Corgi Childrens Only You Can Save Mankind

Bought this to read to my 7 year old stepson as a bedtime book, we are only a few chapters in and he's already asked if there's more books in the series and if we can read the next one as our next bedtime book, so safe to say it's been a success already!It's a funny, quirky book full of great characters - Johnny and all of his friends are all so well written and full of humour, it's a joy to read. I read it myself when I was a lot younger and it's been lovely so far to revisit it again and introduce it to the next generation!

Bought all three Johnny Maxwells for my son. He left the first one at his uncles house - but at least he picked it up!I've read all of them - and they are brilliant. Johnny is an ordinary boy with ordinary friends who has extraordinary things happen to him. It's funny, not boring for an adult to read at bedtime, and at times, quite touching. I love Pratchett though, so am utterly biased - but then, so are all reviews I guess!

This is the first book in the Johnny Maxwell trilogy and is about a young boy obviously called Johnny Maxwell! Johnny obtains a video game called "Only You Can Save Mankind" from his friend however when he starts playing it a message comes across the screen saying "We Surrender". Confused as surely this isn't meant to happen in the game, Johnny accepts the surrender from the ScreeWee Empire. He then finds himself enlisting the help of another player to get the ScreeWee home as surprisingly they have disappeared from everyone else's copy of the game. Another hilarious and brilliantly thought out book from Terry Pratchett which was very much enjoyed when read over Christmas time and although aimed at the YA audience was a very enjoyable read.

Johnny Maxwell doesn't set out to be a hero. He's got school and friends to worry about and all he really wants to do is play computer games. But when the inhabitants of one of those games come to him for asylum, things take a turn for the strange.This is a book full of loveable characters and deep, powerful messages. One of Pratchett's most direct explorations of moral responsibility, it challenges us to be more empathetic towards others, without ever dropping the reader out of its fun, exciting narrative. This is a book I've come back to repeatedly over the decades and that I still love.

Alongside the Bromeliad the best of Pratchett's books for children, students I've taught tend to relate to it pretty well as a story about computer games that doesn't instantly turn into some overwhelming fantasy battle of good & evil.