Monkeyboy by S. Shane Thomas

Monkeyboy Reviews

• 
  Emily at Reaching While Rooted

  I recently stumbled across Monkeyboy by S Shane Thomas on NetGalley and was instantly intrigued I was preparing to start my yoga teacher training and seeing the name Hanuman a Hindi monkey god caused me to pause A Sci fiFantasy book targeted toward Middle Grade readers it is a part of the Anki Legacies world though can easily be read as a standaloneThe book was a light read and was packed full of juvenile humor high adventure and martial arts I love that the book introduces MG readers to the concept of meditation and tuning in with the Self This time in a child's life can be very stressful and confusing so I was glad to see the book popularize a very poignant and beneficial practice The fact that the adults in the book allow the children to help out and tag along and were generously forgiving when the children did something wrong would appeal to younger readers even though the mother in me was cringing and found it unrealistic and irresponsible While the adults did not play a central role allowing the young characters to really shine through they were still present and their love for their children was patently clearWhile I would not recommend the book to a mature audience the transitions are jumpy great for shorter attention spans but really confusing for older readers this book is perfect for a child making that transition into YA This book would be a good opportunity for discussing the themes of adoption Hanuman and Wisp are adopted by a loving family and cultural acceptance There are several races in the book and the majority of the conflict arises from some groups desiring domination over others Thank you to NetGalley the publisher and author for providing me with a free copy in exchange for a honest review All opinions stated here are my own
• 
  Faith Jones

  Monkeyboy is set within the League of Atlantis Reborn Colonies LARC the narrative universe that Shane built I read this book because I’d previously read The LARC Transmissions which I thought was very imaginative and worthwhile That prior title also introduced the character of Hanuman a minor character who shows heroic tendencies at the end and who then takes the lead role in this follow on story I sense that if you hadn’t read any of the previous stories you might find it harder to buy into the fantasy of this latest book and wonder what the talking monkey is all aboutIn explanation Hanuman previously ate a magic stone which gave him anthropomorphic characteristics improved intelligence and vocal cords He carried over his natural primate characteristics of loyalty bravery and family In this book the baddies Rakshsha on the planet of Nibiru want to capture all of the magic stones and over run their world with enhanced warriors as a prelude to restoring the ancient and very alien Anki Empire Hanuman and his friends set out to stop all that but betrayal is right around the cornerThis book talks about the Solar System but I think that's a micro error as it should only ever refer to the system around the star Sol our sun Someone else's system would be named after their local star eg the Dagobah System in Star Wars or the Vogsphere in Hitchhiker's If the author was talking about the planets around our sun then that's my lack of attention and ignore meIt’s easy to get confused and think this is a re write of Hanuman’s tale in the Ramayana and Mahabharata where the devoted monkey god trails along behind Rama and helps a young priest bring Budhism to India Indeed the money god Hanuman is part of not just Buddhist but also Hindu Sikh and Jain mythology Despite keeping an eye out for references to those famous uests I didn’t see any beyond his similar character traits and the fact they’re both simple souls magically elevated from monkeyhood to do good deeds – and prove useful Please don’t expect religious wisdom This seems then to be a transplant of that ancient character into an unrelated setting to try him out in a completely new tale When Salman Rushdie tried this they gave him a Fatwah but this is just a harmless take that shouldn’t upset any believers In reality the monkey god existed in scripture for about one thousand years before anyone added him to the pantheon that anyone actually worships He was a character but not a headline deity He also stole fruitThe LARC universe seems to have changed in style from imaginative science fiction engineering and biology fantasy with a bit of magical transformation in The LARC Transmissions to a magical young adult fantasy in this latest story Originally full of colonial theory and exploring strange new worlds there’s been a shift into a status uo disrupted by conflict Is this change over time or had the author exhausted the sci fi angle? I prefer sci fi personally but I acknowledge that I’m outnumbered by YA magic readers about 1100 so I should shut up I’ll give this the same star rating as the previous book but I disagree that it is stand alone Specifically Monkeyboy is a barely a 4 star and Transmissions is a high 4 star Then again kids will love it eat fruit and fall out of trees
• 
  S. Thomas

  I've got to admit a bias here I wrote itRead other reviews for an honest appraisal I want to tell you about the fun I had working on this book It was really a blast visiting the world of my first novel as a brand new character There were so many places I wanted to revisit and a few I still needed to discover If you haven't read any of my work Monkeyboy is the best place to start The Anki Legacies Adventures are not seuels of one another Each book is a complete story There are character interchanges between titles but there is no need to read in the published orderI loved the original Dragonball and Dragonball GT cartoons and when you read Monkeyboy you find hints of Toriyama I also got to dig into the Ramayana a bit to align my Hanuman with the original Many of the characters and a sub plot draw their origin from what I gleanedI wanted to talk to younger readers about feeling alone and also the importance of strong interpersonal relationships with this book What better way than with a green haired monkey tailed martial arts student? Thanks for your interest in the book If you've read the blurb and this far into my note go ahead and give it a tryCheersShane
• 
  Leenna Naidoo

  I received a free Advanced Reader Copy of this book which I voluntarily read and reviewed In brief Monkeyboy is the first in the LARC1 series which is written for tweens and young adults Despite not reading much YA at present I found this adventure a fun read With the usual adult characters relegated to the background it was interesting to see the kids explore Nibiru and deal with the Anki technology with rather insight than expected As usual Thomas’ universe and humor drew me inThe Whole storyHan was born a regular Liberty monkey on Nibiru Swallowing an Anki stone has turned him into a boy with some amazing powers and a keen interest in the martial arts But there’s much he doesn’t remember about his life before becoming the adoptive son of Pringar the Anki mayor of the LARC1 colony When his strange origins catch up with him it’s up to Han and his eually gifted best friends Wisp Cray and Sita to save Nibiru and the solar system from a tyrannyWhat I loved about this storyThe kids are kids with universal attitudes and behavior Thomas manages to capture the enthusiasm energy and creativity of adolescents who are beginning to grapple with the larger implications and conseuences of actions from and around them I think most kids would love to be a part of this gang of fourWhat I thought could be betterThere are times when things get a little too heavy for me during the fight scenes and some of the themes are a little on the dark side So for the younger sensitive readers and parents you might want to discuss some scenes with them especially those with the RakshasaSo what did I learn from this whole experience? Yep I’m definitely a fan of Thomas’ Anki Legacies I got to learn a little bit about martial arts too And was reminded once again that some of our greatest philosophies can come out of the mouths of children
• 
  Roxanne

  Evolution takes a giant step forward when a monkey from a troop that can only say howdy eats a magic stone that increases his intelligence tenfold He is adopted into a loving family and treated like any school aged child His fondest dream is to find stones to feed to his cousins so as not to be the only monkeyboyHe’s not the only one with such a dream however A radical group also searches for the magic stones with the intention of creating an army Monkeyboy’s focus shifts from finding the stones for personal gain to finding them before they can be misusedMonkeyboy by Shane Thomas is a rollicking adventure any child will enjoy It’s full of juvenile humor The pace never uits and of course Monkeyboy and his friends save the dayAs an adult I enjoyed the story for other reasons I liked that there was no stigma surrounding adoption I liked that the adults weren’t depicted as overbearing or dismissive as is so often seen in MG fiction The parents were supportive understanding and forgiving of Monkeyboy’s antics They were protective of their children yet included them in their excursions so they could learn outside the schoolroomInventive and entertaining Monkeyboy would make a fine bedtime storyI was given a free Advanced Reader Copy of Monkeyboy in exchange for an honest review
• 
  Zachry Wheeler

  I first learned of S Shane Thomas through the Science Fantasy Hub a landing platform for fans of the indie writing community Thomas is an enthusiastic supporter of independent authors and I enjoy reading through his collection of thoughtful reviews I have discovered a lot of great works through his website including books written by Thomas himselfThomas’s writing delves into the whimsical worlds of archaeological fantasy The Anki Legacies explore the influence of ancient aliens on early humanity culminating in LARC the League of Atlantis Reborn Colonies who reverse engineer technology from the lost city of Atlantis in order to explore space That sentence alone convinced me to read the first book in the series entitled MonkeyboyBefore we begin new readers should be aware that the Anki Legacies are geared towards a younger audience There is a playfulness to the story that is super charming We all have a bumbling kid inside us and this book was written for them The humor is uirky the action is over the top and the banter is best heard through the mind of a preteen This is a sprightly adventure so don’t let your adult brain cheat you out of some lighthearted funMonkeyboy is the story of Han a humanoid hybrid who acuires special powers after eating a magic stone A uest ensues to find stones initially from a selfish desire to relieve his loneliness by converting his cousins so they can “be like me” However his motivations shift to altruism after learning that a nefarious faction is searching for them too It’s a great lesson for younger readers one that Thomas manages to weave into the narrative without coming across as preachy a major gripe that I have with most middle grade booksHan sets off to save his home planet Nibiru from the evil Rakshasa Joining him on the uest is a merry band of friends Wisp is a pink cloud who emotes through morphs and colors she is also Han’s best mate Sita is a rabbit eared alien girl with strawberry blonde hair Rounding out the motley crew is a mantis monk named CrayDespite the mishmash of personas I think Wisp steals the show Her interactions with Han are sweet comical and often swing into the realms of epic cuteness Thomas definitely knows how to capture the interactions of youth in a warm and kindhearted way In addition he gives the characters agency without downplaying their decisions as childish or unwise This allows the action to unfold organically instead of just bouncing from one tired lecture to the next Two thumbs up Mr ThomasThe fight scenes were also a highlight for me Monkeyboy is packed with cartoon like martial arts that cannot help but evoke scenes from Kung Fu Panda This is intentional of course and the manner by which Thomas describes the action will have you grinning ear to earMonkeyboy is a fun book that I can recommend to all readers but especially to youngsters It’s chock full of zany action and youthful humor perfect for a lazy afternoon
• 
  Amy Shannon

  Enjoyable storyWhat a great story for young adults It's a fun story filled with humor I am fond of Thomas' storytelling ability and his way to create characters Hanuman is no different A monkey with than the usual human ualities especially when he eats a magic stone Its a uniue story and the chapters are the perfect size for children to read or be read to It's a great adventure for the reader and the characters
• 
  John Meszaros

  This is the tale of Han a young humanoid monkey and his band of friends as they adventure across their homeworld of Nibiru in a star system far from Earth Humanity came to this planet on massive Ark ships reverse engineered from the space faring technology of lost Atlantis Upon arriving on Nibiru they discovered and rescued peoples from several other space faring species that had been imprisoned by a fallen race of would be galactic conuerors called the Anki Everyone on Nibiru lives in relative harmony but Han and his friends discover that the ancient Anki are not as extinct as everyone thoughtAccompanying Han is a gang colorful unusual beings Wisp a shapeshifter made of pink clouds and his childhood friend and constant companion; Sita a mixed humanalien girl with long rabbit like ears; and Cray a giant praying mantis like creature whose mind is perpetually linked to the collective intelligence of his people Monkeyboy is like a wuxia novel mixed with space opera then blended together with classic mythology The setting draws heavily from Mesopotamian legends such as the ancient and god like Annunaki and the knowledge bringing Apkallu here called Nephilim and depicted as living synthetic servants to the Anki The story draws from other myths too The main character’s full name Hanuman is obviously borrowed from the Monkey King of the Indian Ramayana epic though personality wise he closely resembles Son Wukong of Journey to the West His personality also mirrors Wukong though maybe it is akin to Goku the protagonist of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball which was inspired by Journey to the West Han can be brash and easily distracted though he is aware of these foibles and it is interesting to watch as he works hard to overcome them Before reading Monkeyboy I would strongly recommend checking out Shane’s other LARC novels first Distant Origins will fill you in on the background of the lost Atlantis technology and humanity’s journey to Nibiru Han’s own origins as well as the motivations of the Anki antagonists can be found in the anthology LARC Transmissions Be aware though that there is a bit of a tonal shift between books which can be a little jarring While Monkeyboy is geared towards juvenile readers Distant Origins and LARC Transmissions seem to have been written for an older audience Once you get used to the shift in writing though the action packed adventure in Monkeyboy is a fun readIf there is one major critiue it is that the ending is a rather blatant deus ex machina There really isn’t any build up to the solution that saves the day But hopefully this point will be explained in further adventures of Han and his friends That uibble aside though Monkeyboy is a great read if you’re a fan of uick martial arts action in a uniue setting