Gourgey’s wide range of references creates an entertaining, albeit dense, tale of the dangers and benefits of science and...
Philosophy, scientific theory, literary allusion, espionage and magic combine to create a world where secrets in hidden lands and laboratories threaten a post-apocalyptic civilization.
Two towering intellects, the inventive scientific genius Dr. Magigate (also known as “the Captain”) and his nemesis and soul mate the Prophet (a beautiful, charismatic, temperamental woman who leads the world of commerce) engage in an epic struggle that twists and turns for over 50 years. Both think their cause just; each seeks to control the other through science and ruthless force. The “glide” of the title refers to an invention of Dr. Magigate’s that manipulates gravity to provide power without the use of fossil fuels. The novel opens with scenes from the warring past where a virus that first destroyed fabricated objects then mutated to infect humans. The story then moves backward to show how the authoritarian Academy, led by the Prophet, hunted down the young Magigate when he refused to collaborate. The story then abruptly moves to a futuristic present. Here, teenaged Michael and Madeleine trespass onto the secret hideaway of an elderly Magigate and unwittingly wander into a dangerous situation. Chapters dedicated to the adventures of the young pair include glimpses into the gadgets and teen lifestyles of the day (with footnotes explaining inventions such as holographic books). Other sections dwell more on philosophy than adventure, as when the Captain tells his followers on Isla de Tiempo Muerto—his hideaway—that there are three ways to see the world; the seer’s way, the general’s way and the magician’s way, and the novel explores all three. It’s easy to get confused in this story that combines elements of the Oedipus legend, the Kingdom of Narnia, the Land of Oz and the battles of Star Wars with scientific theories. While story lines merge at the conclusion, a time chart or list of characters would have helped the reader of this lengthy work to navigate from one story line and perspective to another.
Gourgey’s wide range of references creates an entertaining, albeit dense, tale of the dangers and benefits of science and love.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0979743597
Page Count: 417
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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