Keeper of the Empire

by

H. J. Ralles

Trade Paperback ISBN 1-929976-25-9 January 2004

Vol III Trade Paperback Top Publications, Ltd.

The Vorgs have landed! They’re grotesque, they spit venom, and Matt is about to be their next victim. What are these lizard-like creatures doing in Gova? Why are humans wandering around like zombies? In the third book of the Keeper series, Matt finds himself in a terrifying world. With the help of his friend Targon and a daring girl named Angel, Matt must locate the secret hideout of the Govan Resistance. And what has become of the wise old scientist, Varl? There is no end to the action and excitement as Matt attempts to track down the Keeper, and win the next level of his computer game.

Reviews

Heatland Reviews

This is the third book in a series for mid-grade lovers of computer games. The author’s highly imaginative use of a computer game environment as the framework for her stories effectively captures the attention of those who might spend more time on the computer than in reading. Each book raises the bar, tension wise, thereby encouraging the series readers to clamor for the next installment, just like the different levels of computer games.

She is to be commended for tackling an anti-reading environment and turning it into a highly attractive means toward encouraging reluctant readers. Each book presents more complex problems and greater risks. We rated this book and its series four hearts.

Lisa DuMond, SFSite, Lisa DuMond, SFSite, MEviews.com

With each new book in the Keeper series, Ralles carries readers through more than another level of the game that Matt and his friends are trapped in -- she chronicles another step in Matt's growth to maturity. Make no mistake that Keeper of the Empire is one of those dreary cautionary tales that have their snares set for young readers; every page of Ralles' novels plays out like a few seconds on a ticking time bomb. Young adults will love the danger and adventure, even as they learn to trust their own actions. Adults will look back for a much-needed reminder of just what they went through to survive their adolescent years.

Excitement, challenges, and lethal surprises around every corner -- Ralles knows how to turn out a first-rate story. And, how to make coming-of-age as suspenseful as nature makes it every day.

JoAn W. Martin
Review of Texas Books/ The Baytown Sun

Juvenile
Ralles, H.J. Keeper of the Empire. Illustrated by Daniel Silverman. Dallas, TX. Top Publications, Ltd. Co. 2004. $9.95. ISBN 1-929976-25-9

    H.J. Ralles is at it again. Reading is back. Computer literate children will desert their computer game and be captivated by Ralles' third book in the series of science fiction stories. She reveals to her readers the motivation behind unusual plot twists.
    When Matt completed Level 2 in Keeper of the Realm, the reader is naturally led to Keeper of the Empire. Their friend, Dorin, challenges them to beat Level 3 for him. Players of computer games will see themselves as right in the middle of the game, rather than simply watching on the monitor.
    Her characters are caught in Matt's computer game. Even Matt's two old friends from Zaul, Varl, his elderly mentor and Targon, are skeptical when Matt explains their dilemna.
    Having survived two levels of existence in the computer game, Matt finds himself on the third level. The Cybergons in Zaul (Keeper of the Kingdom), then the Noxerans on Karn(Keeper of the Realm) presented dangerous challenges.
    In Keeper of the Empire, the invaders are the most hazardous confrontation of all. The Vorgs planet was on a collision course with another star, due in six years. They left their doomed planet to find a home on Earth.
    How to deal with Vorgs, large iguanna-like creatures, which belong in a zoo, but are straight out of a prehistoric tale?
    Varl is rescued by Snake who is a member of the Resistance movement and travels via jetpack. Snake takes him to a cliff home, safe for the time being from the Vorgs. Varl joins the Resistance and puts his scientific mind to work to help them rid Earth of Vorgs.
    Matt has lost his laptop and finds out that he is in danger of being put through the desensitization process which turns humans into zombies. In a dangerous manuever, he retrieves his laptop computer from an old barn. Now he can access the rules of Level 3 game, but our heroes get yet another poetic riddle. He, Targon and Angel have hope of joining up with the other humans who have not yet been desensitized.
    Jesper of the Mount is a worthy antagonist, stamping out humans, or at least sending them to the Gilded State. But when Jesper makes a mistake and incurs the wrath of Gubala, the Great Leader, he dreads facing Gubala. Unlike the other Vorgs, Jesper maintains a grudging respect for the cunning intelligence of the Govan humans who are secretly trying to organize a revolt and reclaim their planet.
When Angel and her brother, Fly, find each other, Matt becomes homesick for his own brother, Jake. He longs for his help, remembering how good Jake was at playing computer games.
    Ralles knows how to set a dangerous scene. She takes her readers step-by-step to the height of suspense. Angel flys the airbug while Matt dons all black clothing to play commando on a night raid.
Using data based, screenballs, passcodes, search mechanisms, and cosmic locators, problems of a co-existence are solved by negotiation instead of war. Matt and his friends conclude that no species is all bad.
    The Epilogue serves the reader well as "a concluding section that rounds out the design of a literary work." (Webster's Collegiate Dictionary)
    When Matt's mom bakes brownies, we relax at home from a strenuous adventure, but the sight of purple words across the computer screen hints that another book in the Keeper series is on its way.