DAWN OF DEORIDIUM

Centuries after a planetary disaster turns Earth into a sun-scorched wilderness, a teenager abandons her kingdom during a barbarian siege to embark on a forbidden quest for a legendary energy source.

Ting’s debut novel kicks off a YA SF/fantasy series. The principal setting, as tipped off by a map in the opening pages, is the “Arctic Fist”—recognizable as Alaska and its surroundings. Some 300 years ago, a 90-degree “Shift” in Earth’s magnetosphere exposed much of the planet to pitiless solar flares and radiation. The consequent mass extinctions and societal collapse have led to a strange, feudalist new world order, in which one portion of scattered humanity subsists near the poles. A small number of people, predominantly women, evolved as “Faradants,” able to generate magnetic fields via their cardiopulmonary systems. They can control certain metals, heal some forms of illnesses, generate heat, and, at least temporarily, erect force shields against the “Solscream” barrages of lethal radiation. Kaili, 16, is the royal heir to the matriarchal city-state of Kalulishi, an underground fortress that keeps her people safe from solar flares. It is one of the few relatively comfortable and prosperous settlements in the Fist, but it’s arrogantly estranged from adjacent fishing villages and under regular attack by “Arcfarer” barbarians. When a fearsome, mysterious “Iron King” with formidable Faradant abilities lays siege to Kalulishi, Kaili impulsively ventures into hazardous territories (with ruins of the long-gone civilization) after the Deoridium, a rumored artifact of immense power. But Kaili does seem to make more tragic mistakes and bad choices than the average plucky YA protagonist, and this may be one of them. Ting’s concept of metallurgical magic is at first one of those irksomely elastic fantasy gimmicks whose logic seems to come and go as is convenient to rescue the hero from seemingly hopeless peril. But a neat, last-act twist does explain the inconsistencies. The action-filled plot concludes with a number of dangling story strands, unaccounted-for villains still in play, and a romance (low on the author’s list of priorities) deep in the background. But genre readers should be attracted by the well-planned worldbuilding and clever narrative and not be repelled by the loose threads.

A smart, magnetism-driven SF/fantasy tale that gives a new series admirable power.