After THAT shocking ending of The Valley of the Strange, Sticky Pines (and the world) is in grave danger. Milo is trapped in a humongous blob, his scheming father has captured the extraterrestrial Negalons and the countdown to decimate Earth is ticking. Can Lucy discover the Truth in order to save her civilisation?
The Sticky Pines saga is a sprawling, gripping sci-fi series which has enthralled readers for years and now, in this fourth book, The Wrath of the Blob, lingering secrets are revealed and Lucy is up against the clock if she wants to stop Earth being obliterated. With Milo missing after tumbling into the blob (is he even alive?), you feel the pressure right from that first page and that breakneck pace doesn’t let up as Lucy finally gets the answers she’s sought through The Bigwoof Conspiracy (you can find my review here!), The Thing at Black Hole Lake (review here!) and The Valley of the Strange (review here!). The Wrath of the Blob is an epic, blockbuster conclusion: travelling through time and space, it takes the reader in the world of Weird and inspires us to embrace things we might not understand. Dashe has cleverly created quirky, memorable characters and a tightly-structured story, which is the perfect gateway to YA and adult science fiction stories. We all have those books we remember from childhood which inspired us towards reading a particular genre… the Sticky Pines series does that for sci-fi. I wish I could visit Sticky Pines (as do many members of my class)!
As I mentioned, what Dashe does so well across this series is show readers the Weird but encourages us to be inquisitive and show kindness and empathy to things we might not understand. The climatic showdown brings war (and me to still have no nails whilst reading!) but also sensitively shows what humanity is becoming and what it should strive to be. It’s a powerful message and definitely one which stays with the reader about finishing that final page (which made me gasp!). An action-packed, emotional conclusion to the Sticky Pines series, The Wrath of the Blob is a love letter to sci-fi and gives closure to a wonderful world of strange which fans will be talking about long after finishing.
Suggested reading age: 8+
The Wrath of the Blob is written by Dashe Roberts and published by Future Human. The entire Sticky Pines saga is now available to buy. Why not head over to The Rocketship Bookship, an indie bookshop, where I preordered my copy? There’s signed copies available here.
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