Jacques (The Great Redwall Feast, 1996, etc.) has outdone himself in this ninth Redwall epic, weaving strands of a thrilling tale into a complex, persuasive whole. Opening when hedgehog maid Tansy and squirrel child Arven find a skeleton in Mossflower wood, the story features Ublaz Mad Eyes, the evil pine marten who rules the tropical island, Sampetra, populated by a vile lot of seascum. Ublaz burns to possess the Pearls of Lutra—six rose-colored pearls of unparalleled beauty- -stolen by his command years before and lost when their greedy captors tried to keep them for themselves. There is Grath Longfletch, intent on revenge, and kindly old Abbot Durrell, who is captured by searats and carried off to Sampetra. Deciphering elaborate clues in cryptic verse, Tansy leads the treasure hunt for the pearls—hidden in Redwall Abbey—and breaks their spell forever. The fast-paced, meaty text jumps from Redwall to Sampetra to the high seas, each time leaving readers on the edge of their seats, until gradually the various branches of the story converge in a glorious climax. With several strong female characters, fewer battles, and more mystery—as well as the usual complement of humorous sidekicks and mouthwatering feasts—this is a victory for Redwall. (Fiction. 9-14)
Pub Date: Jan. 27, 1997
ISBN: 0-399-22946-9
Page Count: 408
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1997
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
If it were a Golden Age comic, this tale of ridiculous science, space dogs and humanoid aliens with flashlights in their hands might not be bad. Alas... Number Four is a fugitive from the planet Lorien, which is sloppily described as both "hundreds of lightyears away" and "billions of miles away." Along with eight other children and their caretakers, Number Four escaped from the Mogadorian invasion of Lorien ten years ago. Now the nine children are scattered on Earth, hiding. Luckily and fairly nonsensically, the planet's Elders cast a charm on them so they could only be killed in numerical order, but children one through three are dead, and Number Four is next. Too bad he's finally gained a friend and a girlfriend and doesn't want to run. At least his newly developing alien powers means there will be screen-ready combat and explosions. Perhaps most idiotic, "author" Pittacus Lore is a character in this fiction—but the first-person narrator is someone else entirely. Maybe this is a natural extension of lightly hidden actual author James Frey's drive to fictionalize his life, but literature it ain't. (Science fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-196955-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
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