Readers who stick it out to the action-packed climax will be curious about what's coming next
The first of a two-book adventure series sends a gifted warrior-in-training out into the desert to die.
In a fantasy world with the flavor of the Central Asian steppes, Raim is a 15-year-old nomad determined to join the elite forces of the Khanate. Since he was a child, he's been best friends with the Khan's heir, and if he passes his tests he'll be young Khareh's most trusted fighter. He need only make an Absolute Vow, an oath sworn on a knot. If the maker of a knotted promise is forsworn, the knot burns a hideous scar on the oathbreaker's body, and a grotesque shadow appears, haunting the breaker of the promise and causing his countrymen to drive him into the wilderness. With a loaded gun like that hanging on the wall, readers know it will soon be fired. Yet when Raim does set a promise knot afire, it's through no choice of his own but from some terrible misadventure. If he can only survive the shame of banishment, the desert's poisonous bugs and the city of the oathbreakers, Raim can learn his terrible family secrets—except those best left for the sequel. Worldbuilding grows through exposition that plods as slowly as Raim's trudge through the sands.
Readers who stick it out to the action-packed climax will be curious about what's coming next . (Fantasy. 13-15)Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7387-4405-6
Page Count: 408
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
Taking up where Libyrinth (2009) left off, the spotlight of this sequel falls on Po and his difficulty adapting to the new culture rising from the life-changing Redemption. Po comes from a female-dominant culture: He’s hostile to men, protective of women and naïve about the motives and manipulations of others. After one transgression too many, he joins a quest searching for an artifact that will restore ecological balance to the deteriorating environment. While its predecessor examined religious/political belief systems, this volume explores differences among the various groups’ gender and sexual mores. Po becomes sexually active and makes dangerous mistakes before changing (quite realistically) his point of view and behavior. Sympathy for Po will carry readers until the excitement and suspense of the quest take over. Themes of abuse of authority, the nature of prejudice and the power of the written word remain from the first book—but with tricky and interesting twists. Background information is skillfully integrated into the plot in this clever, thought-provoking book that has appeal for fans of serious science fiction and fantasy. (Science fiction. 13-15)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2097-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
The Salt trilogy closes with a third generation of children fighting petty but dangerous evils. Hana, a girl from the city's wretched Bawdhouse Burrow, is orphaned when her mother is burned as a witch. Ben grows up far from the city, raised by his grandparents Pearl and Hari in the idyllic village from Gool (2010). When Hana flees the city, she brings with her a terrifying message for those outside its darkness: The Limping Man is coming. He has the terrible power to make people love him even as he torments them, and he plans to wipe out all who stand against him. Since most of the outsiders—Ben's family, the forest Dwellers and "the people without a name"—have mental powers, the Limping Man intends to massacre them. Ben and Hana, along with their allies, must find the Limping Man's secret in order to save their own lives and homes. Ben and Hana’s victories, like those of their parents and grandparents, are local. Even if they do defeat the Limping Man, they cannot vanquish evil from the world; life in the burrows will likely continue to be nasty, brutish and short. The heroes' personalities are defined by their harsh environments, but they reach beyond those limitations. Fantasy heroes who can save only themselves and their loved ones are a welcome change from the usual. (Fantasy. 13-15)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55469-216-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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