Totally fresh
Original worldbuilding and cosmology spice up a save-the-world romantic adventure.
Five years after fleeing their Turtle-back island home in the dead of night for a treason he was too young to understand, Tenjat and his sister Eflet scrape out a living as subsistence farmers on the back of a different massive Turtle, Island Gunaji. While Tenjat is determined to become a warrior Handler in order to care for his sister, Eflet is disgusted with his goal. But since Eflet (inexplicably) won’t tell Tenjat why his clever plan is so flawed, he sees no alternative. A man who doesn’t pass the Handler tests or apprentice to an artisan has no choice but the shameful life of a hub, or husband, disgracefully burdening the Turtle with children. Luckily, Tenjat passes the Handler tests; less luckily, he feels disgustingly hubbish about Avi, the young woman who is his Handler trainer, who must whip Tenjat into shape in order to save Island Gunaji from starvation, rampaging nagas and the enslaving hordes of other Turtles. Though too much of what Tenjat needs to know is revealed through Eflet, her revelations are so intriguing that her nigh-omniscience is less distracting than it could be. Readers will find watching Hutchins’ unusual magical rules bring about startling consequences for family and political structure utterly fascinating.
Totally fresh . (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: June 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-62014-145-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Tu Books
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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