hasseltkoffie's review
1.0
Might have gotten better score if not for the 30 page exposition why it would be rational for a 45yo creepy dude to do the naughty with the 11yo protagonist. For the rest totally unremarkable.
peapod_boston's review
5.0
A wonderful adventure story with one of the most engaging protagonists ever. It helps that I was her age when I read this and fell truly, deeply, madly in love. But even now, years later, it's a truly enjoyable read.
itabar's review
4.0
Someone highly recommended this book and I was able to get it from the LA Co Public Library, which is AWESOME for keeping an obscure OLD paperback book available. I am shocked it did not get discarded.
There are other books with plot summaries so I'll just cut straight to my impressions. The first time I read it I thought "Sheesh! That ending is over the top. Gimme a break." But then I thumbed through it to reread a "good part" and WHOOSH, I was rereading the book. And I liked it better. And then I found a copy at a library booksale and accidentally ended up reading it again and liked it even more.
So... I liked it quite a bit. It was fun and the characters were likable. The plot went by at a good clip with some very nice twists. And it contains a very low-key, very sweet romance.
So if you can find it, go read it. Wish it was available in audio so I could hook my brother.
There are other books with plot summaries so I'll just cut straight to my impressions. The first time I read it I thought "Sheesh! That ending is over the top. Gimme a break." But then I thumbed through it to reread a "good part" and WHOOSH, I was rereading the book. And I liked it better. And then I found a copy at a library booksale and accidentally ended up reading it again and liked it even more.
So... I liked it quite a bit. It was fun and the characters were likable. The plot went by at a good clip with some very nice twists. And it contains a very low-key, very sweet romance.
So if you can find it, go read it. Wish it was available in audio so I could hook my brother.
trevorjameszaple's review
4.0
To be honest the epistolary style combined with the know-it-all super-protagonist very nearly had me ditch the book early in, but something about the plotline kept me going. While I maintain that the characters are a little too OP, I also acknowledge that it's sort of the central premise to the book, and at any rate the last quarter makes up for everything else in a big pulse-pounding way. Not "Great Fiction", but highly entertaining.
zoes_human's review
3.0
I wish I'd discovered this when it came out; I was the perfect age to have enjoyed it then. Likely I would have loved it. Sadly, while it's good YA, it's just not good enough to transcend the 31-year age and experience gap from 12 to 43.
inkygirl's review
5.0
I have read this book so many times that its cover is coming off. I would to have a hardcopy version of this book. This book is part of my "Comfort Reading" shelf -- books that are like old friends and need revisiting at least once a year or whenever I'm feeling off-kilter for whatever reason.
ncrabb's review
4.0
The next time you’re in a pandemic, you might wish Candidia Maria Smith-Foster were with you. The 11-year-old fictional star of this book would be perfectly happy if you referred to her as Candy. She’s no ordinary sweet thing. She is a Homo post hominem. She’s a distinct species from we humans. In a pandemic, that has some real advantages. First, the disease that kills nearly all America and the world doesn’t infect Candy. Her world ends when the Soviets (this is an old book) drop something that is both nuclear and biologically evil on the U.S. Candy’s dad was in Washington when everything ended, and she presumed he was dead. He had instructed her how to use his fallout shelter before he left Wisconsin for Washington, and she spent several months down there with her twin brother, a mentally disabled bird-like creature. When they finally emerge from the shelter after it’s again safe to do so, they find a desolated world. But Candy also has messages from her one-time teacher who informs her that there are other Homo post hominem individuals out there. Candy determines to find them.
This is her great adventure as she tackles a broken continent in a van filled with supplies that will keep her alive and safe along her route. Driving comes easy enough to the super-advanced human-looking girl, and she soon learns to keep the tires on railroad tracks, which seem less encumbered by broken cars and dead bodies than the highways.
She eventually finds Adam, a fellow Homo post hominem survivor, and between the two of them, they exhibit formidable, advanced talents in a variety of areas. As their search for survivors continues, they meet late-20-something Kim Melon, mother to six-year-old Lisa. Kim is a willowy blonde with a movie-star face and breasts that befit her last name—the author’s description, not mine. Kim and Candy become like sisters, and the adventure builds. Before the book ends, you will be intrigued by little Lisa and the mental bond she builds with Candy.
There’s lots of nail-biting suspense here, too. At one point, a lone survivor quite logically argues that 11-year-old Candy should have sex with him. She says not only no, but heck no, and before things end, the survivor survives no more.
You can’t help but love Candy Smith-Foster. Yes, you’ll have to annihilate your disbelief rather than merely suspend it to read and enjoy this, but I hope you’ll give it a shot. This is wonderfully fun albeit slightly flawed science fiction. There’s plenty of suspense and action here to keep you engaged, and it’s ok to read this during a pandemic, since the one described here is vastly different from the one we experienced in 2020.
This is her great adventure as she tackles a broken continent in a van filled with supplies that will keep her alive and safe along her route. Driving comes easy enough to the super-advanced human-looking girl, and she soon learns to keep the tires on railroad tracks, which seem less encumbered by broken cars and dead bodies than the highways.
She eventually finds Adam, a fellow Homo post hominem survivor, and between the two of them, they exhibit formidable, advanced talents in a variety of areas. As their search for survivors continues, they meet late-20-something Kim Melon, mother to six-year-old Lisa. Kim is a willowy blonde with a movie-star face and breasts that befit her last name—the author’s description, not mine. Kim and Candy become like sisters, and the adventure builds. Before the book ends, you will be intrigued by little Lisa and the mental bond she builds with Candy.
There’s lots of nail-biting suspense here, too. At one point, a lone survivor quite logically argues that 11-year-old Candy should have sex with him. She says not only no, but heck no, and before things end, the survivor survives no more.
You can’t help but love Candy Smith-Foster. Yes, you’ll have to annihilate your disbelief rather than merely suspend it to read and enjoy this, but I hope you’ll give it a shot. This is wonderfully fun albeit slightly flawed science fiction. There’s plenty of suspense and action here to keep you engaged, and it’s ok to read this during a pandemic, since the one described here is vastly different from the one we experienced in 2020.
silenttardis's review
5.0
At first i was finding the way it was written a bit weird, but i did understand the reason why (diary written in shorthand), After a while it felt natural to read it, and After that the book went fast, this is the example of a book that in its written form is better than in audiobook (i tried it first, then went back and read the book).
Candy is an Eleven years old girl, that is in reality a genious, the Next step in evolution, i liked this book very much, it didnt feel outdated or old, and it was refreshing to have such a Young girl that was also independent, strong and self suficient. Usually when a man/Boy is introduced, in other books, the girl is in dire need of saving, well let's just say Candy is the One with skills and strenght (She is a 5th level black belt).
Great read, i definately recomend it
Candy is an Eleven years old girl, that is in reality a genious, the Next step in evolution, i liked this book very much, it didnt feel outdated or old, and it was refreshing to have such a Young girl that was also independent, strong and self suficient. Usually when a man/Boy is introduced, in other books, the girl is in dire need of saving, well let's just say Candy is the One with skills and strenght (She is a 5th level black belt).
Great read, i definately recomend it
mpho3's review
3.0
An optimistic post-apocalyptic journey? Sounds unlikely, but that's what Emergence is. Candy Smith-Foster is an 11-year old genius, 6th degree karate black belt, and, at the beginning of the novel, the only known survivor of bio-nuclear global destruction. She will go on to discover that thanks to genetic mutations caused by the 1918 flu epidemic and passed down the generations, she and a minute percentage of the human race are actually the successor species to homo sapiens.
The book is comprised of the shorthand journal account of her search for others, which sets up an immediate difficulty for me: although I applaud Palmer's creativity in writing 95% of the book in shorthand, I have to say I tired of the device very quickly. Take that as a warning then: the narrative structure is not for everyone; those who can't hang with it will be hard pressed to push forward. My incentive was that a friend whose opinions I respect loaned the book to me. Without that source of motivation, I might have stopped after 50 pages or so.
As it was, I stuck with it, and am glad I did so because there are some elements of this quite original book that I liked quite a bit, for example the setting. Palmer's descriptions of the post-aftermath landscape seemed very realistic. The fact that plants and animals were left unscathed with only a loss of human life made for some interesting scenarios.
The cast of characters is very unique, with some more likeable than others, but in the end, even the ones I didn't appreciate in the beginning, I grew to respect, including Candy's 'retarded, adopted twin brother', a Hyacinthine macaw named Terry. His relationship with his human sibling makes for some welcome hilarity in the last quarter of the book, and, in fact, there is a lot of humor throughout the novel.
An often action-packed, travelogue-mystery hybrid, it was impossible to tell where it was going, and many of the unexpected twists were thrilling just for the sheer fact that they were fantastical yet surprisingly plausible if you buy into the story in the first place. For those with a preference for hard science, it's in there too, covering an impressive number of disciplines.
I suspect if I had read this book as a teenager I would have considered it a favorite, especially for the plucky heroine. 3.5 stars.
The book is comprised of the shorthand journal account of her search for others, which sets up an immediate difficulty for me: although I applaud Palmer's creativity in writing 95% of the book in shorthand, I have to say I tired of the device very quickly. Take that as a warning then: the narrative structure is not for everyone; those who can't hang with it will be hard pressed to push forward. My incentive was that a friend whose opinions I respect loaned the book to me. Without that source of motivation, I might have stopped after 50 pages or so.
As it was, I stuck with it, and am glad I did so because there are some elements of this quite original book that I liked quite a bit, for example the setting. Palmer's descriptions of the post-aftermath landscape seemed very realistic. The fact that plants and animals were left unscathed with only a loss of human life made for some interesting scenarios.
The cast of characters is very unique, with some more likeable than others, but in the end, even the ones I didn't appreciate in the beginning, I grew to respect, including Candy's 'retarded, adopted twin brother', a Hyacinthine macaw named Terry. His relationship with his human sibling makes for some welcome hilarity in the last quarter of the book, and, in fact, there is a lot of humor throughout the novel.
An often action-packed, travelogue-mystery hybrid, it was impossible to tell where it was going, and many of the unexpected twists were thrilling just for the sheer fact that they were fantastical yet surprisingly plausible if you buy into the story in the first place. For those with a preference for hard science, it's in there too, covering an impressive number of disciplines.
I suspect if I had read this book as a teenager I would have considered it a favorite, especially for the plucky heroine. 3.5 stars.
anne_seebach's review
4.0
I'm still thinking about this one. It was perhaps a little uneven, but overall a good read. I'll come back to my review after a bit more of a think.