EarthFall by Mark Walden Review!

      

Title : Earthfall
Author : Mark Walden
Pages : 272
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Source : Netgalley

The battle for mankind is about to begin in this riveting story of Earth’s invasion from the author of the H.I.V.E. series.

Sam awakens to see strange vessels gathered in the skies around London. As he stares up, people stream past, walking silently toward the enormous ships, which emit a persistent noise. Only Sam seems immune to the signal. Six months later, he is absolutely alone.

Or so he thinks. Because after he emerges from his underground bunker and is wounded by a flying drone, a hail of machine-gun fire ultimately reveals two very important truths: One, Sam is not, in fact, alone. And two, the drone injury should have killed him—but it didn’t.

With his home planet feeling alien and the future unstable and unclear, Sam must navigate a new world in this gripping adventure.

My Thoughts : 

The day that Alien ships appeared over London was the day that Sams life changed forever. When Sam sees the news with the pictures of the ship over London he thinks its a trick, that is until he turns to his mother to ask her and sees that she isnt responding. Its like she is a zombie. When his mother and sister walk out of the house Sam follows. He cant believe his eyes when he sees the things near the ship. Why is he the only one not in a trance? What has happened to humanity?

Six months on and Sam still isn't closer to any answers. Every day is a struggle to find food and water without getting caught.  He is totally alone, or so he thinks! When he meets another survivor he hopes to get the answers he needs. 

This was a refreshing surprise. Its aimed at a younger reader but any age will enjoy it. The author has a way of drawing you in to the story. It starts straight with Sam trying to survive and dodge the aliens. He struggles for food and water but what really hits is his loneliness. Six months with no sign of any other person not affected by the aliens and you see him wondering if he is the only one still functioning.  He is a strong character but you still feel sorry for him. 

EarthFall was at times hard to see where it was going and at times I was a little bored. The story itself was awesome and very descriptive but a little boring at the start.  It picked up when Sam met up with the other survivors though. He really came into his own then. 

Overall it was a solid story. The concept is believable if a little odd at times. The action when it took off really made the story so much better. The characters were all strong and capable and I liked each of them. I will say that what bothered me at times was how one minute Sam has never fired a gun and the next he is hitting everything. The author didn't really give us a sense of how he trained. Even though the author did have a very descriptive manner, he did skim over certain things! 

In the end I'm glad I read this. I enjoyed it and will read book 2 to see what happens. I purchased a paperback for my boys because I know its something they will love and Id highly recommend for kids.