Escape from the Pipe Men!

May 1, 2013
In this uneven space adventure, two children defy their alien overlords to go on an intergalactic search for a cure for their dying father. Ryan and Becky's parents have always taught them to respect and obey the family's secret alien benefactors, the Pipe Men. But when their father is accidentally poisoned and the Pipe Men refuse to release him for treatment, their mother sends them on an illicit journey through the Pipe Men's interplanetary portals to search for the Brocine, the aliens who have the only antidote. Before long, the children find themselves in the middle of a galactic power struggle over control of the portals. While the highly implausible worldbuilding doesn't stand up to close inspection, it does have a certain pulp appeal, and the detailed descriptions make it easy to visualize the different aliens that Ryan and Becky meet. Unfortunately, the novel can't decide whether it's taking itself seriously or not. Silly character names like "Grav-e" (pronounced "gravy") and "Tast-e" (pronounced "tasty") might have worked in a pure farce or parody, but Thompson is also using Ryan's earnest first-person narration to condemn the Pipe Men's exploitation of other alien races. Follow the title's advice--escape from the Pipe Men and avoid this unfunny mess. (Science fiction. 9-12)

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September 1, 2013

Gr 4-7-Siblings Ryan, 13, and Becky, 7, spend their days on O-thul-ba, the Pipe Men's planet, being observed by the alien inhabitants as human exhibits in an intergalactic zoo. At night they leave through a portal that leads to their living-room closet at home in Oregon. The Pipe Men, with their multiple eyes set vertically in their tall, thin, cylinder-shaped bodies, have secretly come to Earth and persuaded Ryan's parents to work for them on O-thul-ba. No one else on Earth knows the Pipe Men exist. When the children's father is accidentally poisoned by another alien species, Ryan and Becky attempt to get the antidote by escaping through a series of confusing passageways with many doorways/portals leading to other planets. The Pipe Men are kidnapping some of the other exotic species from their home planets and stealing Earth's and the planets' resources, and the kids find themselves involved in an alien rebellion. Many plot points aren't fully explained, including the Pipe Men's backstory, why they chose Ryan's family, and how they continue to exert control over them and other alien species. The explanation of how the portals work isn't very clear either. The novel's intention to show how certain groups or species exploit and oppress others is interesting, but the presentation is more earnest than compelling or exciting.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

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