Tarizon: The Liberator (Vol I, Tarizon Trilogy) by William Manchee

Tarizon: The Liberator (Vol I, Tarizon Trilogy)
William Manchee
Top Publications (2008)
ISBN 9781929976485
Reviewed by Dylan James (age 12) for Reader Views (8/08)

“Tarizon: The Liberator” comes with an incredible idea. What if there are aliens on earth?  They look like humans except for one minor detail: they have gills.  Sounds crazy enough, right? But it gets even crazier; the Government has known about this for decades and has never let the secret out. The aliens live in what was once a beautiful place, but is now polluted and dirtied from an atomic war. They come to earth and kidnap people to replenish their slowly healing planet. But the government on Tarizon, the alien’s planet, is divided. There is a well known to be evil leader trying to become supreme chancellor, and then there are politicians, and most of the free planet on the good side. The good side is losing. The only hope they have lies in a mystic legend that The Liberator will come to Tarizon and help restore the government. There are two problems though:  The Liberator is a teenager, and the bad guys know how to shoot.  THIS COULD BE BAD, HUH?

“Tarizon: The Liberator” was great, appealing for all ages over thirteen and an exciting read even for adults. Parents should know that twelve should be the absolute minimum that reads this book do to some graphic sexual envisioning on the main character’s part. What really appeals in the marketing sense is that I think parents will let their kids read this book at about the time the kids want to read this book.  With some sexual situations and a good deal of comedy violence, I can just imagine this as a movie. The writing was very interesting, really making it seem like this is actually happening – that it’s not just a story. That is by far my favorite thing of this book.

I very rarely see a book that can draw me in this much. I have seen better books overall, but hardly any with as many attributes as “Tarizon: The Liberator” by William Manchee to make people believe in its characters and hope that something happens; not just reading to see what happens.