Reviews

A review by:

JoAn W. Martin

Member of the society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

Reviews for Texas Review and The Baytown Sun

Ralles, H.J. Keeper of the Kingdom, Dallas, TX. Top Publications,

Ltd. Co. 2000. 186 pages. $9.95 paper. ISBN 1-929976-03-8. LC 00-135779

Somehow Matt, from the year 2010, gets sucked into his computer game, Keeper of the Kingdom. He finds himself in a nightmare situation, a mixture of primitive and yet very advanced technology.

Matt meets Targon, another thirteen-year-old. The only way to survive in the year 2540, is to play the scenario through and find a way to eliminate the Keeper and free the kingdom of Zaul.

Even though Matt has brought his laptop computer into the future with him, he can no longer control events since he is now part of the game. He is hunted by robot-like Protectors and hides among the human workers.

Dealing with projected images, force fields, underground tunnels and hidden entrances, Matt and his new-found friends attempt to avoid the Cybergons, charged to eliminate liars and traitors as ordered by the evil human Commander.

When the Protectors rebel against the established order, Matt helps them, struggling to go back to his world where no one is a lifelong slave to a computer. Not yet, anyway.

The reader will find echoes of the fake wizard as in Wizard of Oz as well as references to an underground railroad similar to Civil War days.

Keeper of the Kingdom is a must read. From the first page to the last, there is no relief from the suspense and tension. H.J. Ralles has captivated anyone with a fascination for computer games, and found a way to connect computer literate children to reading.