The Klaatu Terminus

by Pete Hautman

Overview

“Rewards readers with a surprising yet cogent and satisfying chronicle across time.” —The Horn Book

National Book Award winner Pete Hautman weaves several diverging time streams into one satisfying masterwork in this stunning and revelatory series finale. Tucker Feye, his uncle Kosh, and Lia, the strange girl from another time, must evade the pursuit of maggot-like Timesweeps and battle Master Gheen’s cult of Lambs. Adding to their struggles are the enigmatic Boggsians and the search for one another in time as they attempt to unravel the secrets of the diskos. Who built them? Who is destroying them? Where—and when—will it all end?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763676759
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	04/28/2015
Series:	Klaatu Diskos Series , #3
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	1,120,474
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Lexile:	670L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

  

Editorial Reviews

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

From the Publisher

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

School Library Journal

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)

Kirkus Reviews