A philosophical, ruminative adventure for fans of the CW network's The 100
The heroine of Winterkill (2014) leaves her tiny village to find settlers moving into the post-apocalyptic wilds.
Though Emmeline's settlement no longer suffers under a religiously based reign of terror, she's more than ready to leave. The allies she's made among the First Peoples visitors are itching to get home, and Em is determined to travel with Matisa, her beloved First Peoples friend, who found Em through their shared dreams. Despite their urgent need to move quickly, their party keeps growing: Matisa and her First Peoples family; Em's sweetheart, Kane; and others from their mixed Anglophone, Francophone, and Métis community. The journey is nowhere near as fast or as safe as they expect. After generations during which the western lands were populated only by First Peoples, settlers have been arriving from the European-descended Dominion in the east—and many of them are violent, lawless thugs. It seems the Dominion is no longer afraid of the Bleed, the horrifying disease that struck the continent generations ago. Matisa holds the band of travelers together as best she can, but disaster strikes so frequently readers may find themselves recalling the game “Oregon Trail,” with disease, kidnapping, and gruesome, bloody murder. Survival is so difficult that it overcomes Em's relationship drama, with the happy result that she builds a family with fellow travelers.
A philosophical, ruminative adventure for fans of the CW network's The 100 . (Alternate history. 13-15)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1663-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
There’s some originality here, though it’s hard to unearth amid all the melodrama
An illegitimate girl who hopes to find her creative passion may be connected to another kingdom’s magical history.
At 10, white, orphaned Brienna was brought to Magnalia House. For the last seven years she’s studied to become an arden, an apprentice passion, with the goal of finding her patron. The arden-sisters study art, dramatics, music, wit, and knowledge; Brienna, who has no true vocation, has eccentrically studied in all the fields. Though she doesn’t truly belong among the talented (and somewhat racially diverse) noble girls of Magnalia House, they are her beloved friends. Perhaps once she’s passioned, she can even act on her romantic feelings for the white knowledge master. But Brienna’s having strange visions lately; could they be ancestral memories of an unknown forbear from the neighboring country? What with romance, jealousy, family drama, betrayals, ancient magical history, and characters with multiple secret identities, there’s a nigh-constant pitch of throbbing…well, passion. A voice is like “tamed thunder,” and hair is like “a stream of silver.” Malapropisms abound (“punctures of laughter”; “her beauty warbled by the mullioned windows”). Oddly, most of the shocking revelations of back story are openly detailed in the lengthy family trees at the novel’s opening.
There’s some originality here, though it’s hard to unearth amid all the melodrama . (Fantasy. 13-15)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-247134-5
Page Count: 464
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
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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