, survives and he is tasked with helping Fisher survive in the wild so he can repopulate the earth. He knows the only way that can happen is if he finds other humans, so he sets out to find if any exist. Survival is hard. Fisher only has the knowledge that was programmed into him. Earth has changed a lot. Animals have continued to evolve. There's giant parrots, whales in the Mississippi River and prairie dogs that are human-like.

You have to be a true sci-fi fan to like this book. It reads more like the old sci-fi books where a human finds himself on a strange planet, because for Fisher Earth is a strange planet. Even the cover art looks old. There isn't a lot of explanation of what lead to the current state or how humans could be reborn from DNA. If you don't like books to leave a lot of questions unanswered, then you may need to look for a different book. show less