Synopsis
THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN THE PHENOMENAL MODE SERIES!
Colene, Darius, and the magnificent telepathic horse, Sequiro, travelling companions from Virtual Mode and Fractal Mode, face their most dangerous adventure ever as they pass freely from one universe to the next. They joined by a most unlikely companion: Burgess, a tentacled creature from a world where evolution went entirely differently from the path it took for us. And their travels take them to a place that in some ways is the strangest of all a place called Earth.
Publishers Weekly
Despite some fresh characters and situations, the uneven third installment of Anthony's new series (after Virtual Mode and Fractal Mode ) ultimately lapses into formula. Escaping an unhappy childhood, 14-year-old Colene has discovered travel on the Virtual Mode, a buffer zone that connects Earth with thousands of alternate realities. With three companions--Darius, Nona and the telepathic horse Seqiro--she meets Burgess, a tentacled being from a world whose evolutionary development differs dramatically from that of Earth. Anthony effectively conveys Burgess's radical otherness through the creature's community-oriented vocabulary, but he is less successful with the human characters, each of whom is defined by an overly simple trait: Darius is honest, Nona beautiful, Colene intelligent but depressed. Travel along the Virtual Mode allows for several imaginative settings and encounters, including a land of giants and a world where horses keep humans as slaves. The plot lacks a strong through-line, however, and the group's adventures soon become cliched; there seems to be no problem their combined abilities can't wrap up quickly and tidily, leaving them poised for the next adventure. (Jan.)