THE EYES OF A KING

An interesting framing story wraps around this tale of Leo, a 15-year-old military cadet in a heavily Christian fantasy land ruled by a heavy-handed usurper. In the country of Malonia, which resembles an early industrial England except for the magic practiced by the “great ones,” all boys know they will eventually be conscripted in the war against neighboring Alcyria. Leo pays as little attention as he can in military school, focusing instead on his beloved baby brother and on the magical book in which stories of the mythical land of England appear spontaneously. Tragedy strikes Leo’s family, and he becomes overwhelmed with his own grief, ignoring the needs of his loved ones and of his war-torn nation. Though the Malonian timeline and the magical book’s England interweave cleverly, the slow pace and Leo’s introspection distract from the compelling interaction. Leo spends too much time observing and too little having any effect on the events of his family and his world to be an exciting portal character into this otherwise well-crafted narrative structure. (Fantasy. 12-14)