Author: Douglas Lieblein

Publisher: Babelfish Press (January 3, 2014)

ISBN-10: 163124020X

ISBN-13: 978-1631240201

...In the end, all your legends, your fables, your fantasies, they are all one story. One tale told by different tellers. One song sung by different singers.

And all of them are a lie, born to hide a greater truth. Just as this one will become, when your part in it is done.”

Four time EMMY nominated writer Douglas Lieblein knows his stuff in terms of appealing to a teen audience. Among other credits, Lieblein was a Writer/Co-Executive Producer for Hannah Montana, and then worked on Life With Boys and Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn. (What, no Tony Orlando too?)

Now, Lieblein has moved into Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter territory with Flight of the Akero: The Book of Milo, the first volume of a coming of age, paranormal, science fiction, and fantasy adventure series. The title character is 6th grader Milo Wolfe who is short, wimpy, unpopular, a self-described nobody. Hoping to start his summer vacation doing nothing, his lonely life quickly takes on a series of ever-changing circumstances that turn everything he thought about himself inside out. He never knew his father—is the woman who raised him really his Mother?

In very short order, Wolfe's adventures take flight internally and externally, literally, with visions of a dead Russian wizard in his head, possible friends who might or might not be trustworthy, super-powered assassins on motorcycles, not to mention metaphysical lessons on just who created the world and who its guardians might be. Is Milo himself destined to be a savior or the means to earth's enslavement?

It's not hard to picture who will most appreciate Flight of the Akero. Teenage boys who feel disenfranchised or powerless would find considerable wish-fulfillment in these pages as Milo transforms from a stumbling, gawky boy into a heroic figure taking on not just his elders, but immortal elders at that. He gets to fight with a fiery golden sword and throw off his foes with an implausible Rube Goldberg inspired booby trap. He finally gets to kiss the girl, even if she's not always a girl. What red-blooded adolescent male wouldn't like to discover there's much more to them than the ability to break passwords and create fake identities on Facebook?

Beyond YA males, those who like fantasy fiction with a heavy dose of action adventure and mystery, whatever your age, should also find the fast-paced book a page-turner. Few such novels have more surprising twists and turns on nearly every one of those pages. If Lieblein can sustain this level of story-telling, future books in the series should be snapped up by readers eager to learn more about Milo and the strange Akero.

Follow Here To Read An Interview With Douglas Lieblein

Follow Here To Purchase Flight of the Akero: The Book of Milo