Spartanica (The Survivors of Sapertys)

By Powers Molinar

Publisher: Sapertys Enterprises Inc.

Published: January 6, 2014

ASIN: B00G9ZVD4W

Amazon Synopsis:

Ty and Marcus Mitchell are average middle school brothers growing up in a suburb north of Chicago until one night when they’re hurtled through an inter-dimensional gateway to a parallel world defined by its multiple moons and planet-wide apocalypse.

As they struggle to figure out where they are and how to get home, the boys encounter refugees of “the last day” from the distant city of Atlantis and a mysterious girl called Bellana, the sole survivor

and resident of the devastated metropolis of Spartanica.

Ty and Marcus soon learn they only have seven days to get home. But before they can leave, they must battle through long-extinct deadly predators, find the elusive Professor Otherblood (if he’s still alive), and rescue a new friend from certain death.

Is all of this insanity just Ty’s overactive imagination or are the brothers truly on the brink of being stranded in the brutal wasteland known as Spartanica?

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My Thoughts:

Marcus and Ty are just two ordinary brothers who find themselves in a strange place after they discover a strange extremely loud humming noise and brightly flashing lights one night in their basement in the middle of the night. When the noise and lights stop it is totally dark and silent. Soon they discover they are not at home, not even in their city, and worse yet, not on their planet!

Spartanica is a well-written novel told from three points of view – Marcus’, Ty’s and Bellana’s – a girl they meet in the destroyed city of Spartanica. When they meet Bellana, the reader is introduced to some new language that at first is hard to follow, but after a while is able to deduce from context. Youth will pick up much more quickly on it than adults, and since that is who the target audience is, that really isn’t an issue.

There were some very interesting and imaginative pieces of technology used in Spartanica, including energy/magnetic weapons that only worked for the individual they were signed out to. There was also a holographic table that was able to give 3D views of maps and buildings.

While on this strange planet of Sapertys, Marcus and Ty begin to have strange visions that they learn are called projections and they learn some very disturbing things about their past. They also discover they only have seven days to rescue Bellana, who has been kidnapped from the ruined city by some ferocious dog-like beasts that wear human clothing and can speak, and get back home.

Mr. Molinar writes a fast-paced novel that will keep a middle-school youth turning the pages until the book is complete. There is a lot of action and enough fighting in it to keep the role-playing strategist interested.

I have two criticisms with this book: at one point someone (can’t say who or I will spoil it) shows up and miraculously saves the day. There doesn’t seem to be any explanation for how or why he shows up at this particular time. The second one is that this person is supposed (or is thought to be) dead. If he wasn’t, why didn’t he help Bellana sooner? She had been alone in Spartanica for 8 years. Perhaps Mr. Molinar will clarify these two points in his sequels

Overall, I thought that Spartanica was well-written and very entertaining. I thought the book was highly imaginative and worth reading. I gave the book 4 stars out of 5. I would recommend this book for middle grade students who enjoy science fiction.

Thank you to the author for providing a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion was not required. All thoughts are my own.

About the Author:

Powers Molinar grew up in the northern suburbs of Chicago and earned engineering and business degrees at the University of Iowa. While he works as a process engineer and project manager during the day, his passion is writing science fiction. His debut novel, Spartanica, is the culmination of several year's of part-time effort mostly late at night and on weekends when he wasn't enjoying time with his wife and kids, all of whom were big helpers getting Spartanica written. When not writing, Powers enjoys playing board games like Settlers of Catan, Agricola, and Pandemic with his family and friends as well as video games.

Powers' dream is to write sci-fi full-time and to get to know the readers of his books. Reading excellence, being creative, and achieving success are goals Powers holds for every kid and he hopes his books are a helpful, entertaining part of every reader's experience.

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Congratulations to Spartanica, winner of two 2013 Literary Awards from Book by Book Publicity Reader Views Awards: