Review: The Last Book In the Universe

Blurb from Amazon:
It's the story of an epileptic teenager nicknamed Spaz, who begins the heroic fight to bring human intelligence back to the planet. In a world where most people are plugged into brain-drain entertainment systems, Spaz is the rare human being who can see life as it really is. When he meets an old man called Ryter, he begins to learn about Earth and its past. With Ryter as his companion, Spaz sets off an unlikely quest to save his dying sister -- and in the process, perhaps the world.

My Review: 
This book suffered from a case of the misleading blurb. I thought the premise (based on the blurb) was good. It sounded like a book I'd really enjoy sinking my teeth into, but it's not exactly what the blurb makes it out to be. The blurb is (to me) for another book. THIS one was good too though.


Spaz is not really out to bring knowledge back. He is just out to help his sister. He's not a bad guy but he's not the epic hero that the blurb makes him seem. Ryter is kind of like Gandolf-lite but without that useful magic and snarkery. I kind of wished the book was more like the blurb so I can't really give this a complete thumbs up. It's a decent tale and was read-able. I am going to say that this might not be appropriate for anyone younger than a 9th grader, because  there are some mature themes involved at times.

It's not a horrible read, but the blurb got me all worked up and the book let me down a little bit. 

• Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Blue Sky Press (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439087597