THE LADY, THE THIEF AND THE WARRIOR

In this debut YA fantasy, two young orphans and an aristocrat navigate a war-torn world while at cross purposes.

In the year 111, the kingdom of Laitmea demands money from its neighbors, but tiny Haputa refuses, retaliating with raids; meanwhile, a deadly plague rages. In a Quirton, Haputa, orphanage, 14-year-olds Trilliapa and Quipeneay have become fast friends. They share a taste for weaponry and rebellion; Quip thirsts to join the raiders, while Trill has become a skilled pickpocket. They also both dislike Redgenold Peterson, who bullies younger children. (Little do they know that Redge actually has a sensitive soul.) In Firdell, Laitmea, 14-year-old Lady Ettalara “Lara” Annalee is on the run after her parents’ deaths. She has a strategically important book to give her king but is caught in a Haputian raid and finds shelter in the Quirton orphanage. When the city is overrun, the three orphans are enslaved by Laitmea soldiers. Though the two Haputians despise Lara as a Laitmean, the three sometimes unite while engaging in escapes, adventures, battles, intrigue, and journeys, plus encounters with pirates and dragons—and romance. Meanwhile, Redge has his own role to play in the political turmoil. In her novel, Crilly writes a meandering narrative that sometimes loses focus or becomes overly improbable; why, for example, wouldn’t the orphanage confiscate Trill’s and Quip’s dangerous weapons? That said, the young, female heroes are appealingly spirited: full of gusto and ready for anything. They can also be very funny, as when the educated Lara channels her boredom into sentence diagramming (“ ‘The horrid dragon’ is an appositive phrase with ‘dragon’ as a noun”). The author’s pencil illustrations ineptly depict people, but her scenery is more skillful.

Although it lacks some finesse, this orphans’ tale offers plenty of fun adventures.