High stakes ensure an engaging experience for readers.
The second installment of this dystopian science fiction series, which is set somewhere near the border of Illinois, opens six months after the end of Tracker220 (2020).
Sixteen-year-old Kaya Weiss and her technologically savvy friends successfully thwarted Rufus Scurry, the mastermind behind Global Tracking Systems, in his bid for world domination through mind control and the manipulation of implanted chip technology. But even though Scurry is currently imprisoned, suspicions arise that dormant trackers are being reactivated for sinister purposes. The team must unite once again to confront this new threat. While the storyline may tread familiar ground in the genre, readers will enjoy the intriguing coding and logic challenges, the group’s romantic dynamics, and the heart-pounding chase sequences involving flying motorbikes. A refreshingly intimate portrayal of Kaya’s observant Jewish family also offers a novel perspective rarely captured in speculative fiction. The pacing occasionally falters, however, and conflicts are prolonged by simple miscommunications, leading to exaggerated and overly fraught interpersonal drama. Krakover explores ethical dilemmas associated with scientific advancement as Kaya grapples with the potential benefits of trackers, such as crime prevention and health monitoring, juxtaposed with their potential for abuse of power and invasion of privacy. The clever use of a journal entry penned by Kaya with hand-drawn illustrations as a device to organically fill in details for new readers makes the book accessible as a stand-alone title.
Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781958051528
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
Bound to be popular.
A suddenly trendy trope—conflict and romance between members of conquering and enslaved races—enlivened by fantasy elements loosely drawn from Arabic tradition (another trend!).
In an original, well-constructed fantasy world (barring some lazy naming), the Scholars have lived under Martial rule for 500 years, downtrodden and in many cases enslaved. Scholar Laia has spent a lifetime hiding her connection to the Resistance—her parents were its leaders—but when her grandparents are killed and her brother’s captured by Masks, the eerie, silver-faced elite soldiers of the Martial Empire, Laia must go undercover as a slave to the terrifying Commandant of Blackcliff Military Academy, where Martials are trained for battle. Meanwhile, Elias, the Commandant’s not-at-all-beloved son, wants to run away from Blackcliff, until he is named an Aspirant for the throne by the mysterious red-eyed Augurs. Predictably, action, intrigue, bloodshed and some pounding pulses follow; there’s betrayal and a potential love triangle or two as well. Sometimes-lackluster prose and a slight overreliance on certain kinds of sexual violence as a threat only slightly diminish the appeal created by familiar (but not predictable) characters and a truly engaging if not fully fleshed-out fantasy world.
Bound to be popular. (Fantasy. 13 & up)Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59514-803-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
Returning fans, anyway, will pounce.
Houck kicks off a new story arc in the world of the Tiger’s Curse series with new tigers who live in a northerly setting.
The death of their widowed royal mother touches off a crisis in the Kievian Empire; neither Stacia nor Verusha Stepanov, 17-year-old sword-wielding twin sisters, wants to be named tsarina. But questions of succession get put on hold when a battle with a sorcerer inexplicably turns the two into nonspeaking Siberian tigers. Hints of a cure send them, along with a growing entourage of men to provide assistance (and, perforce, do all the talking), on a long trek. Though most of the cast sticks to genre type, Houck throws in a wild card in the form of hunky, inarticulate Nikolai, who joins the quest because he is enthralled by Verusha—and who also killed his whole family in an act of revenge. Occasional anachronistic dialogue (e.g., “Are you ready, ladies?”) disrupts the tale’s generally earnest tone, as do the clumsy attempts at banter. A third tiger, snarky and blind but conveniently able to see through others’ eyes, trots in late in the story. The events in this setup volume unfold with many a flashback and change in point of view and head toward no sort of resolution—only the cave-dwelling White Shaman of the Tundra’s advice that further journeys are in the offing. The central cast in this Russian-inspired fantasy world presents white; the Indigenous population includes nomadic reindeer herders.
Returning fans, anyway, will pounce. (Fantasy. 13-16)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9798212221696
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Blackstone
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
