Award-winning Alexander's stories have often taken inspiration from Welsh mythology. This time, an imaginary epic is the pivot for an adventure set in a not-quite-possible kingdom on the Adriatic 100 years ago. Vesper Holly, 16, orphaned by the death of her scholar father, welcomes his lifelong friends, Professor Brinton Garrett (Brinnie) and his wife, who come to Philadelphia to provide for her future life. But Vesper is determined to go with him to Illyria to fulfil her father's dream of proving that the Illyriad, an epic poem presenting the country's mythology, is rooted in history. Brinnie soon is provisioning an expedition to Illyria. Nothing is an obstacle to Vesper, a brilliant, fearless and determined young woman. It quickly becomes apparent that the wars between the Illyrians and the Zentans, both indigenous ethnic groups, are as alive in 1872 as they were in mythological times. It is also clear that the two warring kings of long ago had intended to make peace and that a treasure was involved. When Vesper and Brinnie explore the ruins of King Vartan's castle, they find the treasure that would have been the token of peace. Vesper makes peace by showing the two leaders in her own time that their ancestors would have settled their wars had it not been for deception and unwillingness on both sides to be the first to forgive and give up the quarrel. A truly exciting story, it carries the reader along to a triumphant conclusion and the hope that Vesper may have another adventure before she settles down—perhaps in Illyria, where she seems to have left her heart.
Pub Date: April 1, 1986
ISBN: 0141303131
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1986
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters.
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
A must-own adaptation chock-full of such stuff as kids’ dreams are—and will be—made on.
Mirth, magic, and mischief abound in this picture-book retelling of one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays.
Ariel, the beloved sprite whose conjurings precipitate the eponymous tempest, gets top billing in this adaptation and recounts the narrative in the first person. Through Ariel’s eyes, readers are introduced to the powerful Prospero, his lovely daughter, Miranda, and the shipwrecked nobles who are brought to the island to right an ancient wrong. Ellinas’ picture book largely divests the tale of its colonialist underpinnings and breathes three-dimensional complexity into the major and minor characters. Caliban, for instance, is monstrous due to his callous treatment of Ariel rather than because he is racially coded as savage. Another delightful change is the depiction of Miranda, who emerges as an athletic, spirited, and beautiful nature-child whose charms are understandably irresistible to Prince Ferdinand. The text is perfectly matched by Ray’s jaw-droppingly beautiful illustrations, which will enchant readers from the front cover to the final curtain. The greens of the waters and the blues of the island’s night sky are so lush and inviting that readers will wish they could enter the book. Peppered throughout the story are italicized fragments of Shakespeare’s dialogue, giving both young and older readers something to enjoy. Large, granite-colored Caliban is plainly nonhuman; the human characters present white; Ariel is a translucent, paper white.
A must-own adaptation chock-full of such stuff as kids’ dreams are—and will be—made on. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1144-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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