Sunderworld, Vol. I: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry
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Description
Weaving the familiar with the peculiar, this stunning tale of loss, triumph, friendship and magic, will remind readers everywhere that true heroes are made, not born—and when you’re never the chosen one, sometimes you have to choose yourself.
Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max's Adventures in Sunderworld—and that’s because they are.
Not a good sign.
In the blurry weeks after his mother’s death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash—and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return—at the worst possible time on the worst possible day—Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he’ll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it’s in grave danger.
Certain he’s finally been chosen for greatness, Leopold risks everything to claim his destiny, save the world of his childhood dreams, and prove once and for all that he’s not the disappointment his father believes him to be. But when everything goes terribly, horribly, excruciatingly wrong, Leopold’s disappointments prove to be more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined.
How do you battle darkness when no one believes in you—not even yourself?
Welcome to Sunderworld.
Book Information
Posts
Fantasy and mystery in LA 📖💬🌆🚗🪦✨
I liked it but it was missing that certain something... There were exciting chapters that hooked me and I wanted to read more, but the next chapter was kinda off. In one chapter everything was described in detail, the place (Sunder/LA) and Leopold's thoughts there, but in the next chapter it was confusing what was happening and why. LA is described in a very exciting and detailed way. Even if you've never been there, you can easily imagine the surroundings. The pacing/storytelling seemed a bit aimless to me sometimes. I liked that the main character is not "the talented chosen one," but rather very average and becomes known as "Lunchtray Larry" or "Whoopsie Kid". This makes the character more human and relatable. I like the magical weapons, the "Focusers", I've never heard of anything like them in any other books or movies. I also liked that the main character undergoes a development, he becomes more and more self-confident and evolves from Larry/his old self more into Leopold. "He didn't know what he was packing for. All he knew for sure was that he'd spent too many years hoping someone else would save him." "He felt at once an ache and a longing. For all that was. For all that might've been. For whoever he might be on the other side." "The Executive called me 'remarkably unremarkable'. Leopold said dryly. 'Average absolutely to the decimal point. Unspecial by every magical metric'. If we're going to insult my abilities, lets quote an expert"
Description
Weaving the familiar with the peculiar, this stunning tale of loss, triumph, friendship and magic, will remind readers everywhere that true heroes are made, not born—and when you’re never the chosen one, sometimes you have to choose yourself.
Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry is seeing weird things around Los Angeles. A man who pops a tooth into a parking meter. A glowing trapdoor in a parking lot. A half-mechanical raccoon with its tail on fire that just won’t leave him alone. Every hallucinatory moment seems plucked from a cheesy 1990s fantasy TV show called Max's Adventures in Sunderworld—and that’s because they are.
Not a good sign.
In the blurry weeks after his mother’s death, a young Leopold discovered VHS tapes of its one and only season in a box headed for the trash—and soon became obsessed. Losing himself in Sunder was the best way to avoid two things: grieving his mother and being a chronic disappointment to his overbearing father. But when the strange visions return—at the worst possible time on the worst possible day—Leopold turns to his best friend Emmet for help. Together they discover that Sunder is much more than just an old TV show, and that Los Angeles is far stranger than they ever imagined. And soon, he’ll realize that not only is Sunderworld real, but it’s in grave danger.
Certain he’s finally been chosen for greatness, Leopold risks everything to claim his destiny, save the world of his childhood dreams, and prove once and for all that he’s not the disappointment his father believes him to be. But when everything goes terribly, horribly, excruciatingly wrong, Leopold’s disappointments prove to be more extraordinary than he ever could have imagined.
How do you battle darkness when no one believes in you—not even yourself?
Welcome to Sunderworld.
Book Information
Posts
Fantasy and mystery in LA 📖💬🌆🚗🪦✨
I liked it but it was missing that certain something... There were exciting chapters that hooked me and I wanted to read more, but the next chapter was kinda off. In one chapter everything was described in detail, the place (Sunder/LA) and Leopold's thoughts there, but in the next chapter it was confusing what was happening and why. LA is described in a very exciting and detailed way. Even if you've never been there, you can easily imagine the surroundings. The pacing/storytelling seemed a bit aimless to me sometimes. I liked that the main character is not "the talented chosen one," but rather very average and becomes known as "Lunchtray Larry" or "Whoopsie Kid". This makes the character more human and relatable. I like the magical weapons, the "Focusers", I've never heard of anything like them in any other books or movies. I also liked that the main character undergoes a development, he becomes more and more self-confident and evolves from Larry/his old self more into Leopold. "He didn't know what he was packing for. All he knew for sure was that he'd spent too many years hoping someone else would save him." "He felt at once an ache and a longing. For all that was. For all that might've been. For whoever he might be on the other side." "The Executive called me 'remarkably unremarkable'. Leopold said dryly. 'Average absolutely to the decimal point. Unspecial by every magical metric'. If we're going to insult my abilities, lets quote an expert"