CITY AT MY FEET

In More’s debut YA novel—set in an alternate universe—a young woman desires to become the first female warrior of her tribe.

Sakima Tamanend is a 17-year-old living on Mannahatta, the island of the Lenape people (similarities to peoples and places in our world are absolutely intentional). She’s determined to prove herself as the first female warrior in her people’s history but doesn’t quite know how. Sakima spies her brother-in-law, Machto, entering a strange building on the outskirts of her village. Inside, she discovers that Machto has kidnapped her younger sister, Tangetta, and fled through a portal into the “Land Below.” Sakima dives in after them only to find herself in a strange land called “New York City,” a place lacking the technological advances she’s accustomed to. As Sakima hunts down Machto in an attempt to rescue her sister, she realizes that her brother-in-law has unleashed a horrific mythological creature on the world; she will need to draw upon the Lenape spirits if she has any hope of defeating it. Along the way, she meets Mike “Blue” Biehn, MJ Tiptree, and Charles “Chuck” Benbova, a group of New York teenagers who decide to help their unusual new friend. More cleverly combines futuristic technology with Native American imagery in descriptions of Mannahatta: “[She smelled] artificial excrement from the digestive tracks of sisilieyòk, mechBison [sic]. In the past, this included metal shavings from operational gears and levers…migrating to the digestive tracks of the beasts.” The novel contains some harsh language (“damn ugly bitch!”), and the dialogue can feel jarringly modern in some contexts (“Mom, seriously! It’s nothing like that”), but these quibbles pale in comparison to the dazzling details that More gives to his universe.

Fans of intricately crafted fantasy universes will find plenty to explore in this action-packed saga.