LIKED

As my first jump into YA science fiction, this was a great introduction. Gould's characters are believable for the given situations, and the point of view of the young character works well for the story. In a way, this reminds me quite a bit of the Harry Potter books, though the central character is more physically solitary, and the premise is based in science fiction instead of fantasy. On the whole though, I would say that fans of one will enjoy the other. Another interesting tidbit is that while this is the third book in the series, it was the first to be written after the movie went into production; as a result, Gould made the choice to write the 'science' to go hand in hand with the movie, not the earlier books. Still, this isn't a book "of" the movie--it's a stand alone piece of science fiction that draws you into the series with no need for interested readers to have read the earlier books.

In the end, highly recommended to fans of YA science fiction/fantasy of YA action/adventure. I'll be searching out the rest of the series. ( )

I read the original "Jumper" a long time ago, and only recently discovered that there was a sequel (Reflex), and this book, Griffin's Story, which is the movie tie-in. I didn't see the movie, but I loved Jumper when I read it, so I checked this out of the library. I enjoyed it a lot. I was very drawn in to Griffin's story, and like another reviewer, liked the fact that when characters spoke a different language (albeit briefly), sometimes Griffin translated the words, and sometimes he didn't. I thought that lent an air of authenticity to the foreign lands he traveled through. The one problem I had with the book was that I felt Griffin was written as much older than he was supposed to be in the book. The story is told in first person, and Griffin is 9 at the beginning of the book. He had been homeschooled by educated parents, so I'm sure he would have been a bit more educated and well-read than the average 9 year old, but if I hadn't been given his age at the beginning I would have assumed him to be around 15, maybe. People he met were always being surprised by his young age, but I just thought it would have made more sense if he had started out as, say 12, instead of 9. Small point, though. The book was great. ( )

I found Jumper: Griffin’s story quite enjoyable. Having previously read [Jumper] and [Reflex] you can see elements of Jumper in Jumper Griffin’s story. So some of it seems to echo the other.

But this is far more interesting.
Griffin O’Conner goes through some similar things to Davy, establishing a base, stealing some money etc.
But Griffin’s parents knew about his jumping ability, which prepared him much more for his life, and it makes for a much more aware character.

A lot more also happens in this novel, there are actually antagonists something the original novel was distinctly lacking for much of it.
There is a greater emphasis on the connections built through this book, owed to the Griffin’s younger age, but he like Davy in the original books is rather intelligent, a big reader, though he probably has a world view than Davy in the original Jumper novels.

One thing that should be said this is tie tie-in book with the Jumper movie.
I saw the movie first (didn’t really get into it), but I thought the ideas were great which lead me to read Jumper and Reflex and now Jumper: Griffin’s story. All three make me want to re-evaluate the movie.

Griffin’s Story especially puts the movie into far more perspective, it gives more context to what Griffin is doing in the movie and adds more exposition to the movie than what is present in it.

All in all I felt more for Griffin than I ever did Davy, Griffin’s got a far more tragic story, helped mostly because there are protagonists, he’s a younger and more mature character that really has to live and develop into his life as a jumper. He also understands the dangers involved in this (while still making mistakes) which makes for a more enjoyable novel and developing character and story.

One thing that I found both curious was that the characters who were Spanish or French or wherever actually spoke their native languages, and it was printed this way, sometimes Griffin translates what they say, sometimes he doesn’t, little things like this really brought the setting and the characters to life that little bit extra. ( )

Susan says: The note at the beginning of the book says that this book was written to be more in line with the movie, and so I am not sure how different the first book is. This book I think would have a lot of appeal to teen boys. While it is marketed as science fiction, I am not sure how science fiction-y it is - the only thing is the jumping, and in this novel it's not really explained. Griffin is 9 when his parents are killed in front of him while he jumps back and forth to avoid danger. This jumping is something he has been able to do since he was 5, without any real explanation. All he knows is that the jumping puts him in danger. As he grows up, mostly on his own, he does rely on a few people and places for help and safety. By the end of the book, most of these people have been killed for helping him, and he is on his own again, trying to solve the mystery of his jumping and why people are out to get him. This book is very open-ended. I think it would appeal to younger teens too, but there is sex and birth control in the book. ( )