Wheelie in the Stars

by Nicholas Fisk

Life as cargostrippers on Terramare 3 was boring and ugly. Even so, it seemed crazy for Noll and Niven to dream about driving their beautiful smuggled-in motorbike, Wheelie. Machines that ran on petrol were banned nowadays, but Noll and Niven would not give up. 'Something will happen, somehow, sometime,' Noll said, and indeed it did, though it was rather more than they had bargained for.

Genres: Childrens, Science Fiction, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

(1923–2016), British author of more than forty books and television scripts and a master of science fiction for children. Fisk, whose real name is David Higginbottom, grew up during the Second World War and served in the Royal Air Force. His autobiography, Pig Ignorant (1992), covers the years 1939–1941 and details his life in Soho, a bohemian section of London, where he played jazz in the evenings until he was called to enlist. After the war Fisk worked as a musician, journalist, and publisher. He started writing in the 1960s, and his popularity was at its height in the 1970s and 1980s. His most impressive work, A Rag, a Bone, and a Hank of Hair (1982), is a thrilling futuristic novel set at the end of the 22ndcentury. The government is cloning new people and has manufactured a 1940s wartime family whose members are unaware that nothing they know is real. This moving story is a dark representation of the threat posed by technological advancement but is optimistic in its message about the triumph of the human spirit. Fisk's most enduring books include Grinny (1973), which features a technologized extraterrestrial threat in the form of a great- aunt who glows at night, and Trillions (1971), an eerie story about mysterious hard shiny objects that contain an alien intelligence. Monster Maker (1979) was made into a film.

Reviews

[lucas]

it has drama, corruption, blackmail, space goo, anti-fossil fuel concepts WELL ahead of it's time. what more can i ask for in a nice lil scifi!