Summer reading should be swimming in sequels, and this is one to get your hands on before you go back to school! It's the conclusion to the Chronicles of the Dark Star by Kevin Emerson, a series my 14-year-old son has loved.
Recap: In the first book, The Last Day on Mars, aliens exploded our star and forced us toward a new home, a colony which our scientists were in the process of terraforming.
Liam figures out who's behind the attack, and it's the family of his best friend and (it turns out) alien Telephon, Phoebe (that's book 2, The Oceans Between Stars). Their world has disintegrated because we started terraforming it, unaware we were making it uninhabitable for an entire species.
In the third book, by using a time watch he found in the first book, Liam's able to slip through the time stream, explore possible futures and even go back to moments in his past which he desperately needs to remember for the peace of mind and hope for a better future they give him.
Because while Liam's found Iris, who appears to be a world-making machine dedicated to creating entire universes just for humans, there's something about her Phoebe doesn't trust -- how Iris leads Liam to conclusions that are always in Iris' favor, the way Iris wants Liam to see things -- and herself -- and no one else. Iris profoundly disturbs Phoebe -- and you, the reader, if you're paying close attention.
Emerson does an excellent job of crafting a sense of dread and mounting suspense from Liam's desperate hope for his people.
I won't give away the ending, but my 14-year-old son gave it this rating: "I really liked the ending! It was cool." Two thumbs up!
