Reviewed by Michelle Randall for Readers' Favorite

Jess and his friends, Allah and Mhose, want to travel from their group of planets and find a new uninhabited planet where they can establish and create a world without wars and prejudices. They are sure they can do it if their parents will just let them. Lor, Jess's father, and Asha, Allah's father, give them permission and the friends set off to find a new planet. The trip is uneventful, except for a brief slip past some demon ships. They find the perfect planet and call it Eartus. They return home, only to find the demon ships in their way. They take their computers, and when they find out who Jess is - the Godarian son - they run but threaten to be back. The friends return and present their findings to Lor, and they are granted permission to inhabit the planet. They are able to report back to Lor that it is working, but every time they leave Eartus, the demon ships return to mess with what they created, so they return to fix things. While this is going on, the original planets where the friends came from are still warring among themselves and the planet that Jess and Lor are on have signed a long-term peace agreement not to interfere. Stephen Shanley weaves the story of creation in a new light with this tale.

Read this story aloud if you can, because as you say the names of the people in the story you will start to understand the similarities. You will see where Stephen Shanley is going with this story; each person and place relates to something in the real world, if you look closely. You will see two parallel stories happening, in two different solar systems, and any time Jess is away from one there are problems in the other. The Godarian Son might be a fanciful play on creation, but I find many things that could be explored and talked about, where the followers of Jess and Allah realized they wanted the same things and they shouldn't be fighting each other! I would recommend this to young and old with an open mind and an open heart.