The Last Book in the Universe
Rodman Philbrick
(Reviewer - D. H. BROWN)
2000 The Blue Sky Press
ISBN: 0439087589

Far in the future a young hero must choose between illusion or conscience.

Nobody around here reads anymore because you can use a mindprobe needle to shoot all the images & excitement straight into your brain.

Back before the Big Shake, when everything was supposedly perfect, & everybody lived rich, there were books, however for Spaz, that must be a thousand years in the beforetimes.

Spaz is talking into an old voicewriter program to tell us the story that “kind of turned my brain around.”

Sr. Staff Reviewer D. H. BROWN writes:

When browsing the main branch of our local library system, I happened to spot, down on the bottom row, a book with a space station science fiction sticker on the spine & on a whim I pulled it out & lo, The Last Book in the Universe fell open in my hand!

With a title like that I tucked it under my arm with my other books, checked out, bagged them up & headed for home.

For some reason in that two hour drive back to our little neck of the woods, that title, The Last Book in the Universe, resonated constantly in my thoughts.

After arriving home at the edge of dark, after Rebecca & I had finished our evening chores, determined there would be no computer work as the drive had tired us out. I stacked my new books on my shelf, & found myself opening, late at night, this incredible gem of Juvenile Science Fiction.

Rodman Philbrick's Dedication says, in part “...and for everyone who keeps on reading...”

The next page chapter one began -- They Call Me Spaz...& I began to read.

223 pages, & about six hours later or about 4 o'clock in the morning, I finished.

I once had a university professor in a philosophy class ask the question: “If you were all alone on a deserted island but you had the means in which to create anything you wanted, what would be the first thing you would create?” Knowing he was serious, & wishing to take the question seriously I spent several days pondering my answer. After going through the list of creating a food machine, fire, shelter, I realized my answer...on one single sheet of paper I wrote my name & my answer. I would create a book.

I have often since then pondered the imponderable of what I would do if I didn't have books to read. & the short answer to that is, I would create one.

Books have always been, for me, doorways into other worlds, & the world I entered upon opening the jacket to The Last Book in the Universe was to one which still had hope because Spaz found himself in the end, creating a book.

I don't know how much longer The Last Book in the Universe will remain available, so in the strongest terms I urge any parent reading this to buy it, read it & then give it to a young person to read!

It has a hard science fiction core & philosophy in the simplest terms on every page -- love, hope, redemption.

If I could give it 5 teapots, I would!

More from Rodman Philbrick:
Max the Mighty
Rem World
Abduction
Freak the Mighty
(07/20/03)

D. H. BROWN
A RebeccasReads.Com Sr. Staff Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio:
D. H. BROWN is the author of the critically acclaimed HONOR DUE and the Citizens Warrior Series. The son of missionary parents and with the help his Uncle Sam, he has touched base in more than 40 countries.  In 1986 he produced the independent children's film Lessie's Rainbow.  During the late 80s and early 90s, he wrote the book Common Sense and delivered the seminars of the same name for the Community Action Network of Seattle (CAN).  While doing his early Vietnam recovery work, he counseled Veterans and spoke widely to men's groups in Washington state, and was a founder of The Lodge of the Wolf.

D. H. BROWN has worked as a Logistics and Weapons Specialist in Viet Nam; day laborer; Director of Security; Armored Car Driver; Police Officer; Professional Hunting Guide; Trapper; Dog Sledder; Homesteader; Truck Driver; General Contractor; Minister; Editor; Writer; Speaker; Restaurateur; Movie Producer; Antique Restoration Specialist; Personal Care Worker; PC Repair Specialist; Computer Instructor; Webmaster and Web Designer. "I write about what I know."

He lives deep in the Pacific Northwest rainforest with his wife, author and editor Rebecca and Buddy Dog, working on his next book.
Visit him at: www.dhbrownbooks.com