Fireball, 1

I read this as an adult, remembering how much I enjoyed the Tripod Trilogy as a teen. This was a fun read with plausible history woven through out the story. One of the sequels is "The New Found Land," which I remember to be good.

This is the third of the famous (or infamous depending upon one's disposition) 'young-adult fantasy-trilogies' by J. Christopher, and quite obviously (due to it's current order status), the most overlooked one. This particular novel (alas, I do not remember the names of the other two) takes place in present day (you guessed it!) England, and is indeed, told in the first person by a young man with a slight inferiority complex. He and his buddy (genius orphan I believe) hang out and play chess, until they get slung around in time by a big fireball, and end up in an alternate-present-reality, where the Catholic church (via the Roman Empire) still controls those precious hearts and minds, and has stifled the growth of science prodigiously....and so the narrator and his friend try to make things right. Aren't too successful. Sound familiar? It had better not...it's at least partially original... and kicks off the trilogy nicely. In the next two books these two lads journey to 'the new world'...then finally end up in China (which is, quite naturally, much more sophisticated than Europe)...and so on. I hope I haven't ruined the plot too thoroughly, but the ending (as per usual with Christopher) is quite innovative (see: Sword of the Spirits Trilogy). Overall, the trilogy is a great read, excellently written...and enjoyable by both young and old. I would suggest reading the Tripod tril. and the aforementioned Sword of the Spirits tril. just to build up the appreciation level, as it were, before delving into this one. But, for the Christopher fans out there, this is an absolute must-have (as are the other two in this series), and spotlights J.C. at his most imaginative (if a tad farfetched) best. A note in addendum is necessary here, because as with the other two trilogies, there may-or-may-not-be deep religious symbolism involved here (i.e. the dangers of worshipping 'falsely', and the nature of 'the true religion'.), but it's all terribly ambiguous and supplants much of what was said about this subject by him in the earlier two...so take it with a grain of salt. Regardless of this, younger readers will NOT discern this, and these implicatory ideas should only add to the enjoyment of advanced reader.