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THE SPELLCOATS

This takes place in prehistoric Dalemark, whose later history Jones dealt with in Cart and Cwidder (1977) and Drowned Ammet (1978); but there is no evident connection except that the characters of The Spellcoats have become legendary figures in the other novels. The story, all 250 pages, is purportedly being woven, as it happens, into the coats created by young narrator Tanaqui—at first, it seems, she weaves only to record her family's adventures, but later for the inherent magic power of the woven symbols. Orphaned by a war against blond, invading Heathens, Tanaqui and her siblings (who look like the Heathens) are expelled from their village and embark on a long journey down river to an encounter with an evil enchanter out to capture their souls. The children carry with them three ancestral figures called the Undying. (For a while they also carry an ailing older brother, magically transformed into a clay figure.) They learn en route that The One, the most revered of the three figures, is the supreme river god and their own grandfather, and that their dead mother is also the river—and like Grandfather, a god and one of the figures (the Lady). (At one point, too, the river is seen to be a stream of souls, all tumbling toward the enchanter's net.) For a while the children travel with their own king, who has designs on the One (and on the oldest sister), but they prefer the young Heathen king; when both kings die in battle Tanaqui's brother succeeds both and unifies the land. There's more magic here and less human interest than in the companion novels; only those with an interest in the murky roots of imaginary realism will be swept along.

Pub Date: Aug. 14, 1979

ISBN: 0192752804

Page Count: 260

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: April 30, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1979

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ONCE UPON A BROKEN HEART

From the Once Upon a Broken Heart series , Vol. 1

A lushly written story with an intriguing heart.

After praying to a Fate for help, Evangeline discovers the dangerous world of magic.

When her father passes away, Evangeline is left with her cold stepmother and kind but distant stepsister, Marisol. Despite inheriting a steady trust in magic, belief in her late mother’s homeland of the mystical North (where fantastical creatures live), and philosophy of hope for the future, her dreams are dashed when Luc, her love, pledges to marry Marisol instead. Evangeline desperately prays to the Prince of Hearts, a dangerous and fickle Fate famed for his heart that is waiting to be revived by his one true love—and his potentially lethal kisses. The bargain they strike sends her on a dark and magical journey throughout the land. The writing style fluctuates from clever and original to overly verbose and often confusing in its jumble of senses. While the pervasive magic and concept of the Fates as a religious system add interest, other fantasy elements are haphazardly incorporated without enough time devoted to building a cohesive world. However, the themes of love, the power of story, family influence, and holding onto belief are well rounded and add depth. The plot contains welcome surprises, and the large cast piques curiosity; readers will wish more time was spent getting to know them. Evangeline has rose-gold hair and, like other main characters, reads as White; there is diversity among the fantasy races in this world.

A lushly written story with an intriguing heart. (map) (Fantasy. 12-16)

Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-250-26839-6

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021

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IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES

From the Impossible Creatures series , Vol. 1

An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters.

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Two young people save the world and all the magic in it in this series opener.

When tall, dark-haired, white-skinned Christopher Forrester goes to stay with his grandfather in Scotland, he ventures to the top of a forbidden hill and discovers astonishing magical creatures. His grandfather explains that Christopher’s family are guardians of the “way through” to the Archipelago, where the Glimourie Tree grows—the source of glimourie, or the world’s magic. Black-haired, olive-skinned Mal Arvorian, a girl from the Archipelago, is being pursued by a murderer, and she asks Christopher for help, launching them both on a wild, dangerous journey to discover why the glimourie is disappearing and how to stop it. Together with a part-nereid woman, a ratatoska, a dragon, and a Berserker, they face an odyssey of dangerous tasks to find the Immortal, the only one who can reverse the draining of magic. Like Lyra and Will from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Mal and Christopher sacrifice their innocence for experience, meeting every challenge with depthless courage until they finally reach the maze at the heart of it all. Rundell throws myriad obstacles in her characters’ way, but she gives them tools both tangible (a casapasaran, which always points the way home, and the glamry blade, which cuts through anything) and intangible (the desire “to protect something worth protecting” and an “insistence that the world is worth loving”). Final art not seen.

An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-16)

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024

ISBN: 9780593809860

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024

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