The Arrival by Kieran Fanning

Item: The Arrival
Author: karenbaron

Posted January 8, 2026 by karenbaron in Children's, Review, Science Fiction / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Arrival

by Kieran Fanning
Published by Independently Published on April 15, 2024
Setting: Wexford, Ireland
Genres: Middle Grade Sci-Fi
Pages: 250
Format: Kindle, Paperback
Source: the Author
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon

“Indiana Jones meets The Da Vinci Code” for kids (11+) and teenagers.

When mysterious artefacts are discovered in an underground tunnel, teenagers Sarah and Declan assemble them to create an electricity-filled gateway, through which an unusual boy arrives. Declan thinks he has been sent from God. Sarah thinks he is an alien. Others believe he may be something else…

The Arrival by Kieran Fanning follows Sarah and Declan as they figure out what the electricity-filled gateway means and why dump a boy there.

Can Sarah and Declan solve the puzzle of the gateway?

Sarah

Sarah arrives in Declan’s hometown with her father. Her father is an archeologist and was called in to determine what they found. Sarah is skeptical of the town but is intrigued by what drew her father there. She is a good character and has two sides that should differ but work well together. Sarah is much like her father in wanting to learn about the past, but she is also like her mom in believing in astrology and other things that shouldn’t work with archaeology.

I have to say that I liked Sarah and how she handled herself in some tough situations. Sarah and I would be good friends.

Declan

Declan is the other main character. He is connected to the artifact in a way that Sarah doesn’t know how to believe. Declan ends up getting the artifact to become the electricity-filled gateway, and he becomes the voice for the unusual boy they found underneath it. Before Declan met Sarah, he wasn’t doing all that great emotionally or mentally, and meeting Sarah helped until the boy showed up.

I feel bad for Declan since he seems like he’s the weird kid in his small hometown. He just wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere, then he did, and then that ended. Declan’s part of the story is very spoiler-filled, so I can’t reveal much.

Three Stars

My rating for The Arrival by Kieran Fanning is three stars. I do recommend giving it a try. Mr. Fanning did a good job of keeping me entertained, but I wasn’t feeling the story as much as I thought I would.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Arrival by Kieran Fanning.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

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About Kieran Fanning

Kieran Fanning is a primary school teacher and author for children. He has published nine textbooks and seven works of fiction for children. The first four were a series of CODECRACKERS for Mentor Books which were later published in the US and Czech Republic. THE BLACK LOTUS was published by Chicken House in 2015 and later published in the US and Germany. IRISH FAIRY TALES, MYTHS AND LEGENDS was published by Scholastic in 2020. For further details, please see his website. He has an MA in Children’s Literature and regularly does readings and workshops for children. He also reviews children’s books and help children to write their own books.

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