This Thursday, 22nd February sees the re-release of Only You Can Save Mankind which is written by Terry Pratchett, of Discworld fame. Originally published in 1992, this is the first in the Johnny Maxwell series, written for children.
Only You Can Save Mankind is our first encounter with Johnny Maxwell, as is part of a trilogy being re-issued, this time around including illustrations from Mark Beech.
Can you imagine playing a computer game where all is not as it seems. Imagine playing a game of space invaders or the like and suddenly realising that it’s not a game, the aliens are, in fact real and wanting to surrender. This is exactly what happens to our young, unassuming Johnny. Not the most likely hero that you might come across, but a boy, very much like my own eight year old son.
I’ve been reading Only You Can Save Mankind with my son recently and we’ve both been thoroughly entertained, as we’ve followed Johnny on his mission to save the ScreeWee aliens. He discovers that when children are playing the game Only You Can Save Mankind, whilst the players can lose the game and start again, each time one of the ScreeWee aliens is hit, they actually die and disappear. It’s a revelation and certainly got my son talking about what might happen in games.
We follow the story as Johnny has a chance to be a real hero. He can escape from reality, and a home life that is seeing his parents set at odds with each other. Can he save the aliens, and make a difference? Can an ordinary boy achieve something extraordinary?
The book is aimed at children aged 9-11 years, but I’ve enjoyed reading it with my son, as much as he’s enjoyed listening. It’s certainly made us both want to read more of the series and we’re looking forward to the second installment being re-issued in June this year. We can thoroughly recommend adding a copy to your bookcase and I’ve included my Amazon Affiliate link below for your reference.
disclosure: we were sent the item mentioned in exchange for an honest review
I’m thrilled to be able to offer three lucky readers the chance to win a copy of Only You Can Save Mankind for themselves. Complete the Gleam form below for your chance to win. Good luck!
Terms and conditions:
(Please note that all entries will be checked against comments for validation).
Only the first step of this form is mandatory, all other steps are optional. Only one entry per person is allowed.
This giveaway is for UK residents only.
Once a winner is randomly picked, I will check if the winner has done what was requested and I will contact them, if they do not reply within one week, the prize will be allocated to another person.
The giveaway will close on 11th March 2018 at midnight.
Don’t forget to visit my Giveaways page for more great prizes on offer!
Chuckie Egg from my childhood days – who wouldn’t want to be chased by giant chickens!?
medal of honour
I would like Indiana to be live, it would be great fun to meet the real Indiana Jones
Mario Kart because i could drive around really fast and never get injured or hurt anyone else!
Minecraft because it looks fun
I would love to be pacman – looks lots of hungry fun
Sonic the hedgehog, he’s so fast unlike real hedgehogs.
Sonic the hedgehog – especially when he has special defences to overcome any obstacles
oh pacman. i could eat cherries all day xx
Got to be Pacman surely, collecting all that food & gold
Mario Kart because its a fab game x
Lemmings – they just keep coming!
minecraft because i could build my own mansion…dont think the beds would be very cosy though x
Subway surfers, I would love to run through collecting coins and gifts, my 5 year old daughter also loves it xxx
Skylanders because I love all of the funky characters.
Candy crush as there would be sweets everywhere
Super Mario Bros as they can help with any plumbing.
I am not do keen on computers game but I enjoy playing the game of Professor Layton. Will be a detective for the day.
Mario Kart as it would be so much fun to get around
i used to play a caveman game and it was so hard to do it would be nice toknow if it would be easier in real life to complete
I’d love Monkey Island to be real, I always loved the pirates in it!
Minecraft and i would love to Explore Evergreen Villa in real life.
Pokemon! Imagine walking along and a Jiggly Puff jumps out the grass!
Roblox- my son would love that!!!
Formula 1, I know it exists in real life, but not with me behind the steering wheel!
Minecraft! My little boy says he would like it to be real as he can be as creative as he wants in minecraft and it only takes 10 mins to build a fancy house! In real life you would need loads of money and it would take 10 years to build the house that he creates in Minecraft. Good answer from a 9 year old 🙂
I would like the Sims to be real, my kids would love minecraft or roblox to be real
I know my nephew would love for Minecraft to be real. For me, it would be Candy Crush….So many sweets!!!!
Mario Kart because it’d be awesome to do some of those tricks!
I always loved Spyro – dragons are real, aren’t they?!!!!
pacman as i used to love it when i was young and it looks fun
Sims 4 – just to easily change my looks and home style
i’d wish for one of the harry potter video games to be real so we could all immerse ourselves in the world of harry potter.
i asked my five and 8 year old and they both said minecraft lol i dont think they realise you can build in real life too x
Minecraft because the kids built a butlins on it!
Pacman as it would be great fun being him!
Mario, all that jumping for hoops and running around pretty much like life!
The Sims!! Money is far easier there, plus I know the ways to get more
Sonic the hedgehog – would like to meet him and Tails!
old school crash bandicoot!!! would be loads of fun!!
Sim City, no danger for me please !
Mario Kart, although driving on the A1 is a very similar experience these days…
Mario Kart, I’d like to race against Yoshi and Luigi in real life!
probably sims city could be fun
Mario Kart as it would be brilliant
‘The Movies’ game because I could start my own film production studio wherever I want, hire whoever I wanted and live an awesome Hollywood lifestyle anywhere in the world 😛
Either Spyro or Pokemon, would love to play about in those worlds. I suppose Pokemon Go is pretty close. My older son would want Minecraft to be real!x
Minecraft – my kids would love it if it was real!
Mario Kart, because it would be amazing fun!
Mario – I like the idea of their being question mark blocks you can jump at to get gifts!
Dark Souls because dungeons have to be real!!
Minecraft – much easier to get a house of your own that way.
mario – id love to experience the tunnels and dodge the flytray things
minecraft, so I could build my own home with lots of space, then the kids would have their own large room
I’d love to come across a real Pikachu so Pokemon Go for me.
pacman – i would love to be able to go round the streets gobbling up cherries!
Unchartered because the landscape is always absolutely amazing.
I think I’d quite enjoy the insanity of just rolling a ball round collecting stuff like in the Katamari games
Theme park so I could create my own, loved that game
Farmville…how amazing would it be to be able to grow crops and things that quickly in real life!
Sonic the hedgehog I think it would fun to be as fast as him x
Sims as I am a control freak
Oblivion because I would love to be able to go round completing quests and finding treasure!
I’d love for world of Warcraft to be real, so many different characters and things to do, I always get lost in another world when I play ❤️
The Sims I’d have a great laugh at all the dumb people
Lego dimensions so I can visit all the cool Lego worlds.