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The Trillions have come to wipe out humanity and take over the planet Earth. Standing in their way are three children and an ex-astronaut. Only Scott, with his paranormal powers, can save the world from total destruction.

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Member Reviews

3 reviews
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 loved it then, and I love it now.
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 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.

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Author Information

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57+ Works 946 Members
Nicholas Fisk is the pseudonym for David Higginbottom who was born in London, England on October 14, 1923. He was educated at Ardingly College in West Sussex, but left school at the age of 16 because his father died. He worked as a theatrical agent, a jazz-guitarist, and a cartoonist for the Daily Sketch. During World War II, he served as an RAF show more meteorological officer. After the war, he worked for the publishers Lund Humphries and in advertising before moving to a career as an author. His non-fiction works included Look at Cars, Lindbergh the Lone Flier, and Richthofen the Red Baron. His first novel for children, The Bouncers, was published in 1964. His other children's novels included The Fast Green Car, Space Hostages, Trillions, Grinny, and A Rag, a Bone and a Hank of Hair. He also wrote a memoir entitled Pig Ignorant. He stopped writing in 1996 because his failing eyesight due to macular degeneration made it impossible. He died on May 10, 2016 at the age of 92. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Common Knowledge

Original publication date
1971
Important places
UK; England, UK
Original language
English

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Kids, Tween
DDC/MDS
823.9Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-
LCC
PZ7Language and LiteratureFiction and juvenile belles lettresFiction and juvenile belles lettresJuvenile belles lettres
BISAC

Statistics

Members
120
Popularity
272,666
Reviews
3
Rating
(3.86)
Languages
English, Finnish
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
14
ASINs
4