Author Description

Product Description In this third and final adventure in the Above World series, Aluna and her friends finally face their most terrifying enemy, Karl Strand. Aluna and Hoku, Kampii from the City of Shifting Tides, and their friends, Equian Dash and winged Aviar Calli, are determined to stop a war. The maniacal ex-scientist Karl Strand is planning to conquer the world with his enormous army of tech-enhanced soldiers...unless the four friends can get to Strand first. Aluna’s plan is dangerous: pose as Upgraders and infiltrate the army. But the enemy isn’t what they expected and the strategy begins to crumble. When the friends are torn apart by conflicting allegiances, their slim chance of avoiding war seems to disappear completely. For Aluna and Hoku, what began as a quest to save their own people has become a mission to save the world. But do Aluna and her friends have any hope of defeating Strand if they can’t take him on together? From School Library Journal Gr 5–8—Evil ex-scientist Karl Strand is leading an army of robotically enhanced soldiers in a mission to take over the world. A group of friends decide to band together and forget their differences in order to defeat this madman. As fear sets in, one by one, alliances are broken and this could mean a war. Can Aluna and her friends, Hoku, Kampii, Equin Dash, and Aviar, complete Aluna's scheme or are they doomed? The action picks up right away with the friends executing Aluna's plan to dress up like Upgraders, robotically enhanced humans, in order to take down evil from within. Each character is given a chance to have a point of view. Compared to the other novels in the series, the characters are more fleshed out. Familiarity with the previous titles is necessary in order to truly understand the plot. Kate Rudd's voice moves the story along and differentiates the characters. Purchase where the series is popular.—Katie Llera, Bound Brook High School, NJ<br/