Other Worlds series by George Ivanoff
Ill. by James Hart. Random House Australia, 2018.
Game World book 3. ISBN 9780143786238
Dark World book 4. ISBN 9780143786252
(Age: 8-11) Recommended. Themes: Friendship, Adventure, Zombies,
Gaming. "Find the key! Open the doorway! Enter the other world!"
George Ivanoff's gripping portal fiction series continues with "Game
World" and "Dark World". Each stand-alone story features new
characters facing challenges, obstacles and competing for survival
in an alternate world.
"Game World" centres around a world of virtual reality, when gamer
Hall puts on the VR helmet and is transported into a strange game
world where humans and computers battle to survive. Field Marshall
Maheera meets Hall and warns him that he is in the middle of a war,
fighting drones of all shapes and sizes. He must use his gaming
skills to discern what is reality and what is virtual and find a way
back home. Hall's online nemesis Randomizarbian actually assists him
in his mission.
"Dark World" begins with Newt and Rowan waiting in Principal
Hardnose's office after an altercation in Science class. They remove
a magical book from the principal's library and on opening it a
portal appears. They are a drawn in to a sinister world filled with
piles of rubble, destroyed buildings and zombie-like creatures
roaming around. Newt and Rowan discover a laboratory run by an evil
scientist intent of destroying the Darkness with a bolt of energy
from her Volt Cannon. This conjures up a huge spider-like creature
and a royal character from another portal which results in magic and
mayhem. Newt and Rowan learn to rely on each other and overcome
their differences as they seek to escape from the Darkness.
The books in the "Other Worlds" series are exciting fast-paced
junior novels, filled with action, adventure, mystery, set in
alternate realities. With both boy and girl protagonists and themes
of friendship, collaboration, accepting diversity and problem
solving, these novels will engage readers from ages 8 and up.
Rhyllis Bignell