January 1, 2022
Having messed up the present by messing with the past in the previous episode, Finn sets out for the submicroscopic world beneath his thumbnail to make amends in this trilogy closer. The new reality being basically a do-over, Finn has to not only rerecruit former-allies-but-now-strangers Julep Li and Lincoln Sidana as sidekicks, but somehow save the Earth once again from the Plague, a horde of insectile aliens. Fortunately, he has the wormhole-opening unicorn lunchbox from the series opener and doughty demolition robot Highbeam, or his head at least, to bring into play. Unfortunately, the literally slick technology (see title) that could transport him into the subatomic world where his dad is stuck is up in the Plague's immense orbiting mother ship. The dust-grain world on which Finn eventually arrives after considerable chasing about and firing of blasters, not to mention serious shrinkage, turns out to be not much different than this one, aside from electrically sparky grass and animals. It even likewise needs saving, as the downtrodden town of Quarkhaven has been taken over by evil genius Proton. But thanks to some notably loose-jointed plotting, Buckley manages by the end to get his protagonist's family reunited and the aliens dispatched to a galaxy far, far away. The motley cast defaults to White so thoroughly that the bugs refer to humans as "pinkskins"; names and physical descriptions cue some diversity among supporting characters. A rousingly raucous, if ramshackle, ruckus resolved. (Science fiction. 9-12)
COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.