Are you looking for a fun, enticing fantasy series to get hooked into? If so, The Lighthouse Trilogy is for you. The first book, The Lighthouse Land was a thrilling read by Adrian McKinty. The adventure begins with a boy, Jamie who had cancer and had to have his arm amputated to survive and hasn't talked since the operation, moving to Ireland and meeting a boy named Ramsay there. Together, they find a device which transports the two boys through a worm hole and to another planet. “And then Jamie really felt amazed because behind the girl's head there was a window, a porthole in the round wall of the lighthouse and there in the sky were two moons-one yellow, one white- and a wide expanse of stars completely different from the stars in his own world.”
They meet a girl named Wishaway who tells them that they were supposed to save her country from the Alkhavens, who are going to land on their shores and take everything of value from the people there without much trouble. Many years before, other men had come through to the planet of Altair and stayed with them and taught them some of the ways of Earth and saved the people, so Jamie and Ramsay were expected to do the same. Without knowing it, they spread a disease which cripples all the people they come in contact with, and leads them to have to make the decision to save their enemy or to let them die. In a daring adventure to try to save the country I could not put this book down. Will the boys go back to their planet? Does Jamie ever fully recover from his cancer? What happens to the people of Altair? All these questions and more will be answered in this trilogy.
I really enjoyed the entire book. I loved the creative solutions to the characters problems, along with the inventive new world and transportation device the author has come up with. The plot of two teenage boys in Ireland, one with only one arm because of an amputation for cancer who hasn't spoken since his operation, finding an interplanetary travel device made with much better technology then their current level was intriguing to me; the technology in this book was quite fascinating as well.
My favorite character in this book would probably be Jamie, because he has to overcome so much; he had cancer, doesn't have a left arm, just moved to Ireland, has only made one friend, transports him and his friend to another planet, and is expected to save one country from another in a war. He was really brave to overcome everything and still have courage. A few of the themes in this book include the bravery of Jamie and his friend Ramsay, especially when they find themselves on an alien planet with only a few people who speak English. Determination to save the people of Aldan and not let the Alkhavan people take over their land was also an important theme in this book.
I hope you choose to read this book because of the enticing plot; I chose it over the summer because someone had given it to me and it had gotten quite good reviews online. Also, I was in the mood for a nice fantasy book and this looked promising. Much of this book is to enjoy, including the descriptive language such as “Through the window was the uncoiled arm of the Milky Way and the moon the color of narcissus.” And “A cinder sea spooked and quiet under a pale sky.”
This book was one I truly enjoyed; I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did, and go on to read the whole series of books.