Strange Energy

The Bad Tuesdays #2

by Benjamin J. Myers

The Tuesdays' journey to realise their perilous destiny continues in the second of the Bad Tuesdays sequence. Chess, Box and Splinter are faced with new enemies and allies - and still they are warned to 'trust no one'. Can they even trust each other? And can they rely on their own judgements and make the right decision when constantly faced with so many difficult choices?

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2009

About the author

Ben was reading about myth, magic, adventure and weird science as soon as he could pick up a book; and he’s been writing from as soon as he could hold a pencil. He was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, and he’s been a soldier and a lawyer as well as a writer. THE BAD TUESDAYS series of books and THE GRINDLE WITCH have been enjoyed by young adults, older adults and children around the world. He has three children and when he’s not reading or writing books he enjoys swimming, fishing, music and mountains. Visit Ben’s website at https://wordpress.com/view/benjaminjm... and follow him on Twitter @BenjaminJMyers and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BenjaminMyer...

Reviews

[Katzenkindliest]

Wie praktisch, wenn man mehr als eine Welt zur Verfügung hat... ;)
Dieses Mal verschlägt es Chess und ihre Brüder in eine Welt, die von Echsenmenschen bevölkert ist. Diese sind auch Feinde der Symmetrie und damit sehr brauchbare Verbündete von Chess. Splinter verändert sich - vorhersehbar nicht zu seinem Vorteil, Box wird von Balthasar ausgebildet und entwickelt sich dafür sehr zu seinem Vorteil. Nur Chess weiß noch immer nicht so genau, wie und was sie ist und will. Das Baumhaus von Balthasar entstand während des Lesens vor meinem inneren Auge - sehr schön erzählt. Überhaupt mag ich den Schreibstil sehr!

[Sarah]

For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...

What I should have done was stopped reading after the third chapter when the story wasn’t really pulling me in. But, ever the optimist, I thought that the more I read, the more chance I would enjoy it. On the other hand, considering this is the second book in the series and by chapter four, I still didn’t have a full idea of the background, these should have been enough warnings to give up and move on. But, I didn’t.

[Hannah]

A mixture of science fiction, magic and good writing, it's a great book for all ages.

[Gabriel Kuotsu]

I like how they were in cages and they argued with the people distributing the water and food. I like how splinter also got annoyed at him and threw a marble at his head. The book is really funny.

[Michelle]

Strange Energy jumps straight into the action with The Tuesdays, who have left the Committee to fend for themselves.  A planned robbery ends up being a trick and the Tuesdays are once again enlisted to help the Committee, this time to be taken by the Fat Gobster to find out where the children are being taken.  Equipped with new gear that will bring them back, they await the arrival of the Fat Gobster to take them away. Soon they find themselves being taken on a train, in cages, on their way to a factory.
Upon arrival at the factory all the children are herded into cages, and only the quick fingers of Splinter helps the Tuesdays escape.  Their elation at escape quickly comes to a halt when they find themselves lost in a jungle, and their only ally is Balthazar, a prisoner on the island as punishment for murder, he helps the Tuesdays and gets them to a safe place. But can he be trusted, or does he have ulterior motives for helping the Tuesdays.

I really enjoyed Strange Energy, just as much as the previous book, Twisted Symmetry.  One thing that gets me is Splinters attitude towards Box and Chess, I know he is older than Chess and wants to protect her, but I feel like he blames her for everything that goes wrong, and doesn't seem to appreciate having her there rather than have her taken away. It's like he resents her. He is also not very nice to Box and continuously calls him names and makes fun of him.
I enjoyed watching the progress that Box and Chess make, I personally think Splinter could do with an attitude adjustment and maybe needs to get down off his high horse and actually realise that Box and Chess aren't there to fight him and make his life a misery, they are there to help each other and be there for each other like what family is meant to do.  The Stonedrakes were a surprise and they end up being valuable allies. I liked getting to see how they battle the enemy and the different skills they have that come with their bodies.

As Strange Energy nears the end we discover the secret that Splinter has been hiding and it is used in the ending to split the Tuesdays up.  Strange Energy was a great read and I am glad I have the next instalment ready to read as I don't think I could wait too long to see what happens next.
Once again Benjamin J. Myers has drew me into the world he has created and I can't wait to find out where Chess, Box and Splinter are heading now.

[Amy]

This book doesn’t waste time blabbering on about history (or should I say: it doesn’t steal detail from the last book), instead it’s refreshing. Believe me, the Tuesdays have changed. Planet.
They aren’t the normal passengers on a train, and people know it. Just about. They might be dumped into the cages along with the rest, but their journey is elsewhere on this alien planet pretty soon. I admit for the first half {of Book 2} I might've felt like they weren't going to make allies with anyone else than a 500-year old fool. Trust, or not, in the end decisions will have to be made... And another ally will be made, even if it’s in less than ideal conditions. You meet many new things & find out increasingly more background information which really makes it easier to get into the plot. Though the lack of punctuation doesn't help one bit... So many run-on sentences that they literally may be a whole paragraph. Sure, I hate a novel which doesn't have a range of sentences, but randomly planting a page of these sentences which I have to re-read because I lost what he said as soon as I turned the page to THIS is annoying. Oh yeah, the capitalized letter was on the previous page when the sentence started... The description, lack of punctuation ignored, brings to mind vivid images of a world almost beyond imagination.
I thought it would just be a more complex climax with a similar ending & it couldn't surprise me really... But did I get the similar ending? Really, honestly NO WAY!

~I have reviewed the whole series~