Only You Can Save Mankind
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| Only You Can Save Mankind | |
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Original title | Only You Can Save Mankind |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Series | Johnny Maxwell Trilogy |
| Genre(s) | Children's Literature, Science Fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday (London) |
| Publication date | 1992 |
| Media type | book |
| Pages | 173 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-385-40308-9 |
| OCLC | 28065341 |
| Followed by | Johnny and the Dead |
Only You Can Save Mankind (1992) is the first novel in the Johnny Maxwell trilogy of children's books by Terry Pratchett. The following novels in the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy are Johnny and the Dead (1993) and Johnny and the Bomb (1996).
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Twelve-year-old Johnny receives a pirate edition of the new video game Only You Can Save Mankind from his friend Wobbler. However, he hasn't been playing for long when the ScreeWee Empire surrenders to him. After accepting the surrender he finds himself inside the game in his dreams, where he must deal with the suspicious Gunnery Officer as well as the understanding Captain, and work out exactly what they're all supposed to do now.
This might all be the result of an over-active imagination except that the ScreeWee have disappeared altogether from everyone else's copy of the game. With the help of another player, Kirsty, who calls herself "Sigourney" (as in Weaver), Johnny must try to get the ScreeWee home.
[edit] Ideas and themes
The book contrasts the apparent reality of the computer game with Johnny's difficult home life and the television coverage of the Gulf War which, from Johnny's viewpoint, is just as displaced from reality as the ScreeWee Empire. It plays with the effects of perception. For instance, since Kirsty refuses to see the ScreeWee as anything other than alien monsters who exist to be shot at they are much less human-like in her presence than when only dealing with Johnny.
Wobbler writes a computer game entitled "Journey to Alpha Centauri". The game is meant to be played in real-time, meaning it would take three thousand years to finish the journey. If the game were actually played for three thousand years, the player would be rewarded with a message saying "Welcome to Alpha Centauri. Now go home". This inspired an interactive fiction game, Journey to Alpha Centauri (In Real Time).
[edit] Adaptations
In 2004, a musical adaptation for the stage was premiered at the Edinburgh Festival. With Music by Leighton James House and Lyrics by Shaun McKenna. It is due to tour the UK starting in Spring 2009. [1]
A feature length low budget amateur super 8mm film is planned to be completed in late 2008. [1]
[edit] Translations
- Само ти можеш да спасиш света (Bulgarian)
- Le Sauveur de l'humanité (French)
- Nur Du kannst die Menschheit retten (German)
- Tylko ty możesz uratować ludzkość (Polish)
- Только ты можешь спасти человечество (Russian)
- Sólo Tú Puedes Salvar a la Humanidad (Spanish)
- Bara du kan rädda mänskligheten (Swedish)
- İnsanlığı Ancak Sen Kurtarabilirsin (Turkish)
- Dim Ond Ti All Achub y Ddynoliaeth (Welsh)
