The Klaatu Terminus

April 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-In the final installment of Hautman's "Klaatu Diskos" trilogy (Candlewick), questions are finally answered and puzzle pieces are put in place. The book's events cover the rise and fall of the Romelas and Hopewell civilizations, alternating among different dates, including 1997, 2012, and a thousand years in the distant future. Tucker Feye and Lah Lia are finally together after being chased in and out of various time periods. The plot focuses on the life of 17-year-old Kosh, who is also Tucker Feye's uncle. Kosh's struggles are divided between the physical challenges needed to keep members of the Boggsian sect and the Cult of the Lamb at bay and trying to control the emotions that have developed between him and his brother Adrian's fiance, Emily. Adrian is also author of the final book in the Cult of the Lamb's Bible, and Emily, besides being Tucker Feye's mother, is identical to a woman whom Kosh rescues from the Lambs. The action is fast-paced with settings alternating between the small rural towns of the close past, and the postapocalyptic jungle of the distant future. This is one conclusion that is best read in sequence for better clarity. Ending in a somewhat Twilight Zone eeriness of happily-ever-after, readers will not feel cheated out of the creep factor.-Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2014
A dazzlingly imaginative science-fiction trilogy, spanning the rise and fall of religions, civilizations and the human race itself, deflates into an oddly pedestrian conclusion. Tucker Feye and Lia are finally reunited after ping-ponging through time and space; now, the focus shifts to Tucker's uncle Kosh and mother, Emily. The storyline alternates between 1997, when the two first met, and 2012, as Kosh frantically tries to rescue Emily's look-alike, "Emma," from the remnants of a fanatical cult. Interspersed are snippets describing the Boggsian invention of the diskos, the factions among the transhuman Klaatu, and Tucker and Lia's efforts to return to the present. Hautman builds any number of rich, intriguing settings: small rural towns, post-apocalyptic jungles and even the surface of another planet. Unfortunately, he piles fascinating details upon thought-provoking concepts at such a frenetic pace that the whole structure collapses. Most characters die at least once, but recurrent medical miracles drain away any suspense. Nearly everyone is rewarded at the end with (somewhat-creepy) bland domesticity, and with every plot loop tidily snipped off, the entire grand narrative edifice is reduced to the recursive repercussions of a teenage love triangle. Stories aren't required to provide answers to the big questions they raise about faith, choice, identity and responsibility, but these deserve better than to be dismissed with an uncaring shrug. (Science fiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 Tucker is trapped atop a Romulan pyramid in the year 3,000 CE with no interdimensional disko. What, you're lost already? In this final book of the Klaatu Diskos trilogy, the multitalented Hautmana paragon of prose clarityconcludes this most unclear of literary experiments. As before, it's a head-scratcher nearly impossible to follow at times, and yetand yet!so rich with fascinating ideas and unusual themes that bold readers will keep turning pages. The action this time is mostly divided between Tucker's futuristic search for exPure Girl Lia and two different time planes involving Tucker's uncle, Kosh, whose relationship with Emily/Emma progresses in both 1997 and 2012. Characters echo throughout the ages, giving the book, and the series, the feel of a less linear take (if you can believe that) on Marcus Sedgwick's Midwinterblood (2013). What sticks out the most are Hautman's always deft hand at believable romance and his ability to use a sci-fi plot to generate Chariots of the Godsstyle legends. Though not always fully cooked, this is one hell of a stew.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)