Introduction
The cover art of the
third installment features Gilbert riding upon a hoverboard with the backdrop
of the beautiful Martian city to which Aoléon brought him far away from a
Nebraska farm. The previous book in this series ended after a psi-ball match,
with Aoléon, Gilbert, and others celebrating the match at a pizza place. Chapter
Nine of the franchise, book number three continuing its chapter numbering from
prior books instead of standardly resetting it like most written sequels, opens
at Luminon’s Palace in the Martian Megalopolis, itself located in Olympus Mons,
the massive Martian volcano.
Luminon
The ninth chapter of the Aoléon
pantheon opens with a bit of backstory about how the Martian city’s ruling
leaders came to power, with Aoléon and Gilbert paying it a little visit,
alongside which comes more description on the city’s structure. Both sneak into
the palace, with the first illustration within the book depicting Aoléon front
and center in a spacesuit, with Gilbert behind, also in a spacesuit, the two
within a tunnel lined by greenish patterns. Within the passageway, both
encounter the palace’s self-defense system, the following artwork showing
Gilbert trapped within a plasmic aura, although Aoléon seems to be continuing
her ascent.
Gilbert eventually is
free from the shocking device, the two continuing through the tunnel into the
palace ventilation system, eventually getting a glimpse while in hiding of the
Luminon, an especially-tall alien that the book’s third illustration nicely
depicts against the backdrop of the city. After the Luminon interrogates an
insurgent, the book describes a half-alien half-machine being that the
following piece of art illustrates, along with another unusually-tall Martian
yet another artwork displays, with shining skin and armor, Sisyphus being his name. He, the Luminon, and the machine/alien
hybrid, named Cerberus, proceed to discuss how to take care of the forthcoming rebellion,
another piece of art depicting the three characters conversing with a beautiful
view of the Martian cityscape.
Part of the Luminon and
his cronies’ plan involves taking control of Terra, better known as Earth’s,
milk supply, the next illustration depicting a close-up of the Martian leader’s
angry face and the top part of his armor. The chapter ends with Aoléon and
Gilbert phase-jumping away from the palace.
Galactworks
The tenth chapter of the
series opens with Aoléon and Gilbert visiting the Galactworks facility that
produces Mars’ galactmilk supply, produced by bovars, the Martian equivalent of
Earth’s cows, although the section’s first illustration depicts the two on a
plaza with Saturn-shaped structures in the air not to mention a
hexagon-patterned wall and other aliens in the background. Aoléon and Gilbert
task themselves to defend the facility from sabotage, the next piece of art
showing a maintenance bot hovering above the bovars, white animals with turquoise
patterns across their bodies, the beasts grazing upon grass-laden platforms, a
greenish light coming from the mentioned mechanism.
Aoléon and Gilbert pursue
a saboteur through the facility with the help of an alien named Zoot, the next
artwork depicting the being holding onto one of the legs of the vandal. The two
get further help from other nameless aliens, the next illustration depicting
them queued within the gorgeous galact plant. Aoléon’s father Deimos, working
in the factory, rushes to help the two, the following art depicting Aoléon and
Gilbert running from the maintenance bot that in the picture is expelling a
greenish light. The chapter ends with Aoléon and Gilbert going to Martian
school the next day, the former yearning to take her pilot’s exam.
Hollow Moon
Chapter Eleven opens at the
Martian Space Academy, with the time coming for Aoléon’s pilot examination,
part of which the section’s first illustration depicts of a view of the test
vessel in Martian orbit with the sun and several smaller vessels in the
backdrop. Complications, however, arise during the test, with Draconian
warriors taking Aoléon and Gilbert to Martian moon of Phobos, the second
artwork depicting a hangar within the moon containing several floating
cylindrical vessels with smaller ships across them. Following this is a
description of the Draconians, along with an illustration of some of them
accompanying Aoléon and Gilbert, the two then within bluish stasis fields.
The second subsection of
the chapter occurs immediately after the first within the Phobos Moon, the
Draconians transporting the two prisoners to a coliseum where they face off
against a giant monster depicted in the subsection’s first illustration, the
beast having many arms, hands, and eyes. After their encounter with the
creature, known as the Sukr’ath, Draconian guards take them to an interrogation
by the head dragon, Caput Draconis, of the lunar facility, an illustration
depicting his horned head and body and purplish skin, this being also known as
the Ciakar wondering why Aoléon and Gilbert were in the facility’s vicinity.
During his interrogation,
the Ciakar clutches Gilbert by his next, another illustration depicting this
while Aoléon helplessly looks on, with some backstory revealed afterward about
the Draco and the human race. The following artwork depicts Gilbert and Aoléon’s
eventual savior, clad in dark armor with laser claws, the art a paragraph later
revealing who is beneath the suit alongside the text, and the action moving in
a third subsection to the rescuer’s saucer, the chapter ending with a return to
Aoléon’s home.
Gilbert Skyboards
Chapter Twelve opens at
Luminon’s palace, where he discusses with his cronies a forthcoming invasion of
Earth. The primary subsection terminates with an illustration depicting Aoléon and
Gilbert atop a hoverboard with the shining Martian city as a backdrop, the
action in the second subsection taking readers to the Martian Space Academy,
whence they go to the city’s commercial district. Afterward is the subsection’s
first art depicting the primary protagonists atop a yellow, blue-striped
hoverboard with a crowd distantly below them, the two meeting the pioneer of
hoverboards on Mars, Mu-Eri.
Gilbert ultimately
receives a hoverboard of his own, depicted as red with blue oval stripes in the
next piece of art, and he proves to be a natural according to the text. The
illustration immediately afterward shows the two flying closer to one of the
city’s plazas, the civilians seeming not to care about their presence. The two
ultimately find themselves in pursuit by the paladins, the next illustration
depicting one of them firing upon the two with a pair of plasma beams high in
the city. A paragraph later comes the next art where Aoléon has a plasmic
sphere conjured within her right hand while still on her hoverboard.
The visual scene that
follows depicts one of the paladins forced off his vehicle by Aoléon’s conjured
energy sphere, the graphic afterward showing Gilbert making a getaway as those
paladins still aboard their vehicle attempt to fire upon him. The third entry
ends with Aoléon returning home with Gilbert and receiving a bit of a shock,
after which they vanish en route to their next mission.
Conclusion
After the main text is a
glossary describing the various terms used throughout the novella, perfect for
younger readers that don’t quite grasp some of the more advanced vernacular. Then
comes the author’s special thanks to many individuals and groups. Ultimately,
the third book is very enjoyable like its predecessors, with the artwork in
particular definitely enhancing the reader’s experience regardless of their age
group, alongside good descriptive text and dialogue, the indicators before each
chapter’s section of the action’s current location very much helping the book,
which doesn’t really leave much room for improvement, and is highly
recommended.
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