Children of the 23rd Century

Children of the 23rd Century is a first novel by Mel Hogan. I loved it and could not put it down. When is the next one in print? I want more! I have met Mel and found him an amazing man, a musician, who on his last trip to Australia met with an accident which resulted in him being stuck in one place to recover with nothing to do and so this book came into being and evolved.

The story for me begins at the start of the second chapter where Ethan Knight has just graduated from the Flying Academy and is chosen to go on a very special mission.

The next day after graduating he meets with the world council, who are determined to find a parallel planet that the people of his world can go and populate after all their own worlds natural resources are used up. But I won't tell you any more or it would spoil the story for you if you have not read it yet.

I loved Mel's book and I could understand the language and the thought processess behind it. Mel himself admitted that he had cut the book by a few thousand words! For me this did not detract from the story but for others who love this genre of book they would have wanted more. Ardent readers of SciFi/Fantasy of which I am not one would want the book padded out a great deal more.

But for me and children this was a great introduction to a genre I have not enjoyed reading. Because the story is about young people doing something to save the world they live on and to eventually find a parallel planet that can sustain us when we have finally ruined our planet completely; then bring on the next book, to be longer than the first and get us reading about what we can do to return to our spiritual roots and discover why we are here and what we can do to save our planet.

Well done Mel Hogan I wait with baited breath for the next volume.