The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge)

 

NOTE: tons of spoilers, basically a summary of the book…but it’s worth it 🙂

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One sunny evening, I was walking down my street and I saw this book. Its cover was partially hidden beneath a pile of other books, but for some reason, it was *this* one that caught my eye. It wasn’t in the best of shape, (its cover slightly ripped and its pages worn,) but I could tell it was well loved. When I pulled it out of the stack, my eyes widened and my heartbeat sped up: this book was co-written with own of my all-time favorite authors! So, I decided to sit down and read it in one sitting.

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This book starts off with Daniel, the main character, warning the readers about what’s to come and what’s to be expected in this section of his -fictional- life. He tells the readers about the creepy aliens that are living on our planets; he tells us to imagine these creatures and to believe that they’re there…because, of course, they are. He then explains his early life. When Daniel was three, his parents were killed by an alien, “The Prayer,” who really wanted to obtain and to see “The List.” The Prayer was a very violent alien who insisted on murdering Daniel’s loving parents.

Daniel was not an ordinary kid. Since he can remember, he has been able to shape matter in and around him. That would’ve been surprising…ifff Daniel was human. Yes, Daniel is, in fact, an alien. Because Daniel is so powerful, and could even shift shape at the age of three, he was able to escape The Prayer by turning into a tick and running away.

Ten years passed and Daniel decided it was time to stop mourning. he returned to the house that contained beautiful, loving childhood memories, (also the house that The Prayer had burned down,) and found…The List! The List is basically a hit list for alien hunters. The List contained aliens’ rankings, (which the aliens often quarreled about, often wanting to be at the top,) including who was the strongest, who had committed the most crimes, who was at large, etcetera. Daniel decided that he would become a bad a** alien hunter. 🙂

Then, skipping to when Daniel is 15, the main parts of the book finally begin. As we began to read -sorry, weird first person stuff…get used to it- we watch as Daniel brutally kills #19 on the hit list. After that battle, he decided he wanted to go after Ergent Seth, the brilliant #6. Daniel believes he has what it takes to beat Seth, and enrolls in a high school close to where he believes Seth is hiding out. Out of thin air, Daniel constructs a lovely house to stay in while he goes to high school and puts on a pretty face. Seth sends Daniel many warnings about how stupid it is to go after such a strong alien. I make it sound like Seth’s scared…like he just doesn’t want Daniel to go after him. That is false. Seth taunts Daniel, gives him bad dreams, -yes, Seth can do that- gives him evil phone calls, and turns Daniel’s house into a graveyard.

Daniel is generally a lonely guy. He sometimes constructs his family as he remembers them, just to make them a meal or to have his mother cook pancakes (just one…more…time). Daniel also has Emma, Dana, Joe, and Willy; his friends. Daniel’s friends are not exactly real, he constructs them, but I still chose not to put “friends” in quotes (you’ll see why later 😉  ) Daniel’s friends each have unique personalities; anyone could believe they are real. When Daniel runs into a beautiful girl -a real one- he becomes friends with her. Pheobe, the noted girl, quickly opens up to Daniel and tells him about her missing sister. While Pheobe talks about what happened, Daniel realized it was probably Seth who kidnapped her sister.

Sorry to let y’all down, but Pheobe, his dramatic, almost girlfriend, turns out to be Ergent Seth in disguise. Seth reveals himself to be an alien with a horse’s head made of dead skin, with black, beetle eyes. One might ask how he disguised himself and the answer is simple: he can shape shift like Daniel. Once Seth captures Daniel by leading him into a trap with his “Pheobe” form, Daniel is made fun of by Seth’s minions, has his powers taken away, is tossed into a space ship, and is kept in “solitude,” in a white room. I put “solitude” in quotes because Daniel is somehow still able to summon his best friends, Emma, Dana, Joe, and Willy. Through their eyes, he is able to learn, not surprisingly, that Seth keeps human slaves. These slaves are forced to labor constantly, and the worst part? They are very young children.

Although all the odds seem to be against Daniel, something drastically changes when the space ship he is in, lands on a planet. This planet gives off an energy so intense, so fierce, it brings back some of his powers, and it makes him feel stronger than ever before. This planet is the planet that Daniel was born on. His people live here. Seth tells him this when he arrives at Daniel’s room to taunt him. Daniel is able to stay calm and collected, even with Seth’s ghoulish features. Seth grins when he sees Daniel’s face as he arrives on the planet because Seth destroyed part of his home planet. Daniel is able to create a distraction and is able to escape onto the planet

Disheartened by the seemingly ugly landscape of this planet, he trudges on and eventually finds a bright young boy who leads him to a small village where some of the few habitants of the planet live. He meets his grandmother, who is able to extract a bullet from his body, and finds that his best friends, Emma, Dana, Joe, and Willy, were once real people. His extended family explains that Daniel did a ritual with these friends when he was young, so he will be forever connected with them. They also tell him that his dear friends were killed by one of Seth’s earlier attacks. Daniel’s friends aren’t actually alive, but they are to him, and they mean the world -or multiple worlds…haha- to him.

Daniel decides he has to do something. He storms up to Seth’s ship with a lot of fake/imagined/created troops behind him. He threatens Seth and Seth remains haughty. Daniel fights in a duel with Seth and realizes that while Seth is stronger and mightier than himself, Daniel is smarter. He remembers when he was three and he turned into a tick and ran away; he realizes he can do the same, except this time, he won’t run away.

Daniel decides to -once again- turn into a tick. This time, he crawls into Seth’s ear, tunneling until Seth’s head, poking and prodding along the way. (Now, this scene is very graphic and I believe it would be disgusting to most. There is a lot of describing ear wax, so I don’t think y’all would want to hear that…) Once Daniel is in a good position inside of Seth’s head, he turns into an elephant. As you may have guessed, this causes Seth’s head to explode, and therefore, for him to die.

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A character in this book is Seth. Seth is an ugly, evil alien. He has a lot of different powers and is very powerful. I would not want to meet Seth because he could easily kill me…and I do not want that. Seth also takes the form of a pretty girl that Daniel starts to fall for, Pheobe. I would not want to meet her either because she is also evvvilllll.

Since that was so short, here’s another…

Another character in this book is Daniel. I would love to meet him because his powers are so interesting. Also, meeting an alien would be cool. Daniel is a protector of humans, though if I hung out with him a lot, I’d probably be on the evil alien’s hit list. (Oh, by the way, there’s this part where Seth really dramatically says something like: “Oh Daniel, BUT YOU ARE #1 ON OUR LIST! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!”) So yeah, I’d like to meet him.

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I would give this book an 8.79/10. This book is extremely entertaining, though it honestly wasn’t a challenging read. If you are looking for a fun, exciting, science fiction book, read this one. I’ve noticed that James Patterson’s writing -not just in this book…because it’s co-written- goes kind of up and down, not plot wise, but the quality of writing wise. Patterson has this amazing ability to describe disgusting or bloody scenes with such detail, it’s like I’m spaced out, in a good way, watching a play, play right before my eyes. It’s a crazy good writing style that could grab anyone’s attention (in a good or bad way, ) and it’s why I love his writing so much. I didn’t enjoy how abruptly this book ended, but I suppose that’s why they have a series…

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It is so hard to relate this book to anything because I keep wanting to say Ender’s Game, but honestly, I can’t exactly put my finger on what reminds me of that book. I guess I could relate The Dangerous Days of Daniel X to Ender’s Game because they are both starring teenagers who are heroes to their race, and both stories are science fiction. Ender/Andrew, the main character in Ender’s Game, is not super similar to Daniel. Ender is more calm and reserved, while Daniel comes on very strong. Ender and Daniel are similar in personality because they both go above and beyond adults’ expectations of them.

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I think that one main theme in this book is home, where you can make a home, and where you can find a home. Throughout this book, Daniel made homes all over. First, he watches the destruction of his house at the age of three. Then he starts creating buildings for himself to stay in. As he chases down Seth, he creates another home, only to have it be destroyed by Seth himself…then Daniel rebuilds it. After, he finds his home planet but realizes he needs to go back to Earth because he truly misses it and he needs to protect humans. Another theme in this book is revenge and making family proud, which are both related. Daniel really wants to kill The Prayer to avenge his parents, even though he knows he’s not strong enough, so he knows he can make them proud by saving human lives.

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Extra Bit: PLEASE READ!

Just to let y’all know, Daniel grew up on the planet he later traveled to (the one that’s not Earth and that I mentioned earlier,) and elephants helped take care of him when he was a baby. Elephants are actually aliens! SAVE THE ELEPHANTS! They’re also Daniel’s favorite animal.

Questions Answered:

• 1. Why did you choose this book?
• 2. Explain the plot of the book, or if it is a non-fiction book, what topics are covered.
• 3. Describe one of the characters in the book. Would you want to meet this character? Why or why not?
• 4. What is your opinion of the book? Would you recommend it? Why or why not?
• 5. Explain how this book is similar to another book, film, story, or article that you have read or seen. What connections or comparisons can you make?
• 6. What do you think the main idea or theme of this story is? What is the author trying to tell you about life or our world with this book? 

 

Thanks for reading!Please check out some of my other posts to get good reading suggestions. Feel free to comment below!