
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets Guardians of the Galaxy in this intergalactic middle-grade adventure by Chris Wooding. If he had it his way, Jack would spend his days drawing aliens and epic space battles. But it seems Jack's daydreams of action and adventure will remain just that: daydreams. Until his 12th birthday, that is. That's when Thomas, the annoying kid from school, stumbles upon a weird machine that sends a beam of light into the sky. Suddenly, Jack's world is turned upside down when intergalactic beings appear on Earth and try to kill him. His only hope for survival is a ragtag team of alien bounty hunters: Boston Sark, Mazzy, Dunk, and Ilara. Through his new companions, Jack learns of the mysterious Gradius Clench, a precocious superspy and the universe's most wanted kid. And he looks just like Jack! Now, the race is on to find this elusive Gradius Clench—through fantastic landscapes, seedy pirate hideaways, and worlds Jack could only imagine—and maybe, just maybe, figure out how Jack fits into all of this...
Author

Chris Wooding grew up in a small town in Leicestershire, where not much of anything happened. So he started to write novels. He was sixteen when he completed his first. He had an agent by eighteen. By nineteen he had signed his first book deal. When he left university he began to write full-time, and he has been doing it professionally all his adult life. Now thirty-nine, Chris has written over twenty books, which have been translated into twenty languages, won various awards and been published around the world. He writes for film and television, and has several projects in development. Chris has travelled extensively round the world, having backpacked all over Europe and North America, Scandinavia, South East Asia, Japan and South Africa. He also lived in Madrid for a time. When he wasn’t travelling on his own, he spent his twenties touring with bands and seeing the UK and Europe from the back of a van. He also learned not so long ago that his family tree can be traced back to John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, which has no bearing on him whatsoever but it’s kind of interesting anyway. Chris lives in London.