SATA
ENTRY TYPE:
WORK TITLE: BLITZKRIEG
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.brianfalkner.com/
CITY: Auckland
STATE:
COUNTRY: New Zealand
NATIONALITY: New Zealander
LAST VOLUME: SATA 262
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1962, in Auckland, New Zealand; married; children: two daughters.
EDUCATION:Auckland University, diploma (journalism); attended University of Iowa International Writing Program, 2008.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author. Worked variously as a journalist, advertising copywriter, motorcycle courier, radio announcer, graphic designer, and Internet developer. Writing coach, Write Like an Author writing camps.
AVOCATIONS:Community theatre, photography, rugby, bicycling, travel.
AWARDS:Best Radio Copywriter in New Zealand award, 1988; Esther Glen Award shortlist, 2004, for Henry and the Flea; New Zealand Post Children and Young Adult’s Book Awards shortlist in Junior Fiction category, 2006, for Super Freak; Esther Glen Award shortlist and New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards shortlist in Young-Adult Fiction category, both 2009, both for The Tomorrow Code; New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards in Young-Adult Fiction finalist, 2010, for Brainjack and Young-Adult Children’s Choice selection, 2010, for Brainjack; numerous Storylines Notable Book selections, New Zealand Children’s Literature Charitable Trust; New Zealand Book Children’s Awards, young adult section, for Rampage at Waterloo.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
After working a succession of unusual and sometimes even off-beat jobs in his native New Zealand, Brian Falkner embarked on what would become a successful career writing for preteens. Drawing from his own experiences, Falkner has produced the humorous middle-grade novels The Flea Thing, The Real Thing, and Super Freak as well as turning to science fiction in The Tomorrow Code Brain Jack , and his “Recon Team Angel” series of near-future dystopian adventure.
Falkner began college intending to study computers, but along the way he decided to shift his focus to something more creative. While studying journalism, he worked as a reporter and advertising copywriter. Other jobs helped pay the bills and also expand the first-hand experiences that would enrich his fiction, among them stints as a motorcycle courier, radio announcer, graphic designer, and Internet developer. Published in New Zealand in 2003 as Henry and the Flea and later released as The Flea Thing, Falkner’s debut novel introduces a twelve year old who gains a spot on a professional rugby team due to his surprising talent. In The Real Thing a boy’s talent for identifying soft-drink brands through taste alone comes in handy when the formula for the world’s most popular soft drink goes missing and soda-pop addicts start to panic. A young trouble maker named Jacob is the star of Super Freak, and when he channels a recently revealed superpower into a criminal enterprise he is thwarted when his malicious activities wind up generating positive results.
Falkner’s first novel to reach U.S. readers, The Tomorrow Code is set in his home town of Auckland. Fourteen-year-old Rebecca Richards and her friends, brothers Tane and Fatboy Williams, crack the code of a series of messages written in 1’s and O’s. As they soon realize, however, the messages are their own, written by their future selves as warnings about a looming threat to humanity in the present.
While noting that the scientific basis of Falkner’s story is somewhat “sketchy,” School Library Journal contributor Jane Henriksen Baird added that The Tomorrow Code boasts a “dramatic” story line, an “intriguing” theme, and a “timely” environmental message. A Kirkus Reviews contributor cited the book’s “tautly constructed plot” and concluded that in The Tomorrow Code Falkner shares an “exciting and thought-provoking” sci-fi tale that “will raise awareness of serious issues as it entertains.” Hinting at the possibility of a sequel, John Peters wrote in Booklist that the author’s novel “features an open ending that will leave readers waiting with fingers crossed.”
Falkner continues to explore the possibilities and setbacks of a near-future Earth in Brain Jack, this time dealing with the computer-mind interface. Sam Wilson is a hacker whose talents lead him to a job with Homeland Security rather than jail. Working for the government, he becomes aware of the frightening potential for manipulating others through the popular neuro-headsets, which implant memories in the wearer’s brain. Together with friends Dodge and Vienna, Sam works to find a way to thwart an over-reaching government agency from brainwashing the nation’s population. Noting Falkner’s use of “hacker-speak and tech-talk” in Brain Jack, Erin Wyatt added in her review for Voice of Youth Advocates that the novel “raises many thought-provoking questions about the future of technology.” “The hacking scenes are relentlessly paced,” noted Booklist contributor Ian Chipman, while a Kirkus Reviews writer described Brain Jack as “a cyber-thriller that reads like a video game.”
In The Project fifteen year olds Tommy and Luke are not looking forward to summer, when the biggest event in their Iowa home town might be seasonal flooding. When they discover a book that seems unusually old, the discovery does not inspire much excitement until they realize that the book—titled Leonardo’s River and featuring illustrations by Leonardo da Vinci—is very rare and worth millions of dollars. When a collector of rare books arrives in town and seems unusually determined to acquire the volume, the teens realize that something is not right, especially when they learn that he plans to harness the book’s power to turn back the clock and help the Nazis achieve victory during World War II.
Praising The Project as “a fast-paced story filled with twists and turns,” Bethany Martin added in Voice of Youth Advocates that Falkner’s mix of time-travel and thriller will appeal to “conspiracy theorists and alternate history fans.” The Project “melds humor, danger, and history,” noted a Publishers Weekly writer, the critic dubbing the novel “an entertaining mystery with plenty of enjoyable twists and turns.” “Hard to put down,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer, The Project also benefits from “engaging and well-drawn characters, plenty of action and nice side helpings of history.”
The first installment in Falkner’s “Recon Team Angel” series, The Assault transports readers to the Australian outback circa 2030, as invading aliens called the Bzadians set up one of their many camps around the globe from where they plan to rule Earth. Drawn from among those humans surviving in the Free Territories, six teenagers are dropped by aircraft near one of these camps, scientists are hopeful that their short stature and surgical enhancements have made them undetectible so that they can take steps to undermine the invasion. Their adventures continue in Task Force, as the efforts of humans to reclaim their planet seem to be ineffectual. As both sides race to solidify their positions before winter weather makes some maneuvers impossible, the team returns to Australia to take out the aliens’ power grid.
Praised by Amy Fiske in Voice of Youth Advocates as “a fast-paced, action-filled war story,” The Assault serves up a “quick read” designed to hook “reluctant readers and fans of action and science fiction,” according to the critic. Fueled by a high-energy third-person narration, Falkner’s novel “effectively employs the tropes of both survival and war stories to great effect,” according to a Kirkus Reviews writer, while Jane Henriksen noted in School Library Journal that the first “Recon Team Angel” novel “has the feel of an early [Robert] Heinlein work.” “The action never stops,” asserted another Kirkus Reviews writer, the critic citing Falkner’s sequel Task Force as “a rapid-paced tale that doesn’t hesitate to deal with the realities of a war of survival.”
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With his children’s novel, Northwood, illustrated by Donovan Bixley, Falkner introduces readers to young Cecilia Undergarment, who enjoys a good challenge. When she comes across a sad and lonely dog, she determines to rescue him, but in doing so she starts a series of events that sends her deep into the dark forest of Northwood, where strange animals roam. No one has ever been able to escape the forest, but as Cecilia meets more and more of the forest inhabitants, she sets her mind and will to freeing them all from the evil King Harry. Writing in Booklist, Tiffany Erickson felt this novel contains “just the right combination of witty dialogue and daring action, plus an unlikely heroine.”
In Maddy West and the Tongue Taker, also illustrated by Bixley, Falkner focuses on nine-yea0ld Maddy, who has the amazing ability to read and speak any language. She travels to Bulgaria in order to translate some ancient documents only to be kidnapped by a mad professor who wants to take over the world using the secret powers unlocked in the ancient scrolls. But Maddy is not without friends and helpers, including Kazuki, who trains as a ninja, and others who help her foil the plans of the of the witch-like professor. “This is a better than average fantasy adventure,” noted Gretchen Crowley in a School Library Journal review. A Kirkus Reviews contributor also had praise, concluding, “On balance, warm and magical.”
Falkner serves up an alternate history adventure in his “Battlesaurus” duology, which launched with Rampage at Waterloo. It is the early nineteenth century and Napoleon has escaped from exile and hopes to return to Europe and victory. But fifteen-year-old Willem, the son of a well-known magician, has other ideas. The alternate history includes a world that is still inhabited by dinosaurs, most of which are small and no great danger to humans. But Willem soon discovers that giant saurs still exists. In fact, he manages to destroy one with his magic powers. Now Napoleon has enlisted an army of large and rapacious dinos to use against the British and it is up to Willem to stop this from happening. Writing in Booklist, Donna Scanlon noted that this novel “quickly ramps up to suspense, immersing the reader in the swiftly moving plot.”
In Clash of Empires, the second book in the series, Napoleon, victorious at Waterloo, now plans to invade England with his dinosaurs, and the only thing standing against him is a small band of dinosaur fighters led by Willem. Writing in Voice of Youth Advocates, Bonnie Kunzel felt that the “dinosaur battles are terrific and should appeal to teen readers with a penchant for action and suspense.”
In his 2023 novel, Blitzkrieg, Falkner offers an “immersive, high-stakes WWII spy novel,” according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer. The novel features Joseph “Katipo” St. George, a 12-year-old who is the child of diplomats. Joe’s British father is taken prisoner by the Gestapo in Berlin in 1938, and Joe’s New Zealander mother arranges her own and Joe’s escape from Germany. Joe is sent to New Zealand for safety, but manages to get to England by 1941, more curious than ever about his mother’s secret activities, suspecting that she is a spy. In London he lives alongside other children made homeless by the Blitz and begins to engage in spy operations of his own. The Publishers Weekly reviewer further noted that this “historically grounded novel of intrigue” plays out alongside “familial and personal change.” A Kirkus Reviews critic added further praise, calling this novel “[s]mart, satisfying, and leaving room for a sequel.”
In a Walker Books Classroom online interview, Falkner commented on the themes he explores in his books: “Courage is a theme; friendship is a bigger theme you’ll find if you scan through my books. You’ll see that friendship is probably the most predominant theme that I write about although courage is probably the second.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, September 15, 2008, John Peters, review of The Tomorrow Code, p. 49; October 1, 2010, Ian Chipman, review of Brainjack, p. 82; July 1, 2014, Tiffany Erickson, review of Northwood, p. 75; June 1, 2015, Donna Scanlon, review of Rampage at Waterloo, p. 95.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, September, 2010, Claire Gross, review of Brain Jack, p. 15; October, 2011, April Spisak, review of The Project.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2008, review of The Tomorrow Code; August 1, 2010, review of Brain Jack; July 1, 2011, review of The Project; August 1, 2012, review of The Assault; September 1, 2013, review of Task Force; August 1, 2013, review of Mady West and the Tongue Taker; September 1, 2013, review of Task Force; April 1, 2015, review of Rampage at Waterloo; December 1, 2022, review of Blitzkrieg.
Publishers Weekly, July 11, 2011, review of The Project, p. 58; December 5, 2022, review of Blitzkrieg, p. 128.
School Library Journal, February, 2009, Jane Henriksen, review of The Tomorrow Code, p. 98; December, 2010, Kristin Anderson, review of Brain Jack, p. 112; September, 2011, Emma Burkhart, review of The Project, p. 152; January, 2013, Jane Henriksen, review of The Assault, p. 106; July, 2014, Gretchen Crowley, reviuew of Maddy West and the Tongue Taker, p. 84.
Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 2010, Erin Wyatt, review of Brain Jack, p. 468; December, 2011, Bethany Martin, review of The Project, p. 510; October, 2012, Amy Fiske, review of The Assault, p. 376; October, 2016, Bonnie Kunzel, review of Clash of Empires, p. 75.
ONLINE
Brian Falkner website, http://www.brianfalkner.com (May 23, 2023).
Compulsive Reader, https://compulsivereader.com/ (september 28, 2017), “Interview with Brian Falkner.”
Read NZ, https://www.read-nz.org/ (May 23, 2023), author profile.
Speakers Ink, https://www.speakers-ink.com.au/ (May 23, 2023), author profile.
Storylines Web site, http://www.storylines.org.nz/ (October 15, 2013), “Brian Falkner.”*
Stuff, https://www.stuff.co.nz/ (May 30, 2021), “What I’m Reading: Brian Falkner.”
Walker Books Classroom, https://classroom.walkerbooks.com.au/ (October 6, 2014), author interview.
Brian Falkner
New Zealand (b.1962)
Brian Falkner was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand. He has worked as a radio journalist, radio announcer, graphic designer and internet developer. He has also written several novels for children, including The Real Thing, The Flea Thing and The Super Freak, all of which are set in Glenfield High School. He lives on the North Shore of Auckland.
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy
New Books
February 2023
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Andromeda Bond in Trouble Deep
(Brain Jack, book 2)
Series
Brain Jack
1. Brain Jack (2010)
2. Andromeda Bond in Trouble Deep (2023)
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Recon Team Angel
1. The Assault (2011)
2. Task Force (2012)
3. Ice War (2013)
4. Vengeance (2014)
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Pachacuta
1. Cave Dogs (2012)
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Battlesaurus
1. Rampage at Waterloo (2015)
2. Invasion England (2016)
3. Clash of Empires (2017)
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Katipo Joe
1. Blitzkrieg (2020)
2. Spycraft (2021)
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Novels
The Real Thing (2004)
The Flea Thing (2008)
The Super Freak (2008)
The Tomorrow Code (2008)
The Project (2011)
aka The Most Boring Book in the World
Northwood (2013)
Maddy West and the Tongue Taker (2014)
Cassie Clark: Outlaw (2018)
Collections
That Stubborn Seed of Hope (2017)
Unable to open bio.
Brian is an award-winning international author and writing coach. He is a highly sought-after speaker in schools around Australia, the US and New Zealand. His infectious enthusiasm, humour and energy make every appearance a popular and memorable one. He is the author of more than twenty novels for children and young adults, published in fifteen countries in seven languages.
His most recent YA novel is Katipo Joe - Wolf's Lair - the epic conclusion to the Katipo Joe trilogy. Inspired by true events, Katipo Joe is a story of incredible heroism, unlikely friendships and unbearable tragedy, set against the backdrop of World War II. Joe has now penetrated the very heart of the Nazi spiderweb, spying on Adolf Hitler and his cronies as the Second World War gains momentum and Germany begins its crucial invasion of the Soviet Union. But British Intelligence wants Hitler dead. Joe must use all his skills and put not only his own life at risk, but the lives of the people he most cares about.
What I'm Reading: Brian Falkner
05:00, May 30 2021
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Brian Falkner is a prolific author of New Zealand-set books for young people.
SUPPLIED
Brian Falkner is a prolific author of New Zealand-set books for young people.
OPINION: The book I am currently reading is Jasper Jones, an Australian classic by Craig Silvey. In truth I just finished it, but I turned right around and started again from the beginning. I do that sometimes with books I really admire. It is part of being a writer, I guess. I read the book once as a reader, and a second time as a writer, admiring the craft, the dialogue, the character development and the structure. You miss that stuff the first time through because you are too engrossed in the story, and that is the way it should be.
It’s a fascinating story about a young man in a remote Australian town who is asked by the town’s outcast, Jasper Jones, a kind of Huckleberry Finn character, to help conceal the death of the daughter of the shire president. Just stunning, on every level, in parts shocking, terrifying and hilarious. And the writing! Such beautiful use of the English language.
Prior to Jasper Jones I was reading another Australian novel, recently made into a film, The Dry, by Jane Harper. Jane is another author, like Silvey, who manages to make the Australian countryside a character in the story, which is a riveting murder mystery with characters so real they just about jump out of the book at you.
And my third book is not a novel but a picture book, Oswald Messweather, written by Dimity Powell who seems to have the ability to touch on subjects that in other hands would seem worthy or didactic, and to make them heartbreakingly real and emotional, in a way that is accessible to both children and adults. It is beautifully illustrated by Siobhan McVey.
Brian Falkner is the author of 20 books for junior readers and young adults and a two-time Young Adult category winner in the New Zealand Children’s Book Awards. Raised in Auckland, he lives in Australia. His most recent novel, Katipo Joe: Spycraft, is out now.
Falkner, Brian
Falkner, Brian
INFORMATION
RESIDENCE
Australia
WEBSITE
https://www.brianfalkner.com/
IN BRIEF
Born and raised in Auckland, Brian Falkner is a children's book author and sought-after writing coach. The author of more than thirteen novels for children and young adults, Falkner's first book was Henry and the Flea (2003), the first of many to receive critical praise. Falkner’s 2005 novel Super Freak was nominated in the Junior Fiction category of the 2006 New Zealand Post Book Awards. The Tomorrow Code (2008) was nominated in the Young Adult Fiction category of the 2009 New Zealand Post Book Awards, and the 2009 LIANZA Children's Book Awards. Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo (2015) was shortlisted for the 2016 NSW Premier's Awards, and won the Young Adult Fiction category of the 2016 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Falkner (1962 –) is a children’s book author and writing coach. Falkner was born and raised in Auckland. Professionally, he has worked as a radio journalist, radio copywriter, computer consultant and as a graphic designer. As a writing coach, he tours schools as a sought-after speaker in Australia, New Zealand and the US, and holds 'Write Like an Author' workshops and camps to inspire budding writers.
Writing about Falkner’s first book, Henry and the Flea (2003), Claire Buckley says, ‘I wasn’t just pleasantly surprised, I was quite blown away, for a first novel for children … the author really tapped into the way children think and their perspective on the world.’ Doris Mousdale on Newstalk ZB called the novel ‘a spiffing read. Fun for adults to read without being condescending to serious young readers.’ In a review on the Radio New Zealand National Programme, Kate De Goldi said 'I think the really good thing about the book is its incredibly persuasive writing, he's a sharp, varied, quite nuanced writer.' The work was listed as a Storylines Notable Junior Fiction Book.
When the three people in the entire world who know the secret formula for Coca-Cola are kidnapped, the giant American corporation is in deep trouble. But the kidnappers didn't count on the extraordinary abilities of a boy from Auckland, New Zealand. The Real Thing (2004) is another action-packed story, listed as a 2005 Storylines Notable Junior Fiction Book.
Super Freak (Mallinson Rendel) was published in 2005. It is a funny and intriguing read for 8 to 14-year-olds about a boy whose amazing superpower means that he must decide whether he will be a superhero or a supervillain. Super Freak was nominated in the junior fiction category for the 2006 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and was listed as a 2006 Storylines Notable Junior Fiction Book.
The Tomorrow Code was published in the US and Canada by Random House in October 2008. Called 'Exciting and thought-provoking' by a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews, it was nominated in the Young Adult section of the 2009 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. It was also listed as a 2009 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book and was nominated for the 2009 LIANZA Russell Clark Award.
Brainjack (Walker Books, 2009) is set in a world where technological advances mean you no longer need anything except your brain to use your computer. Teenage hacker Sam Wilson finds out the hard way that this isn't necessarily a good thing... Called 'Fascinating and enjoyable' in the Australian Bookseller + Publisher magazine, it will be published in the US and Canada by Random House in 2010.
Brainjack was listed as a 2010 Storylines Notable Young Adult Fiction Book. It is also a finalist in the young adult fiction category for the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The winner will be announced in May.
Falkner’s next novel The Project (Random House NZ, 2011) was reviewed in the School Library Journal: '[The Project] reads like an action movie, with plenty of chases, explosions, and by-a-hair escapes.' Publishers Weekly wrote of the novel, 'Falkner delivers a thriller that melds humour, danger, and history. . . . The result is an entertaining mystery with plenty of enjoyable twists and turns.'
The Assault (Recon Team Angel #1) was published in 2012 by Random House NZ. Kirkus Reviews said 'Falkner supplies a tight story that features a strong plot and believable characters. . . . [He] effectively employs the tropes of both survival and war stories to great effect. While an entirely satisfying read on its own, readers can only hope there is a second installment in the works.'
Falkner wrote Maddy West and the Tongue Taker (Walker Books Australia, 2012), illustrated by Donovan Bixley. Bixley also illustrated Falkner's Northwood (Walker Books, 2013).
The second book in the 'Recon' series, Task Force (Recon Team Angel #2), was published in 2013 by Random House NZ.
Vengeance (Walker Books Australia, 2014) was closely followed by the publication of Ice War (Recon Team Angel #3), released in 2014 by Random House NZ.
In August 2015, Falkner’s novel Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo was released. The young adult novel reimagines the Napoleonic era by dotting the battlefield at Waterloo with carnivorous dinosaurs - a history that only 15-year-old Willem Verheyen can put to rights. Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo was shortlisted for the 2016 NSW Premier's Awards, and won the Young Adult Fiction category of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
The novel’s sequel Battlesaurus: Clash of Empires, was released in July 2016.
Also in 2016, his novel Shooting Stars was published by Scholastic. It was a finalist in the 2017 Children's Book Awards.
In 2018, OneTree House published Falkner's Cassie Clark: Outlaw. Writing for Wardini Books, Gareth Ward describes it as an "adrenaline fuelled, kick ass roller coaster of a YA novel. Cassie Clark is indeed an Outlaw - set in the U.S. it's a novel of intrigue, conspiracy theories and reinvention with a cracking pace and plenty of action." Cassie Clark: Outlaw was shortlisted for the 2019 Ngaio Marsh Award.
Katipo Joe: Blitzkrieg, a historical YA novel ('fiction inspired by true events') was published by Scholastic in 2020. Young Joe is living in pre-World War II Berlin, with his British father and New Zealand mother, attending school and witnessing the excitement of his friends who are enthusiastically joining the Hitler Youth Movement. Writing for The School Library, Angela Thompson writes "I actually think (and only my opinion) but this may be the best book written by Brian Falkner. It is action-packed, with stunning language that puts you right in the middle of the action – I literally could not put this book down."
Falkner followed this with two other titles about Joe, Katipo Joe: Spycraft and Katipo Joe: Wolf's Lair. The latter is a finalist in the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Falkner currently lives in Queensland, Australia.
WRITERS IN SCHOOLS INFORMATION
Brian Falkner lives on the Gold Coast of Australia, and regularly returns to New Zealand. He participates in Read NZ Te Pou Muramura's Writers in Schoolsprogramme at select times. We recommend you email us for further information. He is happy to speak to students aged 5-18 years and can take sessions with 20-200 students, with a maximum of 300 students. Falkner can speak about writing teen fiction and being a screenwriter/playwright.
Brian also has two special sessions he can do as part of a visit: 1) A 90-minute talk with a bigger group of students about his writing. Brian runs either a Taste Test or a Freak Out competition as part of this session, which are linked to his books The Real Thing and Super Freak. 2) A 60-minute-long workshop with a smaller group of keen writers who have already attended the talk. Brian is happy to give his prepared talk once or twice in a morning session, and once in an afternoon session. Workshops can be of any duration and slotted in to suit. Find out more about how Brian runs these sessions on his website.
Brian Falkner
Back
Brian is the founder and developer of Write Like an Author. He is the award winning author of twenty novels and one anthology of short stories for young people.
Prior to becoming a children's author, Brian trained as a journalist and then worked as a reporter and an advertising copywriter, a radio announcer and an internet developer. His hobbies include scuba-diving, travel, amateur theatre, photography and rugby.
He lives on the sunny Gold Coast of Australia and regularly presents Write Like an Author camps in Australia, New Zealand and the US.
Website: www.brianfalkner.com
QUOTE: “Courage is a theme; friendship is a bigger theme you’ll find if you scan through my books. You’ll see that friendship is probably the most predominant theme that I write about although courage is probably the second.”
Interview: Brian Falkner
on OCTOBER 6, 2014
in BLOG
Brian FalknerHow would you describe your books to kids who have never heard of them before?
Well things like Maddy West and the Tongue Taker and Northwood are books for younger readers. I like to write books that have a main character that has something special about them, something they can do that’s hopefully a little unusual or just not you know your normal kind of super hero super traits. Like with Maddy West for example she can speak every language in the world. I think that would be a fascinating thing to be able to do and to have a character that can immediately talk any language as soon as she hears it spoken is a really interesting, well I think it is a really interesting power. A character that has a special power like that and then put them in a situation where that special power at some point is going to be essential in order to get them out of a sticky situation. So the books are a little bit fantastical in that sense but I also like to write them in a way that seems quite real so that the environment that they live in seems like a real environment that kids can identify with and might have some relationship with their own environment. Also talking about books like Super Freak and The Real Thing which were written around my environment at school so it’s the area where I grew up and the schools that I knew even if they got renamed slightly, so I made it real by writing about things that I remembered from being that age.
What do you think kids respond to best in your books?
A really good strong character like Maddy is the initial thing that kids respond to. There has to be some kind of danger I do think that’s what keeps kids reading is that the main character is in some kind of trouble and they’re working and not always succeeding very well at getting themselves out of it and it creates suspense in the story and gives the opportunity for some action sequences that can be quite exciting. I do like to have my books as being adventures where as (umm you know) they’re not dramas. They are adventure stories in a slightly fantastical world.
What did you read when you were at school?
Maddy West and the Tongue Taker
I read everything; I was a voracious reader when I was at school and not only from the school but also the local public library. My family had a thing, we went there every Friday, take back the books from the previous week and borrow new books so I’d read everything so I’d read everything in the public library by the time I was about 11. I’d moved on from children’s books and was reading adult books by that stage. As a younger reader I loved the Enid Blyton books starting with the Secret Seven moving onto the Famous Five series of books, basically anything by Enid Blyton. I moved onto an author named Willard Price who wrote adventure books, they always had names like African Adventure or South Pacific Adventure and for the age that I was, they were wonderful books. I then moved onto, by the age of about eleven, adult novels and I liked adventure thrillers there as well, Alistair Maclean and Desmond Bagley were the sorts of authors I read at that age. I then moved into a science fiction phase where I wouldn’t read anything other than science fiction from about the age of about 13 – 18. The big obvious authors there like and Asimov and Auther C. Clarke and all the others, so I went through different genres but all of what I read now comes out in what I write. Elements of Enid Blyton are in my books, there’s certainly a lot of Alistair Maclean particularly in a book like Assault which references one of his books and the science fiction comes through in most of my adult work.
Do you think as a kid you would have read the books that you write now?
Definitely, I write books for me to read. No question. Books that I would want to read and would have wanted to read at the age that they are set, or aimed at. I am the reader that I am writing for when I’m writing the book, absolutely.
You do a lot of school visits, what do you like about them? What do you get out of them?
NorthwoodThe thing about going to schools is the interaction with the audience as an author you sit in a dark room, your only interaction is with a keyboard except of course what’s going on in your mind in your imagination all sorts of things are happening but with the actual physical reaction well there’s none, you’re quite isolated. When you get into a school you meet your audience and it’s like being an actor on a stage. An actor in a play delivers a funny line and the audience laugh, well in a book when you’re writing it, you write a funny line and nobody laughs.
You have to wait months to find out if the line worked…
Exactly and even then, they laugh and you don’t hear it. But when you go into a school you can read out the funny line and hear the laughter and there’s that instant gratification of the feedback from the audience and it puts you in the situation of being the actor on the stage with the audience there in front of you responding to what you’re saying. That’s what I love about visiting schools. I don’t think I could be a writer and not visit the schools and not get that reaction from the kids.
Courage is a recurring theme through your books. Do you ever set out to write about themes or do they just happen organically?
No, they happen organically. Courage is a theme; friendship is a bigger theme you’ll find if you scan through my books. You’ll see that friendship is probably the most predominant theme that I write about although courage is probably the second, what I’d consider, if I go and analyze my own work, the second most important theme that does come through. It’s not courage from the extent of ‘hey I’m brave’ it’s from the point of view of ‘hey I’m not brave but there’s something that must be done and I’m going to go and do it anyway’. So it’s kind of like finding courage where there isn’t courage and that’s a really important theme that you’ll find often in these books. But courage and friendship and what friendship actually means, particularly at this age are really important themes to me and its not that I set out to write to that theme it’s that it’s in my mind when I write. Sometimes when I’m editing a book I’ll go back and look and think, I can bring that out more strongly by having this happen and so I’ll work on it and often… a good technique that writers use is to have a minor character state the theme so that it goes from being unobvious to an obvious theme of the book to have a minor character who states it out loud and so I’ll often have that, particularly in the Recon books, minor characters will often state the theme.
How often do you plan your stories before you write them?Recon Team Angel 3: Ice War
I plan them minutely, I’ll have all the chapters written out, a brief description of what’s going to happen in each chapter, what the important relationships are, what conflicts will appear in the chapter how it effects the other chapters in the story, how it take s us to the end of the story and I’ll do that for all the chapters and all the characters of the story before I start and then as soon as I start most of it gets thrown out the window well not most of it but a lot of it gets thrown out the window because as you get into the book it changes organically and what you thought you were writing isn’t always what you are writing but it does give me a structure to work to and I always do it before I start a book. There are two exceptions, The Real Thing and Northwood both of them I wrote without a plan, I started at page one and just decided to see what happened and so they were created completely organically and I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was a couple of chapters ahead of the reader in knowing what was going to happen in those books.
Which do you find more enjoyable? Planning or letting it happen?
Letting it happen is more enjoyable if it works. When it doesn’t work, when you’re half way through and its not happening. I’ve actually had a book that I wrote and I was 90% of the way though and it really wasn’t going where I wanted it to go and I stopped and reread it and threw the manuscript in a drawer and I never finished it. I actually sent it to my agent and asked them to pass it onto a publisher and then I rang the agent and said don’t, don’t pass it on I don’t want it going anywhere and I thought maybe in the future I’d go back to it and maybe see if I could make it work; but of course you’ve always got new projects on so I’ve never ever gone back to it.
Interview with Brian Falkner
September 28, 2017
Why writing? When did you first know that writing was going to be your calling?
The Why is always the big question, isn’t it? In short, I don’t know. Why does an egg want to become a chicken? I guess it’s just in the DNA. At primary school I loved reading and I loved writing stories. At college I was writing short stories and attempting to write novels, all the time reading voraciously. I guess at some stage of my schooling it occurred to me that this was going to be my calling, but I never truly believed it until my first novel (The Flea Thing) was published back in 2003.
What drew you to the medium of short stories?
I write what I feel compelled to write. A story wriggles its way into my brain and the only way of setting it free (setting me free?) is to write it. It could be a novel, a series, or a short story. So along the path of my novel writing I have also been writing and storing away short stories. It was last year that I wrote one more and decided I had enough for a collection. What were the odds of finding a publisher brave enough to publish it? (Short story collections can be problematic to sell). But along came the amazing people at UQP and the rest is history.
Fear and hope, what compelled you to explore these topics?
Something deep within my psyche, I guess. Because of the way in which these were written, piecemeal over a long period of time, there was no real plan, no compulsion to explore. It was only when I gathered them all together for the collection that I realised that they all seemed to be about fear, and at that stage I wrote another couple of stories (the ideas for which had been kicking around for a long time) that also reflected the theme. Then I took a longer, deeper look and realised that they weren’t really about fear at all. They were about the flipside of fear: hope.
Belonging and inclusion are also themes that runs through That Stubborn Seed of Hope: Stories, can you explain the importance of this?
All stories are pieces of the author set adrift. I think somebody said that. (If not, it was me.) So I think it is easy to infer that belonging and inclusion, and the opposites, have been important aspects of my own life. I know what it is like to be an outsider, looking in, wishing to be part of the inner circle. So I guess these pieces of me have been set adrift over the years that it took to write the stories
What do you hope your readers will take away from the stories you deliver in That Stubborn Seed of Hope: Stories?
That the darkest cloud has a silver lining. That the darkest hour comes just before the dawn. That if you’re going through hell, keep going! These and a thousand other aphorisms. That no matter what, there is always hope.
QUOTE: “On balance, warm and magical.”
Falkner, Brian MADDY WEST AND THE TONGUE TAKER Capstone Young Readers (Children's Fiction) $12.95 9, 1 ISBN: 978-1-62370-084-3
As a "talker of tongues," 9-year-old Maddy West has the astonishing and enviable ability to speak and read any language. While most people are simply amazed by her ability, there are those who would like to exploit her talent. When professor Coateloch, a linguist, asks Maddy to translate ancient scrolls in an island monastery on the Black Sea, her parents see dollar signs rather than danger signs. Maddy soon finds that the professor's interest in her ability is far from academic. Thankfully, Maddy is as adept at making friends as she is at communicating. Along with her ninjalike neighbor, Kazuki, Maddy gains the help of Bulgarian wrestler Dimitar the Giant and his crafty monkey, Mr. Chester. And Maddy will need all the help she can get if she is going to defeat the professor (aka the Chocolate Witch) and thwart her plans for world domination. While Maddy's magical ability is impressive, she really shines in her normal human moments of compassion, forgiveness and acceptance. A river of cockroaches, a wild car ride and age-appropriate humor all come together in this magical adventure. Unfortunately, the rushed ending fails to address some of the deeper emotional issues. On balance, warm and magical. (Fantasy. 8-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Falkner, Brian: MADDY WEST AND THE TONGUE TAKER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2014. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A376818220/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=07d890f8. Accessed 18 May 2023.
QUOTE: “This is a better than average fantasy adventure,”
FALKNER, Brian. Maddy West and the Tongue Taker, illus. by Donovan Bixley. 256p. Capstone. Oct. 2014. Tr $12.95. ISBN 9781623700843.
Gr 3-7--Nine-and-a-half-year-old Maddy West can understand and speak any language she hears. Somebody wants that talent enough to kidnap her. That was how Maddy found herself sitting on rotten steps, in a locked basement in a creepy old house in Bulgaria, wondering how to escape. She had traveled to Bulgaria with Professor Coateloch to help translate some ancient documents. It turns out the documents are evil spells and the professor a witch who wants to take over the world. Maddy and her faithful friend Kazuki, a ninja-in-training, join forces with Mr. Chestnut the monkey and his owner Dimitar, to foil the evil witch's plans. Maddy's travels without her parents require suspension of disbelief, as does the witch's plan for taking over the world, but the story moves quickly. Maddy and Kazuki are authentic enough, and though the magic is stereotyped and a bit heavy handed at the end, it is well placed to cause shivers of fear and delight. This is a better than average fantasy adventure that will appeal to fans of Tony Abbot and Geronimo Stilton.--Gretchen Crowley, Alexandria City Public Libraries, VA
Crowley, Gretchen
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Crowley, Gretchen. "Falkner, Brian. Maddy West and the Tongue Taker." School Library Journal, vol. 60, no. 7, July 2014, p. 84. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A373035022/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=848300ae. Accessed 18 May 2023.
Falkner, Brian TASK FORCE Random House (Children's Fiction) $17.99 9, 24 ISBN: 978-0-449-81299-0
Recon Team Angel, a group of teens trained for espionage and surgically altered to resemble the invader alien race (The Assault, 2012), are back for their next mission-going deep into alien territory. The Great Bzadian War is well under way, and the humans are losing. It will be only a matter of months before the Bering Strait freezes over sufficiently to allow the aliens to transport their heavy equipment over from Russia to invade the last bastion of freedom, the United States. In a last-ditch effort to delay the attack they know is coming, the Allied Combined Operations Group has deployed the titular task force deep into Bzadian territory (formerly Australia) to take out the factory that produces the power cells that keep the alien forces moving, hopefully buying time for the humans to launch their own attack and build up defenses. Lt. Ryan "Lucky" Chisnall must once again take his team deep into enemy territory, risking his and their lives to save the human race from extinction. Short sentences, clipped dialogue and a bounty of initialisms and technical language make this a winner for kids who love military-style adventures. The clear battle lines drawn between humans and Bzadians facilitate easy, total immersion. The action never stops, keeping readers engrossed in a rapid-paced tale that doesn't hesitate to deal with the realities of a war of survival. (Science fiction. 12 & up)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Falkner, Brian: TASK FORCE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2013. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A341243737/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=152f4d1d. Accessed 18 May 2023.
QUOTE: “just the right combination of witty dialogue and daring action, plus an unlikely heroine.”
Northwood. By Brian Falkner. Illus. by Donovan Bixley. 2014.272p. Stone Arch, paper, $8.95 (9781434286666); lib. ed., $26.60 (9781434286673). Gr. 4-7.
Cecilia Undergarment has an unusual name and an even more unusual home, which is shaped like a giant bunch of balloons. After she angers her neighbor by rescuing his dog, he uses a bulldozer to attack her home, and the attic unbelievably takes flight. She flies over the town and settles in Northwood Forest, where the black trees are dense and the black lions are ferocious. No one has ever escaped the forest, but once Cecilia meets its inhabitants, she is determined to free them from King Harry, who seems much more vile than he claims. And if there is one thing Cecilia can do, it's make a plan. This stand-alone novel contains just the right combination of witty dialogue and daring action, plus an unlikely heroine, that will keep readers coming back. The ending is satisfying, so readers will not be left frustrated by a wide-open plot. Readers who like the tone of Maryrose Wood's The Unseen Guest (2012) but want a little more closure will love Northwood.--Tiffany Erickson
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2014 American Library Association
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Erickson, Tiffany. "Northwood." Booklist, vol. 110, no. 21, 1 July 2014, p. 75. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A376932761/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b77b969f. Accessed 18 May 2023.
Falkner, Brian RAMPAGE AT WATERLOO Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Children's Fiction) $17.99 7, 14 ISBN: 978-0-374-30075-3
Falkner gives Napoleon a toothy secret weapon in this decidedly alternate history.It seems that Europe's surviving saurs are, with but rare exceptions, small and harmless. Not so the ravening monsters still extant in the mysterious Amerigo Islands across the sea--a circumstance that Bonaparte exploits upon his return from exile with a corps of dino-mounted cavalry that makes all the difference at Waterloo. Rather than exploit the melodramatic possibilities of this premise, though, the author chooses to bury them in a slowly developing adventure centering on Willem, a Flemish lad with a yen to be a stage magician like his vanished father and a knack for hypnotizing the local reptiles that also, it turns out, works on Napoleon's beasts. The whole battle itself is confined to two localized scenes. Falkner cranks up the pace in the late going while adding such juicy bits as a hunt for a ring through piles of severed limbs and a climactic chase through Antwerp's rousingly feculent sewers. Unfortunately, readers will first have to wade through eye-glazing accounts of Willem's earlier years, changing relationships with neighbors and friends, and the patterns of Walloon village life with only occasional glimpses of a larger picture. The episode ends with Willem escaping to England beneath the triumphant Napoleon's very nose in hopes that his secret can turn the tide. A long slog to the good parts. Naomi Novik's Temeraire series for adults offers a similar premise (with dragons rather than dinos) and quicker rewards. (Historical fantasy. 12-14)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Falkner, Brian: RAMPAGE AT WATERLOO." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2015. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A407413281/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=eaed161f. Accessed 18 May 2023.
QUOTE: “quickly ramps up to suspense, immersing the reader in the swiftly moving plot.”
Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo. By Brian Falkner.
July 2015. 368p. Farrar, $17.99 (9780374300753). Gr. 9-12.
This alternative history asks, what if Napoleon won the battle at Waterloo--with dinosaurs? In 15-year-old Willem's world, dinosaurs, called saurs, roam the forest near his village. Many of them are small and harmless, although others, such as the firebird, are lethal. The son of an illusionist who fled Napoleon's court, Willem shares his father's flair for stage magic and the ability to hypnotize saurs. When his village is attacked by an enormous saur, one never seen before, Willem uses his talent to help destroy the beast. Then the villagers learn that Bonaparte has escaped from Elba and is aiming to retake his army, using gigantic saurs. Willem embarks on a desperate and dangerous journey to help the British oppose the erstwhile emperor. The leisurely pace of the beginning of the novel quickly ramps up to suspense, immersing the reader in the swiftly moving plot. Characters are very well drawn, capturing the reader's sympathy. With an ending wide open for a sequel, complete with a plot-thickening cliffhanger, one can only hope that Falkner is a speedy writer.--Donna Scanlon
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2015 American Library Association
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Scanlon, Donna. "Battlesaurus: Rampage at Waterloo." Booklist, vol. 111, no. 19-20, 1 June 2015, p. 95. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A421080397/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f622eb77. Accessed 18 May 2023.
QUOTE: “dinosaur battles are terrific and should appeal to teen readers with a penchant for action and suspense.”
Falkner, Brian. Clash of Empires: Battlesaurus, Book 2. Farrar Straus Giroux/ Macmillan, 2016. 352p. $17.99. 978-0-374-30077-7.
Falkner's alternate history adventure, set in the wake of Napoleon's victory at Waterloo, which he achieved by using dinosaurs, is a stunning conclusion to a duology that began with Rampage at Waterloo: Battlesaurus (Macmillan, 2015/VOYA June 2015). General Thibault is determined to invade England and lay waste to the country with his battlesaurs. Standing against him is a small group of dedicated dinosaur fighters being trained in England by Willem, the young magician whose ability to mesmerize and control dinosaurs is a very real threat to the French plans for world domination. Assisting Willem is Lieutenant Hunter Frost, blinded at Waterloo but still working to bring Napoleon and Thibault down, and Heloise, the wild girl who can lead them to Thibault's dinosaurs, if they can break her out of Bedlam and get her safely back to France. The fact that Thibault is holding Willem's parents and Cosette, the girl he loves, as prisoners only makes the young man that much more determined to foil his battle plans.
For those new to this world and these characters, the author does a good job of integrating the backstory of the first book into the fast-paced narrative of this sequel. In an author's note, Falkner explains that the first book was as historically accurate a depiction of the Battle of Waterloo as he could make it, except for the dinosaurs, of course. There is significantly less real history in the sequel, except for locations such as Bedlam, but the dinosaur battles are terrific and should appeal to teen readers with a penchant for action and suspense.
--Bonnie Kunzel.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
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Kunzel, Bonnie. "Falkner, Brian. Clash of Empires: Battlesaurus, Book 2." Voice of Youth Advocates, vol. 39, no. 4, Oct. 2016, p. 75. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A467831157/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3ea75197. Accessed 18 May 2023.
QUOTE: “immersive, high-stakes WWII spy novel,” historically grounded novel of intrigue" "familial and personal change.” "
Blitzkrieg
Brian Falkner. Scholastic, $12.99 paper (368p) ISBN 978-1-338-85782-5
This immersive, high-stakes WWII spy novel centers protagonist Joseph "Katipo" St. George, a 12-year-old child of diplomat parents--a British father and New Zealander mother. In 1938 Berlin, Joe is familiar with the displays of the Hitler Youth (his best friend's uncle is one of Hitler's top aides) and encounters antisemitic violence. After the Gestapo takes his father, Joe's mother facilitates escape for herself and for Joe, giving her son an assumed identity--and suggesting that there's more to his parents than he previously realized. Joe is sent to safety on a New Zealand farm but stows away on a naval ship to London, depicted in a rousing 1941-set segment. There, the mystery around his mother's London whereabouts leads to life alongside "Blitz rat" children and covert operations of his own. Falkner (The Project) intersperses plotdriven third-person chapters with firstperson excerpts from the fictional protagonist's memoirs. Though complications sometimes bog down the pacing en route to a cliffhanger ending, it's a historically grounded novel of intrigue alongside familial and personal change. Protagonists cue as white. Ages 12-up. (Jan.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 PWxyz, LLC
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"Blitzkrieg." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 51, 5 Dec. 2022, p. 128. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A731124022/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0f97f0b7. Accessed 18 May 2023.
QUOTE: “[s]mart, satisfying, and leaving room for a sequel.”
Falkner, Brian BLITZKRIEG Scholastic (Teen None) $12.99 1, 3 ISBN: 978-1-338-85782-5
A teen working for Britain's MI6 during World War II infiltrates the Hitler Youth.
Joseph St. George is 12 on Nov. 9, 1938--Kristallnacht--when the Gestapo take his father away. Joe's family isn't Jewish, and he believes his New Zealander parents are diplomats. He's grown up in Berlin and, with his best friend, Klaus, nephew of Martin Bormann, Hitler's secretary, has witnessed both military parades and the persecution of neighborhood Jews. When he and his mother have to flee for their lives, Joe realizes there's more to her life than he knew--especially once she shoots a man. The story then flashes forward two years. Joe, who was sent to live with family on a sheep farm in New Zealand, stows away to London in search of his mother only to discover that the address she gave him doesn't exist. His attempts to find her lead to mayhem, death, and an interesting invitation from the British government. With a cracking pace and an interesting assortment of largely White characters (excepting Black British musician Ken "Snakehips" Johnson, a historical figure who makes a cameo appearance), it's a compelling trip presented through the eyes of a natural spy. The wartime details are spot-on. Joe's initial admiration for Hitler and willingness to target his Jewish neighbors are hard to read about but help show readers his growth from boy to man.
Smart, satisfying, and leaving room for a sequel. (bibliography) (Historical fiction. 12-16)
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"Falkner, Brian: BLITZKRIEG." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072734/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9bd06956. Accessed 18 May 2023.