Sunderworld’s Spotlight

When Blue from Kaleidoscopic emailed about the upcoming new Ransom Riggs, I was intrigued as it wasn’t linked to Miss Peregrine in any way but has a very 90s/Stranger Things, maybe even have a touch of Gravity Falls to it. Yes, I am going geeky/pop culture here as it has that 90-ness vibe to it, and as someone who grew up in the 90s, I am all on board with that. 

For those of you who didn’t grow up in the 90s (while I am out of my zimmer frame as, yes, I am that old), the 90s had the epic battle of Oasis vs Blur, women wanting The Rachel haircut, trying to figure out if you were a Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte or Samantha, GIRL POWER, the wave of New Labour and the Y2K panic, Harry Potter mania… I could go on and on about the 1990s here in the UK. 

For me, this is going to be a weird 90s vibe book (and I sense that I am going to be very wrong about that going into this, but it’s going to be a weird/fun ride!). 

But I am quite excited to find time to read this soon. Hopefully, I can intrigued you guys too and I will leave the book’s blurb below!

Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max's Adventures in Sunderworld—and that’s because they are.

Not a good sign. 

In the blurry weeks after his mother’s death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash—and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return—at the worst possible time on the worst possible day—Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he’ll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it’s in grave danger.

Certain he’s finally been chosen for greatness, Leopold risks everything to claim his destiny, save the world of his childhood dreams, and prove once and for all that he’s not the disappointment his father believes him to be. But when everything goes terribly, horribly, excruciatingly wrong, Leopold’s disappointments prove to be more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined.

How do you battle darkness when no one believes in you—not even yourself?

Visionary storyteller Ransom Riggs weaves the familiar with the peculiar in a stunning tale of loss, triumph, friendship and magic, reminding listeners everywhere that true heroes are made, not born—and that when you’re never the chosen one, sometimes you have to choose yourself.

Welcome to Sunderworld.