Johnny Roberts and the Guardians of the Sun by Andrew Noble

This is quite a speedy read, not just because it’s not that long a book, but because it’s a rather compelling page-turner leaving you no option but to read swiftly to the end!

Johnny Roberts is a thirteen-year-old who lives in Johannesburg with an alcoholic and abusive father. A father-and-son outing ends dramatically with a revelation that stuns Johnny. It’s a revelation that impels him to flee from any further abuse from a violent parent. With the help of some unusual transport, Johnny flees good and proper…to South America, no less, where he finds a lost tribe, who treats him like a god…literally. While the CIA are enlisted to trace the vanished young teenager, Johnny finds himself as the only person able to help his newfound tribal friends, suddenly under threat of attack from a power-crazed drug lord. The only thing that can help him is his rather extraordinary transport…

Johnny Roberts and the Guardians of the Sun by Andrew Noble

I’m not an avid sci-fi reader: I’m not very good a suspending my disbelief. But this story moved along at a decent pace, the villains were well and truly villainous, Johnny was exceptionally likeable, and there was a nice little substory going on with the two members of the CIA, who are doing their utmost to find the missing teenager. Although the story ends with a climax, there’s just a hint that there could be more to come.

An enjoyable teen sci-fi.