A first US publication for Canadian poet and filmmaker Whyte: an earnestly heroic tale set at the turn of the fifth century a.d., during the twilight of the Roman occupation of Britain. Here, a retired Roman centurion, now an ironsmith, and his former Commander conquer their enemies and establish an independent community in Britain: Along the way, the smith will discover the secret of the mysterious ore-bearing stones ``from the sky'' and forge a link to a legend born two centuries later—with the arrival of King Arthur. Gaius Publius Varrus, recovering from his latest battle as a Roman soldier, is befriended by General Caius Britannicus, whose life he had saved in Africa. After Varrus returns to his home in Colchester, in Britain, the paths of the two continue to cross. Varrus is determined to find more of the miraculous ore—of a blinding brightness—from which his grandfather had made the splendid sword now in the possession of the new Military Commander Theodosius. It's when Varrus is on the run from the Senecas—a Roman family conducting an ancient feud against the Britannici, one of whom he had outwitted and outfought- -that he is forced to escape to Bath, and Britannicus' estate. There, he discovers, thanks to the observations of his future wife, Britannicus' sister, a new source of the stones that once fell from the sky. Meanwhile, groups of Romans in Britain are becoming disgruntled with Rome—taxes, government interference, rottenness at the top, and so on. To plan for ``their continued, structured existence in advance of a time of chaos,'' Britannicus calls for a new community. There are handshakes all around with the native Chief ``and his Druids.'' And at the close, Varrus, who's drained a lake and hauled stones, exhibits his skystone—now made ``Lady of the Lake.'' Old-timey manly sentiments, some battle grue, info about smelting iron, and a modestly clever Arthurian-linked gimmick. Beyond the entertaining anachronisms, a busy, boyish saga, inventive and good-hearted.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-312-86091-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Forge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1995
Harry Potter–like threads spun into a fresh, enjoyable mix of magic and mystery.
A teenage orphan enters a curious school and encounters mysteries and dangerous secrets in this first installment of a debut YA fantasy series.
Life in Croswald is about to change for 16-year-old orphan Ivy, a lowly castle maid in charge of the kitchen “scaldrons,” oven-heating, fire-breathing dragons. Fleeing the castle after a messy scaldron mishap, Ivy hops a strange conveyance that transports her to a school for potential quill-wielding, spell-casting “scrivenists.” (The author’s creative language—students are “sqwinches,” and “hairies” are lanterns housing fairies with luminous hair—is one of the book’s pleasures.) Learning that there is more to her gift for sketching than she realized, Ivy studies spells and the magical properties of inks and quills, but strange things keep happening. Why is an old scrivenist, long thought dead, working in secret? Why is the head of the oddly familiar school moving paintings to the “Forgetting Room” so that no one will remember they existed? How can Ivy get a look at a certain journal stored there, and what does it have to do with her recurrent dream? And why has Ivy drawn the interest of the Dark Queen of Croswald and her truly fearsome Cloaked Brood? The intrigue is layered with such whimsical inventions as one school lunchroom run by ghostly bad cooks and another by a jester who is best avoided, scrivenists who end their lives as tomes in a library, and small houses pulled by a gargantuan flying beast with its own weather system. Yes, there are many Harry Potter–ish elements: a school for young wand-wielders, quirky shops dealing in enchanted student supplies, eccentric characters, spells gone wrong, an evil pursuer. But Night’s blend of magic, danger, and suspense (and a touch of steampunk) is a well-realized, fresh fantasy world all its own, and Ivy is an appealing protagonist of relatable complexity. A few bobbles: Ivy seems to go without food for long stretches; the use of “effected” rather than “affected”; a professor who is both standing and perched on a chair.
Harry Potter–like threads spun into a fresh, enjoyable mix of magic and mystery.Pub Date: July 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9969486-5-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Stories Untold Press
Review Posted Online: June 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this riveting futuristic novel, Spaz, a teenage boy with epilepsy, makes a dangerous journey in the company of an old man and a young boy. The old man, Ryter, one of the few people remaining who can read and write, has dedicated his life to recording stories. Ryter feels a kinship with Spaz, who unlike his contemporaries has a strong memory; because of his epilepsy, Spaz cannot use the mind probes that deliver entertainment straight to the brain and rot it in the process. Nearly everyone around him uses probes to escape their life of ruin and poverty, the result of an earthquake that devastated the world decades earlier. Only the “proovs,” genetically improved people, have grass, trees, and blue skies in their aptly named Eden, inaccessible to the “normals” in the Urb. When Spaz sets out to reach his dying younger sister, he and his companions must cross three treacherous zones ruled by powerful bosses. Moving from one peril to the next, they survive only with help from a proov woman. Enriched by Ryter’s allusions to nearly lost literature and full of intriguing, invented slang, the skillful writing paints two pictures of what the world could look like in the future—the burned-out Urb and the pristine Eden—then shows the limits and strengths of each. Philbrick, author of Freak the Mighty (1993) has again created a compelling set of characters that engage the reader with their courage and kindness in a painful world that offers hope, if no happy endings. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-439-08758-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Blue Sky/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
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