June 7,2008

Subject: June 7,2008 Sun Jun 08, 2008 12:02 am

Well there always news for Harry Potter world. But take a look at what new about this new book that is coming up.

New Harry Potter-esque Novel Written By Animorphs Creator

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- There’s a young adult fiction formula Animorphs’ creator Michael Grant has stirred up in his latest novel, “Gone,” that’s built on subtle shades of Harry Potter.

And it’s not bad at all.

Try the reluctant boy hero, Sam. His name is as common as Harry. He barely understands the magic he didn’t know he possessed until his world fell into chaos. There’s an evil-minded spirit force wanting power and control of him. Mix in the idea of a war-battered school after everyone 14 and older disappear, then sprinkle in just a few Harry Potter references throughout and you have a sure-fire 558-page young adult fiction book ready for hordes of hungry readers wanting to touch any book with a Potter reference.

Of course Michael Grant’s “Gone” is different from the J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series. It’s more reminiscent to “Lord of the Flies” meets “Lost” than any Potter book could ever be. In the Potter stories there is always a sense of London looming over the scene, or that Hogwart’s was close to it—at least a train or a broom-ride away. There’s never a sense that the children are lost.

There’s no crash landing in “Gone,” just a mysterious dome as if an early prequel to “The Truman Show” for a moment were suddenly written. Children are all locked in an experimental city, a bubble, and most members of their families have “poofed” away. There’s an idea of the California coast, but it isn’t as easy to place as a London, though the idea seems to be birthed from Grant’s travels to the Central California coast.

It’s the kind of place that’s like a fictitious Pismo, Calif.—a quaint seaside town where some boys would rather surf than study.

There’s a dose of realism in “Gone” captured by Grant, who wants to show just how much chaos and violence could surround a city of children alone and having to survive. There’s a few disturbing moments too that capture the reality of what kids would do if people started disappearing. Readers will squirm but feel compelled to read on.

“Gone” has a troupe of characters, all exciting to read about. And the story counts down like the series “24,” only this could be called “300.” There’s only so much time the hero Sam has in which he can learn his identity, grasp his fate, spin magic, fall in love and defeat death’s door, or he will be gone like all the others who disappeared at the beginning of the book.

Fans of Harry Potter, fantasy literature and comic books will like the style and pace of the novel and be addicted to finding out what happens in the rest of the series.

Michael Grant is the cocreator and coauthor of the science fiction books Animorphs and the Everworld series. He’s published more than 150 books under 11 different names and lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., with his wife, Katherine Applegate, and their two children.

On Grant’s MySpace site he writes, “Mostly I write. Type type type. With two fingers. I sit on my porch drinking coffee and smoking a cigar and type type type. Sometimes I go to a coffee shop and type type type. Occasionally when I get really excited about what I'm writing I can engage a third finger.”

“Gone” goes on sale June 24.
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