George and Edie remain admirably stoic heroes, but dry prose inhibits this conclusion’s pace. In a many-layered London, George and Edie are stuck in a timeless moment, the only humans who didn’t disappear when time froze. They’re not alone, though: Spits (metal and stone statues, mostly war figures) fight for good, while Taints (sculptures of non-human creatures) ally with the double-strong force of the dark. The dark has an Ice Devil and the ghoulish Walker, a grisly immortal who kills casually and steals life-forces. George and Edie’s tenacious fighting spirits are especially touching because of their separate histories of emotional loss, but the narration’s verbosity decelerates motion; for example, a falling object is “an angular jagged shape getting bigger with startling rapidity as it spun straight at them,” its speed slowed by description. Battle action and Edie’s nightmares also grind to a trudge. Only Edie’s time-travel views of the Walker torturing her mother move quickly and creepily. Mostly for fans of the livelier second installment. (Fantasy. 10-13)
Pub Date: April 7, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4231-0179-6
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2009
The history of the Middle Ages generally presents the brave deeds of men, and Le¢n, through painstaking and thorough research, presents the stories of 14 influential women of Europe, Africa, and the Far East, from 500 b.c. through a.d. 1500. Among them is Aud, a Viking woman from Norway, who, as a grandmother, moved her family to Iceland in a boat built of oak and pine; Matilda, of England, who fought “to win over the majority of English vassals”; Eleanor of Aquitaine, “the most celebrated queen of the Middle Ages”; Hildegard of Bingen, who possessed vast visions and spiritual gifts; Khadija bint Khuwaylid, the first wife of the prophet Mohammed; and Murasaki Shikibu, of Japan, who wrote The Tale of Genji. Detracting from the inherently fascinating material is the author’s regular use of contemporary slang—“tough cookies,” “trotted the globe,” “grandkids,” “bum’s rush,” “[marriage] on the rocks,” “whippersnapper,” “eggheads and nerds,” etc.—which may prevent the book from withstanding the test of time. (b&w illustrations, maps, chronology, further reading) (Nonfiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 27, 1998
ISBN: 0-471-17004-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Wiley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1998
“Bad luck,” plagues 12-year-old Oyuna and her family. Oyuna seems fated to live with the curse of her lame foot, crushed by a black mare, for the rest of her life. But the elderly Oyuna relates the plodding story to her granddaughter of how she changed her destiny in in 14th-century Mongolia. During the era of Kublai Khan, Oyuna’s journey to self-confidence begins when she finds that she is able to communicate with a special white mare. When soldiers come to take the mare, Oyuna disguises herself as a boy to join Khan’s army so she can be with the horse. Her adventures border on the absurd, e.g., she first stands up to Khan and then bonds with him. While there are some brave moments and dramatic scenes, readers will lose patience with the limping narrative and obvious moral. (glossary) (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-531-30024-2
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1998
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