This spectacular sequel takes steampunk into new territory. (Steampunk. 10-14)
Now that Molly Stout and family have discovered the truth that spirits are enslaved by Haviland Industries to run the machinery of Terra Nova’s industrial district (Dominion, 2017), they have set off on a quest to free as many spirits as they can.
There is an underground rebellion brewing against Haviland, with many dissenters counting on the white teen, especially after the Stouts’ historic takedown of the airship Gloria Mundi. This has “spirit-touched” Molly feeling the pressure of high expectations, even if it means putting the lives of her family and closest comrades at risk—which she does once again, to save an old spirit-friend. Her insistence on saving her friend leads to her capture and confinement in Twillingate Sanatorium. There she meets Theresa, a dark-skinned elder and former Haviland employee, who helps Molly through some tough soul-searching. A mysterious prisoner, also spirit-touched, reveals himself to be the ally Molly needs in liberating the spirits, if this is what her purpose is to be. In this sequel, Arbuthnott elevates his story by introducing engaging new characters that provide depth to the back story of the British colony of Dominion. Old enemies and lost friends appear as Arbuthnott avoids clichés and plot tricks, allowing this imaginative steampunk fantasy to slowly build as he introduces Molly to the wonders of a spectacular spirit world.
This spectacular sequel takes steampunk into new territory. (Steampunk. 10-14)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1444-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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