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wiley01px2022's review against another edition
4.0
Action packed adventure! A mix of modern day technology and past cultures and mysteries of Africa!
toryhallelujah's review
3.0
Slower-moving than I remembered, and the kids sure don't seem super worried about getting back home in a timely manner. A LOT of reliance on deus ex machina tropes.
directorpurry's review against another edition
2.0
CW: kidnapping, child trafficking, child abuse, attempted infanticide, (mentioned) animal cruelty and animal death, (mentioned) child death
Read for the "Read the World" Challenge for: Zimbabwe
Read for the "Read the World" Challenge for: Zimbabwe
supernines's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book at least 5 times when I was a kid. Loved the twists and turns and vivid imagery.
chasinash's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
laurav's review
4.0
Greatly enjoyed this book! Loved the plot and finding out what was going to happen to Tendai, Rita, and Kuda next kept me on the edge of my seat. I really liked the incorporation of African culture, language, and beliefs into the story!
mathstalio's review against another edition
5.0
Just recently reread for the first time in years - this was my favorite book of all time before Harry Potter happened to my life and on reread, easy to see why. There's a lot of hidden messages about treating all people with respect, even those who are different from you that you don't understand or agree with, fighting for equality for women.....and turns out that Rita becomes a mathematician!!! Obvious that this book had an influence on me without me even noticing it. Still a fantastic read even though I'm now 23 and well above the target middle grade audience, but man, what a book. Everyone should read it.
abshammy's review against another edition
3.0
If I had read this book 10 years ago, I probably would have given it 5 stars.
kfan's review against another edition
3.0
Hands raised if you've read any science fiction set in Africa. I'm saying!
So I liked this because it was so different from any other book I've read. In Zimbabwe in 2194, the children of the ruling general sneak out of their mansion, get kidnapped by a genetically engineered talking blue monkey, are enslaved in an ancient plastic mine, and it's up to 3 men whose appearance and physical abilities have been altered by exposure to nuclear radiation to find and rescue them.
So, points and hat tip for an idea like that being made into a cohesive book.
Part of me wished the 3 children had been more proactive and creative in figuring their own way out of their predicaments, and not just so adaptable to each new situation they found themselves in. You basically just watch the kids get acted on the whole way through. Which is fine, I just like my child protagonists with a little more spunk. There's a lot of really good characters here, I liked The Arm, the She Elephant, and the Messenger's mother. But in general everyone was kept at a safe distance the whole time, so I never really felt strongly about any of them, or was at any time concerned that the book would turn out other than how it did.
I didn't totally get the Praise stuff, and there's kind of a very literal deus ex machina that brings everything to a head towards the end. But all in all I would like to read more science fiction set in Africa. Thank you for reading my review of this book.
So I liked this because it was so different from any other book I've read. In Zimbabwe in 2194, the children of the ruling general sneak out of their mansion, get kidnapped by a genetically engineered talking blue monkey, are enslaved in an ancient plastic mine, and it's up to 3 men whose appearance and physical abilities have been altered by exposure to nuclear radiation to find and rescue them.
So, points and hat tip for an idea like that being made into a cohesive book.
Part of me wished the 3 children had been more proactive and creative in figuring their own way out of their predicaments, and not just so adaptable to each new situation they found themselves in. You basically just watch the kids get acted on the whole way through. Which is fine, I just like my child protagonists with a little more spunk. There's a lot of really good characters here, I liked The Arm, the She Elephant, and the Messenger's mother. But in general everyone was kept at a safe distance the whole time, so I never really felt strongly about any of them, or was at any time concerned that the book would turn out other than how it did.
I didn't totally get the Praise stuff, and there's kind of a very literal deus ex machina that brings everything to a head towards the end. But all in all I would like to read more science fiction set in Africa. Thank you for reading my review of this book.