Meteorite Strike by A G Taylor (From Worcester News)

Meteorite Strike by A G Taylor

10:21am Wednesday 1st December 2010 in News

SYNOPSIS: Sarah and Robert are sure their number is up when their aeroplane crashes over the Australian desert. But this is no ordinary air disaster. A meteorite strike has impacted Earth, bringing with it a deadly alien disease. Thousands fall victim to the virus, falling into a deep coma. Luckily, Robert and Sarah appear to be unaffected - until they begin to exhibit some extraordinary psychic side-effects.

This quickly makes them a target for HIDRA, a rogue international agency determined to experiment on them like lab rats in an attempt to control their superpowers. Before long, the children are captured in HIDRA's secret desert HQ, a prison for superhuman kids who can control fire, create storms and tear steel with their minds. This new generation of superheroes must join forces if they are to escape HIDRA. But what kind of world awaits them outside?

REVIEW
by Tom Rouse
Published by Usborne Books, ISBN: 9781409508571, paperback, RRP £5.99

Meteorite Strike is simple wish fulfilment for kids fed up with parents and other authority figures bossing them around. The characters are loosely sketched at best and their own development is subverted to the needs of the plot. Older readers will quickly tire of these characters and the plotting is not compelling enough to retain attention.

Dysfunctional family units are at the core of most young adult fiction written over the last few years and Meteorite Strike is no exception. A dead mother, a returning absent father and an older sister/younger brother make up this particular family unit, but the set-up feels stale, it's hard to make any kind of emotional connection with characters who seem like they could be from any one of a dozen or so recently published novels.

That's not to say there is nothing to like about Meteor Strike, the idea of a young adult equivalent of Heroes is an appealing one and the handling of the discovery of the powers, particularly amongst the younger children is well handled. Despite these positives, the novel was a disappointment, though with more books to follow in the series, there is still hope that the premise, which undoubtedly has potential, may be rescued.