cover image Remnants

Remnants

John Hennessy. CreateSpace, $12.99 paper (452p) ISBN 978-1-5329-0839-2

In this first book in the Remnants trilogy, an alien race descends on Earth in 2048 and abducts the majority of the human and animal populations, along with food stores. Darrel, an overweight 17-year-old gamer from Bellingham, Wash., joins up with his longtime friends Félix and Maggy in order to survive. On their journey to what they hope is a safe haven, they pick up other survivors and fight off monsters, both human and alien. A few moments of Hennessy’s worldbuilding shine, such as the prevalence of asthma due to air pollution, but he tends to overexplain the setup as well. Clunky chapter transitions (many of which involve readers falling asleep or losing consciousness), a preponderance of too-lucky breaks, and overwritten passages (“But all the signs were there, so long in the making, like the construction of a palace, and now the paint was drying, the last stage before moving day”) leave the novel reading as unpolished. Though the reasons behind the invasion and subsequent abductions are intriguing, readers might have trouble making it to the planned sequel. Ages 12–up. (BookLife)