Friday, January 14, 2005

The Supernaturalist



The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer, 2004

Sci-fi or fantasy readers will be interested in this story set in a dystopian future. Colfer has so many layers to his stories. On one level this is a mystery-save-the-world adventure. On another, we ponder the value of human life and what makes it worth saving?

Cosmo Hill was named after the place he was found as a baby. An orphan, he lives at the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys. The "institute" uses the boys for all kinds of horrible government and industry product testing. Cosmo dreams of escape (no matter how unlikely) before his life expectancy of 15 years is up.

When his chance comes he escapes but is terribly hurt. In his wounded state he has his first vision of tiny blue creatures that seem to be feeding off his life force. He is rescued by a band of misfits who call themselves the Supernaturalists because they alone can see these energy parasites and are committed to destroying them. Cosmo joins their group and devotes himself to their cause but all is not as it seems. What are these strange creatures and what politics and dynamics are at work in his new family?

Colfer is terrific at plotting fast-paced action-packed stories. He has a real gift for dreaming up amazing techno-gadgetry. His Artemis Fowl books are full of technical wonders. Even in his book The Wish List he has St. Peter and Beelzebub talking on very high tech cell phones.

A former student who saw me looking at this book at the library made a point to tell me it was one of the best books he had ever read.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i thought is was a great book. it was very dramatic and sad but it gave me thrills to read.

Camille said...

Colfer said he is working on a sequel!