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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Gloria, the only human at the Cosmic Cadet Academy, is ready to make a splash. But on her first day, she ends up with the headteacher stuck on her shoe and is paired up with Razz, a cat-like alien who’s capable of throwing terrifying tantrums.
Determined to have a wild adventure, Gloria rejects their boring assignment and takes on the forbidden mission to capture a uni-corn, a creature capable of swallowing galaxies whole. Gloria may just get her wish for excitement … if she doesn’t accidentally destroy the entire universe first.
Gloria has always dreamed of being a Cosmic Crusader, so that she can protect the universe from evil sorcerers and weird creatures. To do so, she had to get accepted into the Cosmic Cadet Academy, which wasn’t easy because they have never even heard of planet Earth, let alone accepted any students from there! By the time she had gone through the application process and finally got her acceptance, she had already missed the start of term. But now that Gloria has arrived she is determined to make a splash and prove herself as quickly as possible and make a splash.
Unfortunately Gloria’s first day does not go as planned. For starters, she manages to step on the headteacher Mrs Hubblegum, then her teacher Captain Tinsela (one of the most legendary Cosmic Crusaders of all time) pairs her with Razznoria Zazztalion Izzarius (Razz for short) who Gloria’s classmates tell her is really scary. But Razz looks like a gorgeous, sleek kitty cat. How on earth can she be scary?
Things improve when Captain Tinsela gives Gloria and Razz their first assignments but instead of fighting space wizards, they’re getting lynxes out of trees and running shopping errands. Gloria knows that if she can just show Captain Tinsela how much she’s capable of, then she’ll soon be given the best assignments, but when she drags a reluctant Razz into taking on a uni-korn, she quickly discovers how out of her depth she is and together, she and Razz must find a way to fix it before the un-korn destroys the entire universe!
Ryan Crawford and Rochelle Falconer’s illustrated SF adventure for readers aged 7+ (the first in a series) has an energetic, fast-moving plot and bold, colourful illustrations. I liked that Gloria is difficult to like - impetuous, dismissive, and arrogant - because that’s not common in books for this age group but the world building does not hold together particularly well and it tries too hard to be quirky for me to want to read the sequel.
I picked this up because I liked the fact that the main character of Gloria is a POC plus I’m always up for reading SF aimed at younger readers because the earlier you get them, the longer you keep them …
Falconer’s illustrations are great and I loved that the publisher has spent money and printed this book in colour because you get the full benefit of the bold energy to the various characters. She has clearly had a lot of fun in bringing them to life and special mention should go to her illustrations of Razz whose scary forms is actually genuinely terrifying.
What distinguishes this book from a lot of others for this age group is the fact that Gloria is actually a really annoying main character. There were many times in the story when I really didn’t like her, from the way she dismisses Razz when she tries to get them to do what they’re supposed to be doing, to her exaggerated sense of her own abilities. There is the inevitable scene at the end where she has to face up to her faults, but again Crawford is courageous because the resolution does make it clear that while she’s more aware of what she’s done, she won’t necessarily work to fix those faults so there will clearly be more trouble ahead. All of this is brave for the age group when there’s a lot of pressure to make main characters likeable and it does make Gloria feel very believable.
Razz, in contrast, is a quieter and more insecure character, in part because her siblings are some of the most celebrated Cosmic Crusaders of all time and she worries about being in their shadow. The way Crawford shifts to her viewpoint helps to bring out just how annoying Gloria is and I really empathised with Razz’s frustration and the scene where Razz shows her claws (literally) is well done and also made me give a little cheer as Gloria definitely had it coming.
Although the plot is pacy, it is also episodic with Razz and Gloria going from mission to mission. There is a lot to like in aspects of the world building, e.g. the fact that in the cafeteria all of the food is turned into shakes and the fact that Gloria eats solid food is viewed as being barbaric. However I found the Ring (a device that the cadets use to create things or do things to help their missions) to be incredibly irritating, especially the slang it uses but I acknowledge that this is likely to be more down to my personal tastes than any fault in the writing itself as it is consistent with the Ring’s character. It seemed unnecessarily quirky for the story and felt like it tried too hard.
There are, unfortunately, some inconsistencies with the world building. For example, I simply didn’t buy that Gloria - who is mad about all things Cosmic Crusaders - did not know that Razz was related to two of her favourites. Similarly, I was surprised that she didn’t know what the Headteacher looked like and even though that went to the joke, it just didn’t ring true in the context of the story.
The overall effect of this was that I wasn’t as gripped by this book as I’d hoped to be and as a result am not in a rush to read the sequel, although I do think there’s a lot there for the target age group.
The Verdict:
Ryan Crawford and Rochelle Falconer’s illustrated SF adventure for readers aged 7+ (the first in a series) has an energetic, fast-moving plot and bold, colourful illustrations. I liked that Gloria is difficult to like - impetuous, dismissive, and arrogant - because that’s not common in books for this age group but the world building does not hold together particularly well and it tries too hard to be quirky for me to want to read the sequel.
COSMIC CADETS AND THE UNIVERSAL UNI-KORN was released in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
Gloria, the only human at the Cosmic Cadet Academy, is ready to make a splash. But on her first day, she ends up with the headteacher stuck on her shoe and is paired up with Razz, a cat-like alien who’s capable of throwing terrifying tantrums.
Determined to have a wild adventure, Gloria rejects their boring assignment and takes on the forbidden mission to capture a uni-corn, a creature capable of swallowing galaxies whole. Gloria may just get her wish for excitement … if she doesn’t accidentally destroy the entire universe first.
Gloria has always dreamed of being a Cosmic Crusader, so that she can protect the universe from evil sorcerers and weird creatures. To do so, she had to get accepted into the Cosmic Cadet Academy, which wasn’t easy because they have never even heard of planet Earth, let alone accepted any students from there! By the time she had gone through the application process and finally got her acceptance, she had already missed the start of term. But now that Gloria has arrived she is determined to make a splash and prove herself as quickly as possible and make a splash.
Unfortunately Gloria’s first day does not go as planned. For starters, she manages to step on the headteacher Mrs Hubblegum, then her teacher Captain Tinsela (one of the most legendary Cosmic Crusaders of all time) pairs her with Razznoria Zazztalion Izzarius (Razz for short) who Gloria’s classmates tell her is really scary. But Razz looks like a gorgeous, sleek kitty cat. How on earth can she be scary?
Things improve when Captain Tinsela gives Gloria and Razz their first assignments but instead of fighting space wizards, they’re getting lynxes out of trees and running shopping errands. Gloria knows that if she can just show Captain Tinsela how much she’s capable of, then she’ll soon be given the best assignments, but when she drags a reluctant Razz into taking on a uni-korn, she quickly discovers how out of her depth she is and together, she and Razz must find a way to fix it before the un-korn destroys the entire universe!
Ryan Crawford and Rochelle Falconer’s illustrated SF adventure for readers aged 7+ (the first in a series) has an energetic, fast-moving plot and bold, colourful illustrations. I liked that Gloria is difficult to like - impetuous, dismissive, and arrogant - because that’s not common in books for this age group but the world building does not hold together particularly well and it tries too hard to be quirky for me to want to read the sequel.
I picked this up because I liked the fact that the main character of Gloria is a POC plus I’m always up for reading SF aimed at younger readers because the earlier you get them, the longer you keep them …
Falconer’s illustrations are great and I loved that the publisher has spent money and printed this book in colour because you get the full benefit of the bold energy to the various characters. She has clearly had a lot of fun in bringing them to life and special mention should go to her illustrations of Razz whose scary forms is actually genuinely terrifying.
What distinguishes this book from a lot of others for this age group is the fact that Gloria is actually a really annoying main character. There were many times in the story when I really didn’t like her, from the way she dismisses Razz when she tries to get them to do what they’re supposed to be doing, to her exaggerated sense of her own abilities. There is the inevitable scene at the end where she has to face up to her faults, but again Crawford is courageous because the resolution does make it clear that while she’s more aware of what she’s done, she won’t necessarily work to fix those faults so there will clearly be more trouble ahead. All of this is brave for the age group when there’s a lot of pressure to make main characters likeable and it does make Gloria feel very believable.
Razz, in contrast, is a quieter and more insecure character, in part because her siblings are some of the most celebrated Cosmic Crusaders of all time and she worries about being in their shadow. The way Crawford shifts to her viewpoint helps to bring out just how annoying Gloria is and I really empathised with Razz’s frustration and the scene where Razz shows her claws (literally) is well done and also made me give a little cheer as Gloria definitely had it coming.
Although the plot is pacy, it is also episodic with Razz and Gloria going from mission to mission. There is a lot to like in aspects of the world building, e.g. the fact that in the cafeteria all of the food is turned into shakes and the fact that Gloria eats solid food is viewed as being barbaric. However I found the Ring (a device that the cadets use to create things or do things to help their missions) to be incredibly irritating, especially the slang it uses but I acknowledge that this is likely to be more down to my personal tastes than any fault in the writing itself as it is consistent with the Ring’s character. It seemed unnecessarily quirky for the story and felt like it tried too hard.
There are, unfortunately, some inconsistencies with the world building. For example, I simply didn’t buy that Gloria - who is mad about all things Cosmic Crusaders - did not know that Razz was related to two of her favourites. Similarly, I was surprised that she didn’t know what the Headteacher looked like and even though that went to the joke, it just didn’t ring true in the context of the story.
The overall effect of this was that I wasn’t as gripped by this book as I’d hoped to be and as a result am not in a rush to read the sequel, although I do think there’s a lot there for the target age group.
The Verdict:
Ryan Crawford and Rochelle Falconer’s illustrated SF adventure for readers aged 7+ (the first in a series) has an energetic, fast-moving plot and bold, colourful illustrations. I liked that Gloria is difficult to like - impetuous, dismissive, and arrogant - because that’s not common in books for this age group but the world building does not hold together particularly well and it tries too hard to be quirky for me to want to read the sequel.
COSMIC CADETS AND THE UNIVERSAL UNI-KORN was released in the United Kingdom on 4 September 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
