An Earth-shaking opening to the chronicle of a rapacious galactic empire.
In Goldsmith’s YA SF novel, a 12-year-old prodigy stricken with MLS is abducted by aliens.
Abandoned and suffering from muscular dystrophy, Thomas Hill is only 12 years old, but he’s discovered various miracle cures. The New Hampshire native conceals a secret during the resulting fuss made over him: The sickly boy is also a powerful psychic. Thomas makes contact with another unusual, sheltered young New Englander: Ariock Dovanack, a gigantic, shy misfit, still growing at the age of 22. Attempts by Thomas and others to probe the connections between the boys’ disorders are interrupted by a commando raid by humanoid aliens called the Torth, who have been remotely monitoring Thomas. Some 30 trillion in number (“The power and size of the Torth Empire was beyond imagination!”), the Torth are telepathic, selfish, and ruthless. They recognize Thomas as one of their own, perhaps the result of a runaway Torth on Earth practicing sexual reproduction outside established test-tube norms—one of many taboos punishable by instant death. Thomas’ intellect is outstanding, even by Torth standards. On the Torth-controlled planet Umdalkdul, power players debate executing the Earth boy as an abomination or converting him to their ways. The author’s breathless narrative establishes the totalitarian nightmare of existing within a galaxy of countless mind-readers, where there are no secrets and the slightest transgression brings hideous consequences. Wrapped within the narrative is a sharp critique of social media, as the Torth’s ubiquitous “Megacosm” hive-mind is basically a super-internet. Thoughtful explorations of morality, altruism, justice and mercy, and the idea that godlike powers come with godlike responsibilities add depth and breadth to this auspicious entry in SF literature’s mutant-superman genre. Though the material has natural YA appeal, it does not shun adult content or graphic carnage. The perilous premise seizes the reader’s attention from start to open-ended finish, and Goldsmith notes that this is only the opening act in a six-part saga.
An Earth-shaking opening to the chronicle of a rapacious galactic empire.Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2023
ISBN: 9781039442726
Page Count: 594
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lightweight, action-packed space adventure.
A diplomatic mission to a newly discovered human colony immediately goes pear-shaped for a Skyward Flight escort detachment when drone ships attack.
Supporting characters from the Skyward series take center stage in this spinoff trilogy opener that combines heavy military action with relationship drama. Still pining for his purple-skinned flight mate, Alanik, flightleader Arturo Mendez suddenly also finds himself in charge of persuading the long-isolated residents of Blightfall (who have “three genders—male, female, and agendered”) that the war with the Superiority is over after the diplomats he was escorting are killed in a sneak attack. Although many plot points don’t hold up to scrutiny, the story features lots of aerial dogfights, narrow escapes, struggles with a rogue AI, and even some gladiatorial arena action—more than enough to fill in the gaps between exchanges of banter, awkward boy-girl fumbling, and repeated efforts to teach an alien how to tell “your mother” jokes. Along with being diverse in both species and human race, the large ensemble cast features many adorable aliens, led by the cytonic hyperslug sidekicks that expedite the instantaneous travel of Arturo and his squad and are in essence talking puppies. Readers ought to be in turn dazzled by the cuteness, adrenalized by the fighting, and charmed to see Arturo and Alanik kiss at last. Schematic images of select structures and spacecraft between narrative sections add visual detail.
A lightweight, action-packed space adventure. (Science fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9780593707050
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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