Readers will beg for the follow-up to this tense, well-plotted sequel.
The heroes of The Lost Code (2012) race to stay ahead of EdenCorp and reach the powerful, climate-altering Paintbrush of the Gods first.
The trio is dangerously low on food, water and protection from the sun’s radiation. They take a chance on a supply run at an old Wal-Mart in a dead city, where they encounter members of the Heliad-Seven cult, which has taken control of EdenSouth from EdenCorp. The cultists invite the three to their city, Desenna, to join a girl whose Atlantean DNA indicates she may be the Medium. If so, she will complete the set of three guardians, together with Mariner Leech and Aeronaut Owen. With this sequel, Emerson jumps into action and plot right away, as the heroes struggle to escape and survive, especially Lilly, who badly needs a doctor. When EdenCorp’s Paul finally catches them at an Atlantean temple holding a crucial tool, they barely escape to Desenna. Heliad-Seven leader and former EdenSouth director Dr. Victoria Keller has remarkably logical explanations for the religion she invented, and she asks that they participate in the living myth alongside Seven, the Atlantean descendant viewed as a goddess. Seven expands the growing rift between Owen and Lilly, creating a love triangle. The twists at Desenna are expertly executed, surprising while illuminating, and some pack emotional sucker punches.
Readers will beg for the follow-up to this tense, well-plotted sequel. (Science fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: May 21, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-206282-6
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
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