CAPUT MUNDI, THE HEAD OF THE WORLD

In Kang’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young trio embarks on a perilous, truth-seeking quest that tests their bravery and loyalty.

Kidnapped by debt collectors who are after his father, 11-year-old Niil Terra is taken to the gloomy, environmentally ravaged island of Umbra. Niil forms an unlikely bond with his captors, Marcus and Mira, and uses his farming skills to grow vegetables and the “silvery” rainlilies that his mother, who vanished four years earlier, loved. A charred wooden “insignia” ring, identifying citizenship and family origin, is the only item he has of hers. After somehow attracting “enarii”—a magical metal liquid that can be manipulated into any object, affordable only to those living in rich Caput Mundi—Niil learns he’s inherited the rare ability from his mother. Left alone in a house by the kidnappers, who disappear for months, Niil meets 13-year-old Ada, their fearless, dagger-wielding daughter. Searching for the truth about the fates of their families, the duo, joined by Ada’s cautious cousin, Soes, venture to Caput Mundi. They encounter a colorful cast of characters, including the affable-seeming Linus; Gurges, a brash but talented cook; and Yvita, a mine worker who appears to harbor a secret. The children unearth shocking revelations about their parents and a sinister revenge plot. Are they powerful enough to stop it? Kang’s worldbuilding is expansive and visceral: Vibrant green “svirii water” instantly rejuvenates, explosive white fireseeds are dangerous in the wrong hands, and tiny flowercrabs, with their “spade-shaped claws,” are fiercely territorial. Descriptions of the characters are vivid—their status in the social hierarchy is most important to the story. (“Young and old, dressed in everything from silk robes to ragged tunics, they pressed together, pushing carts piled with belongings, carrying crying children on their backs,” Kang writes of evacuees fleeing a besieged town.) Greed is a prevalent theme, but friendship is at the heart of the story as the leads grapple with issues of identity and trust.

A lively, imaginative middle-grade fantasy full of adventure and magical elements.