The Klaatu Terminus

by Pete Hautman Narrated by Peter Berkrot

Overview

Kosh did not feel courageous. Looking at the disko, it was all he could do not to collapse into a quaking, blubbering puddle of terror. He was half certain he was going to die. But the alternative-leaving Emma in the hands of Gheen without even trying to rescue her-was unthinkable. He would not want to live if he had to live with that.

“It's not courage,” he said, “if you have no choice.”

In present-day Hopewell, an adult Kosh Feye discovers a sweet and painful piece of his past when he's rescued by the Lamb Emma. In a far distant future, Tucker Feye and the inscrutable Lia find themselves atop a crumbling pyramid in an abandoned city. And on a train platform in 1997, a seventeen-year-old Kosh says good-bye as his brother, Adrian, leaves for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Before Adrian boards, he asks Kosh to take care of his fiancée-the most beautiful girl Kosh has ever seen.

The final book of Pete Hautman's highly praised Klaatu Diskos trilogy, The Klaatu Terminus weaves together these fragmented timestreams in a heart-stopping chase to the edge of time as Tucker, Lia, and Kosh must search for one another and finally puzzle out the secrets of the diskos. Who built them? Who is destroying them? And, most of all, where-and when-will it all end?

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A dazzlingly imaginative science-fiction trilogy, spanning the rise and fall of religions, civilizations and the human race itself.
—Kirkus Reviews

Hautman’s series is action-packed and his characters come to life on the page.
—VOYA

This one is the most personal of the three books, filling in Tucker’s family history... Pulling together the elaborate strands of the first two books, the concluding volume rewards readers with a surprising yet cogent and satisfying chronicle across time.
—The Horn Book

The action is fast-paced with settings alternating between the small rural towns of the close past, and the postapocalyptic jungle of the distant future. ... Ending in a somewhat Twilight Zone eeriness of happily-ever-after, readers will not feel cheated out of the creep factor.
—School Library Journal

Readers who have followed Tucker Feye and Lah Lia in their bounces across time and space will be glad to see them return in this series finale... Other characters who have been important in the first two books are brought into the mix, and Hautman deftly manages to bring their stories together amidst more harrowing danger and intricately timed escapes. ... Hautman closes the series the way a middle-grade sci-fi series should be closed.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Through chapters alternating between time periods and narrators, Hautman weaves together a magical tale that leaves readers pondering their own beliefs and purpose long after the book is over. For most, the ending will provide a sense of closure as questions are answered and the genius of Hautman’s story is revealed.
—Library Media Connection

School Library Journal

04/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—In the final installment of Hautman's "Klaatu Diskos" trilogy (Candlewick), questions are finally answered and puzzle pieces are put in place. The book's events cover the rise and fall of the Romelas and Hopewell civilizations, alternating among different dates, including 1997, 2012, and a thousand years in the distant future. Tucker Feye and Lah Lia are finally together after being chased in and out of various time periods. The plot focuses on the life of 17-year-old Kosh, who is also Tucker Feye's uncle. Kosh's struggles are divided between the physical challenges needed to keep members of the Boggsian sect and the Cult of the Lamb at bay and trying to control the emotions that have developed between him and his brother Adrian's fiance, Emily. Adrian is also author of the final book in the Cult of the Lamb's Bible, and Emily, besides being Tucker Feye's mother, is identical to a woman whom Kosh rescues from the Lambs. The action is fast-paced with settings alternating between the small rural towns of the close past, and the postapocalyptic jungle of the distant future. This is one conclusion that is best read in sequence for better clarity. Ending in a somewhat Twilight Zone eeriness of happily-ever-after, readers will not feel cheated out of the creep factor.—Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA

Kirkus Reviews

2014-01-29
A dazzlingly imaginative science-fiction trilogy, spanning the rise and fall of religions, civilizations and the human race itself, deflates into an oddly pedestrian conclusion. Tucker Feye and Lia are finally reunited after ping-ponging through time and space; now, the focus shifts to Tucker's uncle Kosh and mother, Emily. The storyline alternates between 1997, when the two first met, and 2012, as Kosh frantically tries to rescue Emily's look-alike, "Emma," from the remnants of a fanatical cult. Interspersed are snippets describing the Boggsian invention of the diskos, the factions among the transhuman Klaatu, and Tucker and Lia's efforts to return to the present. Hautman builds any number of rich, intriguing settings: small rural towns, post-apocalyptic jungles and even the surface of another planet. Unfortunately, he piles fascinating details upon thought-provoking concepts at such a frenetic pace that the whole structure collapses. Most characters die at least once, but recurrent medical miracles drain away any suspense. Nearly everyone is rewarded at the end with (somewhat-creepy) bland domesticity, and with every plot loop tidily snipped off, the entire grand narrative edifice is reduced to the recursive repercussions of a teenage love triangle. Stories aren't required to provide answers to the big questions they raise about faith, choice, identity and responsibility, but these deserve better than to be dismissed with an uncaring shrug. (Science fiction. 12-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173578075
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	04/08/2014
Series:	Klaatu Diskos Series , #3
Edition description:	Unabridged

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