Though not likely to lure in any new fans, Paolini’s readers will likely enjoy revisiting the characters and world.
Paolini (Inheritance, 2011, etc.) revisits Eragon and Alagaësia with three stories.
Busy with the endless tasks involved in setting up the Academy and Dragon Riders’ home at the base of Mount Arngor, Eragon suffers from terrible burnout and seeks diversion. Eragon functions as a framing device, and the three stories in this small (for Paolini) volume provide him relief. In the first story, the dragon minds of the Eldunarí show Eragon a vision to give him perspective. That vision is of young Essie, coerced into bullying by a bully and wishing to run away to avoid the fallout; she sees things in a new light after an encounter with a mysterious traveler. In the second story, Angela the herbalist shows up, with accidentally cursed Elva in tow, presenting Eragon with some out-of-order chapters of the autobiography she’s working on (the book in a book penned by Paolini’s sister and the character’s inspiration, Angela). The final, longest, and most complete tale is told by an Urgal, about Ilgra’s quest for vengeance against a cruel dragon that terrorized her people. The first story drops hints for more stories (and more volumes); the second gives readers additional glimpses of characters likely to intrigue fans; and the third stands alone and carries the most thematic weight. Human characters seem to default to white.
Though not likely to lure in any new fans, Paolini’s readers will likely enjoy revisiting the characters and world. (pronunciation guide) (Fantasy. 12-15)Pub Date: Dec. 31, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-984894-86-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
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
A trilogy opener both rich and strange, if heavy at the front end.
Riggs spins a gothic tale of strangely gifted children and the monsters that pursue them from a set of eerie, old trick photographs.
The brutal murder of his grandfather and a glimpse of a man with a mouth full of tentacles prompts months of nightmares and psychotherapy for 15-year-old Jacob, followed by a visit to a remote Welsh island where, his grandfather had always claimed, there lived children who could fly, lift boulders and display like weird abilities. The stories turn out to be true—but Jacob discovers that he has unwittingly exposed the sheltered “peculiar spirits” (of which he turns out to be one) and their werefalcon protector to a murderous hollowgast and its shape-changing servant wight. The interspersed photographs—gathered at flea markets and from collectors—nearly all seem to have been created in the late 19th or early 20th centuries and generally feature stone-faced figures, mostly children, in inscrutable costumes and situations. They are seen floating in the air, posing with a disreputable-looking Santa, covered in bees, dressed in rags and kneeling on a bomb, among other surreal images. Though Jacob’s overdeveloped back story gives the tale a slow start, the pictures add an eldritch element from the early going, and along with creepy bad guys, the author tucks in suspenseful chases and splashes of gore as he goes. He also whirls a major storm, flying bullets and a time loop into a wild climax that leaves Jacob poised for the sequel.
A trilogy opener both rich and strange, if heavy at the front end. (Horror/fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59474-476-1
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2014
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