A tantalizing glimpse into a captivating world and an intense friendship sure to leave readers wanting more.
The fates of two young students remain forever changed when two parallel realms intersect in this YA fantasy novel.
Nese’s (Shelter in Place, 2014) second work of fiction follows the story of Eden, a young girl abandoned by her biological parents. Eden’s world is divided into two halves: Inside and Outside. Along with her adoptive father, Mitch, Eden lives Inside, in a contemplative, simple place of relative security. Nevertheless, the girl is fascinated by the idea of visiting Outside, eager to know more about the postindustrial dystopia, where the air is poisoned, any complaint can be solved by taking a pill, and inhabitants stare mindlessly at mobile devices. Mitch works as a teacher with troubled youth Outside and introduces Eden to Sterling, a rebellious, spoiled student from a wealthy, influential family. The two click immediately and develop an enduring friendship, exchanging daily letters. Eventually Eden introduces Sterling to Inside. When Eden manages to get a place in Sterling’s school on the Outside, the other students perceive her as something of an oddball, and she struggles to cope with Mitch’s worsening health. She also becomes more aware of her mysterious abilities: “I can make things happen using my will, bad things. I’ve tried to control it, but I like the power too.” Eden’s time Outside also brings her closer to Sterling and invigorates her determination to learn more about her biological parents. Her investigation leads to a startling discovery just as her relationship with Sterling comes under threat from his meddlesome, power-hungry father, Avarice Silver. Avarice has an incriminating link to Eden’s enigmatic past and will stop at nothing to keep her away from his son. Ultimately, the two students discover their divergent destinies could tear their friendship asunder. The novel establishes an engaging world early on and allows its intriguing characters to develop slowly, even with its brisk narrative pace. The dichotomy between the contemplative, spiritual Inside and the harried, materialistic Outside should pique readers’ interest. The plot reworks and refracts the fundamental stories of Christian theology through an unorthodox lens. While Eden and Sterling seem conventional enough at the outset, their growth and evolution defy expectations. Though some may feel the story ends too abruptly, in some sense this is a testament to the richness of its setting and protagonists.
A tantalizing glimpse into a captivating world and an intense friendship sure to leave readers wanting more.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5320-0639-5
Page Count: 140
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.
After 1,000 years of peace, whispers that “the Nameless One will return” ignite the spark that sets the world order aflame.
No, the Nameless One is not a new nickname for Voldemort. Here, evil takes the shape of fire-breathing dragons—beasts that feed off chaos and imbalance—set on destroying humankind. The leader of these creatures, the Nameless One, has been trapped in the Abyss for ages after having been severely wounded by the sword Ascalon wielded by Galian Berethnet. These events brought about the current order: Virtudom, the kingdom set up by Berethnet, is a pious society that considers all dragons evil. In the East, dragons are worshiped as gods—but not the fire-breathing type. These dragons channel the power of water and are said to be born of stars. They forge a connection with humans by taking riders. In the South, an entirely different way of thinking exists. There, a society of female mages called the Priory worships the Mother. They don’t believe that the Berethnet line, continued by generations of queens, is the sacred key to keeping the Nameless One at bay. This means he could return—and soon. “Do you not see? It is a cycle.” The one thing uniting all corners of the world is fear. Representatives of each belief system—Queen Sabran the Ninth of Virtudom, hopeful dragon rider Tané of the East, and Ead Duryan, mage of the Priory from the South—are linked by the common goal of keeping the Nameless One trapped at any cost. This world of female warriors and leaders feels natural, and while there is a “chosen one” aspect to the tale, it’s far from the main point. Shannon’s depth of imagination and worldbuilding are impressive, as this 800-pager is filled not only with legend, but also with satisfying twists that turn legend on its head. Shannon isn’t new to this game of complex storytelling. Her Bone Season novels (The Song Rising, 2017, etc.) navigate a multilayered society of clairvoyants. Here, Shannon chooses a more traditional view of magic, where light fights against dark, earth against sky, and fire against water. Through these classic pairings, an entirely fresh and addicting tale is born. Shannon may favor detailed explication over keeping a steady pace, but the epic converging of plotlines at the end is enough to forgive.
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63557-029-8
Page Count: 848
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
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