An engaging space adventure with relatable characters.
Taylor’s YA/New Adult SF adventure novel follows a teenager tasked with protecting the savior of humanity.
Jinx is a Protector who’s guarding Laris, whose amazing abilities are needed to save organic life from extinction; another character describes her as “an opening that universal energy pours through.” They’re on a spaceship headed to the Milky Way, and specifically the planet Earth, the crew’s long-abandoned home. This has Jinx on edge, as the Galactic Overseers restricted travel to that galaxy after an atomic war, so there’s no telling what’s waiting for them. Jinx and Laris are joined on their mission by nerdy scientists Jacob and Claire, who keep the ship and technology running; Hadu, who’s tasked with preparing Jinx for her work as a Protector; and DeeDee, an artificial intelligence that’s programmed to watch Jinx’s back. Jinx will do anything to protect Laris—even if it means adventuring with a ragtag group to a whole new world. However, it soon becomes clear that this Earth is nothing like the one inhabited by humanity’s ancestors. Soon, the crew discover that a couple of mercenaries have targeted Laris with tech, hired by an unknown client for a mysterious mission—and it appears that Sartillias, a dangerous enemy they’ve encountered before, is once again involved. Taylor pens an adventure story that will delight adult and young adult readers alike. It’s a direct sequel to Rise of the Protector (2019), and the author does a solid job of bringing readers who are unfamiliar with the first book into the story, without making it feel redundant for others. Many of the characters here are easy to like, thanks to DeeDee’s insatiable ice cream craving (and the mess it creates), Jinx’s absolute adoration of Laris, and the banter that Jinx and Jacob share: “You’re absolutely sure this one is safe?” Jinx says of a black hole. “Define ‘safe,’ ” Jacob responds. The author also shows skill at making impossible sequences, such as a wormhole travel scene, seem real, which makes for an entertaining read.
An engaging space adventure with relatable characters.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2022
ISBN: 979-8986053714
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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
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