Rating: 5 stars
Recommended for: Thirteen and older–any who love sci-fi, bigfoot, adventure, or aliens–or all four!
Eric Kent Edstrom spins a magnificent tale of love and war in his latest novel, Undermountain. A huge lover of all things Sasquatch, I enjoyed the book immensely. Mr. Edstrom is a very creative, yet logical-minded individual, and it’s obvious that he put a lot of effort into the book. I give Undermountain a five-star rating.
The book was well-written and continued smoothly, allowing for an easy reading pace and an enjoyable story. Mr. Edstrom was very descriptive in the book, and I felt as though I were truly in the bigfoot city of Undermountain. The many characters, human, bigfoot and tangoga, were all very well-constructed and had the kind of depth that all characters should have. I felt as though I knew the characters, and I felt a little lonely when I finished the book.
Mr. Edstrom is very creative. He built an entire underground and interplanetary society for the “bigfeet,” or People, as they call themselves, complete with religion and language. Though some of the names of the bigfeet are somewhat hard and a bit difficult to pronounce, they are unique and very interesting, and they fit perfectly. Mr. Edstrom also created several new species of aliens, the tangeg, a two-headed animal-like species, and the tangoga, which look just like the tangeg, but have higher cognitive skills. The author also added his own twists to the bigfoot legend, such as altering their appearance—the bigfeet have more bear-like than ape-like faces, which would explain why people rarely see them—they think they’re seeing a bear, when it’s really a bigfoot! An interesting thought, in my mind: how many times have I been in the woods and seen a bigfoot?
The plot was incredible: I couldn’t put it down, I was so excited for What Happens Next! When six teens go for a hike in the Canadian Rockies, they get more than just a little time in the great outdoors—they accidentally discover a group of bigfeet, who are attempting to re-capture a gaggle of escaped tangeg. The bigfeet, in order to protect their secret existence, take the teens to the city of Undermountain, where they find themselves caught up in a war between the People and the tangoga. There are several interesting twists in the story, and it kept me on my toes the entire time.
I would never have known about this book without Goodreads’ First Reads program, and I would have missed out on a terrific sci-fi adventure! I honestly canNOT wait for the sequel—if it’s anywhere near as excellent as the first, we’re in for a great tale!
Eric Kent Edstrom’s Undermountain is a truly galumptious read!
GalumptiousWords 