The Lightning Catcher

The Lightning Catcher #1

by Anne Cameron

You know something is seriously wrong when it starts raining newts and frogs…

11 year-old Angus McFangus believes that his parents are boring civil servants, but one stormy night his world is turned upside down when he is mysteriously whisked to the island of Imbur to become an apprentice at the Perilous Exploratorium for Weather and Vicious Storms.

At Perilous, the world’s most dangerous weather is studied to protect mankind from its ravages. There, Angus discovers that his parents are actually famous Lightening Catchers, who have been kidnapped by the villainous Scabious Dankhart. Dankhart wants to find the secret Lightening Vaults hidden somewhere within Perilous, in order to unleash an unending storm.

With the help of his new friends, Dougal Dewsnap and Indigo Midnight, Angus intends to stop him. They will battle through blizzards in the Weather Tunnel, dodge lightning bolts in the Lightnarium and fend off an attack of Fog Mites!

Will Angus find his parents in time or will Scabious Dankhart achieve world domination?

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Childrens, Adventure, Fiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about Magnus, whose parents are not boring government workers, but rather work for the Lightening Bureau saving the world from strange weather happenings.

Like Harry Potter in a weather school with some magic involved. A cute read.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather sci-fi version of Hogwarts, this book never captured my attention. While the plot is fun, I didn't care for the characters much, so the dangers they faced never felt really threatening. Some good intrigue and an interesting basic premise of a society based on capturing lightning, but otherwise just an okay story.

[Anne Beardsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which our protagonist goes to Hogwarts School of Lighting Catching and Weatherdry excuse me, I mean the Perilous Institute.

Oh, there's more to the plot than that. There's his missing parents (whom he has probably seen twice a year his entire life -- his uncle raised him, uh took care of him, uh, lived under the same roof and mostly cheerfully ignored his existence, in a kindly way), there's his developing friendship with Ron and Hermione Dougal and Indigo, and the school that I can't see how more than 20% survive to graduate. It's a good romp. And there's the cut-rate villain who escaped from a Victorian vaudeville stage, language, appearance, and all.

But it's a fun, spritely book. Reasonably well-written, and quite creative. I enjoyed myself and intend to read the second installment.

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angus hasn't heard from his parents in weeks, but when his uncle suddenly ships him off to a school that studies extreme weather phenomenon, he and his new friends begin to unearth an ancient secret connected to both his family, and the strange dragon haunting his dreams. Cameron is sure to keep young readers entertained with this mildly exciting adventure, its kooky science fiction elements and decently charming cast making for an overall predictable but good time. What have Angus' parents been up to, and what does it have to do with the Exploratorium?

[Morgan Radley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't even make it to chapter 3. This book is obnoxious. It throws all of these "whimsical" or "fantastic" elements at you from page one, while also boiling down the characters and the plot so much that only a 5 year old would find it interesting. It's honestly an insult to the intelligence and creativity of children to expect them to read something like this. And no, that's not an exaggeration, either. I love reading childrens literature, but this book was a hot mess from page one.

[Omi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book was pretty good. I liked the characters, Angus McFangus, Dougal Dewsnap, and Indigo Midnight. There wasn't that much action with the bad guy, Scabious Dankheart, but the parts that there were were pretty good. All in all this book was great, and I highly recommend it.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun adventurous book. A good read for fans of Harry Potter or the Septimus Heap series. There were enough twists and turns to keep me reading and wanting to read book 2. A good choice for middle grade readers (or adults that like fun books!).

[Anne Patkau · Rating 4 out of 5]

ReRd. Startling names. Black ink drawings by Victoria Jamieson can be cute, scary, / strange.

At weather school Perilous, Angus McFangus 11 gets pals Dougal Dewsnap, Indigo Midnight. Mum`s letter odd capitals are code, A stays ignorant. Cliffhanger, villain Dankhart has A`s parents.

[Lisa Kizer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very generic Harry Potter. No wizards per se but weather nerds.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book. I found this at Dollar Tree, now I have to find the rest of the series.

[Andrew Marr · Rating 2 out of 5]

First I'll tell you what the publishers don't want you to know: This is the first volume of a series. The story rounds off fairly well but leaves loose ends clearly requiring a sequel or two or three or . . .

It bothers me when publishers deliberately hide this, giving no indication until you have read the book that it is part of a multi-volume set.

Is it any good? Not particularly. The insane humor is so thick, especially at the beginning that it took a long time to develop any interest in the story or characters. That does come to some extend later in the book, but none of it is all that deep.

One can have some fun reading this book but there are so many fantasies that are better (look up my books & reviews) that I suggest passing this & its sequels by.

[mandyfujita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I liked the fiery dragon on the cover and I thought that the lightning catcher sounded like there would be some training involved so I gave Anne Cameron a chance and borrowed the book. I liked the spunk that she wrote into Angus, the main character. He is an eleven year old that lives with his uncle Max who happens to be an inventor.

Angus is in Devon while his parents are on a work trip. One night, the uncle has a visitor who takes Angus to the island of Imbur. Angus finds out he will be training to be a lightning catcher. It is a school where first year students are called cubs. They learn about all kinds of weather and even have field trips. Great story and sounds like there will be others. I cannot wait.

[Valerie]

Couldn't help drawing unfavorable comparisons to Harry Potter. Main character has no idea what's going on and makes two new friends, a boy who grew up in this new world, and a girl who is an outcast of her own making. Antagonist is well-known for being the biggest bad ever, climax happens when the two characters meet in an underground showdown, the two friends having been left behind to go get help. It was a refreshing change to have ALL the characters stand up to the bully students, not just our main hero; the headmistress/principal is NOT a warm, cuddly type that our heroes secretly admire. I will go ahead and read the rest of the series, just because I hate starting something and not finishing it, but it is waaaaaay down on my list!

[Lynda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Angus McFangus is an 11 year old boy who discovers he is to go to school to be a lightning catcher. His parents are lightening catchers as well as other members of his family, so he goes to school and meets a boy and girl his age who are there for that reason too. These people all control the weather. There is an evil person out there who has kidnapped his parents, so Angus lives with his uncle. Sound familiar? Too familiar. It tries too hard to be Harry Potter and doesn't come close. Sequels are sure to follow (I wouldn't be surprised if there are 7) but I'm not interested. It was way too far-fetched.

[Mel Raschke]

The Lightning Catcher is exciting, clever, action-packed from start to finish, and races along at a cracking pace. The three main characters, Angus (who is a Storm Prophet), Dougal (a bit of a nerd) and Indigo (who has a dark secret), are highly likeable, and the dialogue is so funny at times it made me laugh out loud. Together they must stop the villainous Scabious Dankhart -- who has already kidnapped Angus's parents -- from discovering the whereabouts of the secret Lightning Vaults, or he will unleash the never-ending storm kept inside, and gain world domination.

[Deb]

this book is not a good book, in terms of being well written. The author seemed to have more interest in making alliterations or toungue twister names for chaacters or events. Too much was not explained that would have added to the enjoyment of the book, based on the ages of the characters. An example- the character is given a text book written by someone with his last name, there is no interest in finding out who the author was, was the author a distant relative?

I hope the next book gets better.

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Angus McFangus (really? What were his parents thinking?) who finds out he is descended from famous ‘lightning catchers’. He is brought to a secret island for his safety and hidden among other ‘lightning cubs’ and taught about the weather. This includes lessons on invisible fog and fake fog. Angus discovered he is a ‘storm prophet’, a person who can tell what weather will do next.
I really liked the premise, but the writing style fell rather flat. I would love to see how this story would have turned out in the hands of a more talented/experienced author.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is Harry Potter with weather and weather gadgets instead of magic. There are literally DOZENS of parallels between the Hogwarts stories and this book. The lack of originality was really shameless--you could create a drinking game just based on points copying the HP books. The book, the beginning of a series, was mildly entertaining but I'm not sure whether I will pursue later volumes.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angus McFangus discovers that his parents don't really work at boring government jobs while he lives with his uncle Max in Devon. Angus is whisked away from Devon to Imbur Island and perilous school to learn about weather. Angus, Dougal and Indigo have an adventure looking for the lightning vaults in hopes of getting Angus's parents back.

[Teresa Osgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some elements here seem pretty familiar: boy is whisked away to secret academy where he learns of his family's unusual gifts. But the gifts are meteorological--dealing with weather like you've never seen it. And his missing parents may be recoverable. The pace is good, the characters have potential, and the details are pretty interesting.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically Harry Potter but easier to read, less scary and deals with weather. Although I didn't read all of it, Jonathan enjoyed it. Great for children who enjoy reading but aren't ready for teen books.

[Ruby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cheesy and predictable. Meant for tweens, perhaps? I didn't overly enjoy it, and I think it didn't flow that well.

[Dawn Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, full of fun, adventure and humour. Kids will love it.

[Kirsti Call · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a lot of fun and will delight boys and girls like. I was a little frustrated that it didn't end well we have to wait for the second book....

[T-money · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally thought that it was a good book but a little bit too edtucational. It had an okay storyline and I might recommend it.

[Brandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

a good clean middle school or 3-5 grade read

[Jimmy]

Read to page 148.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was amazing! I really liked it! Really cool story to read!

[J Burles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readalike: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone