Tight, cliffhanging YA fiction studded with demigods and moral dilemmas.
A menagerie of supernatural forces fights for humanity’s spiritual standing.
In this YA novel, Pershing (Ordinaries, 2014, etc.) brings a vast cosmological and theological battle quite literally down to Earth. Tiamanicus, an otherworldly spirit enrolled in the legions of Lucifer—known as the Great One by his followers—finds himself shocked, cold, and struggling as he’s dragged out of a lake near the town of Inspiration, a place “swimming with demons.” This watery entrance marks the beginning of his tumultuous transition from a Whisperer, or disembodied spirit, into one of the human-seeming forms known as a Talker. While Whisperers dedicate themselves to spreading Lucifer’s influence throughout Earth by planting thoughts in the heads of humans, Talkers effect sin and corruption by their actions, using their bodies, and not merely suggestion. Placed in a household with several other Talkers, whose checkered and painful histories he’ll eventually learn, Tiamanicus, now christened Zachary Sable, pursues his task of throwing Emma Louise Green off her holy track. Protected by angelic spirits from the Christian God whom Lucifer opposes, Emma turns out to be a tough assignment. Zachary soon starts to wonder about the depth of his commitment to the mission handed to him by Zagan, a demon in Lucifer’s service. Zachary eventually becomes attracted to Emma. But Lucifer abandons Talkers who fall in love with humans, Zachary is warned; and the Great One represents the only hope for those who, like Tiamanicus and his kin, weren’t made in God’s image. Pershing has fashioned a raucous hybrid of coming-of-age tale and Miltonian epic. Marbled with a handful of plotlines that eventually unify, including a scheme by Emma to unveil the corruption of a local pastor who has been preying on young women, this story of adversity becomes complex but is strengthened by its intricate threads. Zachary encounters daunting obstacles in his new life; at one point, Emma asks him to accompany her to church (“Zachary tilted his head and thought about it. Church. Was it safe? He knew they couldn’t see him, but what if the Selfish One, the Christ, was actually there? Not even a Talker could hide”). A few themes run like currents beneath the sparkling dialogue and rapidly changing scenes, including the importance of placing one’s own happiness above official duties and the fickleness of allegiances and promises.
Tight, cliffhanging YA fiction studded with demigods and moral dilemmas.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9975129-0-8
Page Count: 372
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tightly written, fast-paced prose supernova.
Budding starship captain Ryan Thompson helps battle an alien invasion in Miller’s (The Kronos Interference, 2012) inventive sci-fi tale.
In 2012, fighter jets scrambled to intercept a UFO above Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base. The rectangular object flew erratically, displaying no hostile behavior, and the jets followed as it crashed. Now, 150 years later, 2162 sees the United Earth Defense Fleet patrolling space, with outposts on Mars and Pluto. Cadet Ryan Thompson is a brash youth whose willingness to break the erules is matched only by his desire to win the Golden Cadet Award. Unfortunately, his brilliant ex-girlfriend Amanda just might win instead. They can’t stand each other since their romance ended the day Ryan’s mother died—a tragedy for which he blames himself. They must attempt to reconcile, however, when Earth’s fleet leaps to action against alien ships approaching from beyond Pluto. The menacing Altarrans, led by Supreme Commander Granthaxe, want something impossible—their wrecked envoys that crashed to Earth 150 years ago, perhaps with survivors. While the fleet dwindles in battle, Ryan, Amanda and their fellow cadets try to save lives with creative defense tactics. Quick thinking reveals that the strange amulet necklace Amanda wears—a family heirloom from her great-great-grandfather—may be more than it appears. With clever ideas and agile prose, Miller builds a world reminiscent of Star Trek: Ryan is a rebellious young Capt. Kirk who knows that “sometimes going by the book [isn’t] the best course to take.” Amid the pop-culture references to Star Wars and comic books, Miller’s believable, motivated characters shine, as Ryan’s brashness conflicts with Amanda’s search for peaceful solutions. In tight spots, they innovate: For instance, they create a solar-flare weapon by “overloading [a ship’s] light-speed generator and shutting it down milliseconds before detonation.” There’s also a secret connection between the Altarrans and Earth that honors the concept of a peaceful, inclusive universe. Nevertheless, right before someone survives a dose of radiation (à la Spider-Man), Ryan thinks they’re “going to need a damn super hero or something.”
A tightly written, fast-paced prose supernova.Pub Date: June 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615805580
Page Count: 338
Publisher: Pop Culture Zoo Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Teenage readers might be swept up in the passion between Therese and Than, though the story is unlikely to inflame any sort...
In this teen fantasy novel and love story, an orphaned girl finds herself at the center of a war brewing among the gods of Olympus.
When a book opens with a bang like this, readers might expect great things. Fifteen-year-old Therese is riding in a car with her parents when a gunman opens fire, hitting her mother and causing her father to careen off the road into a pond. Before Therese can free herself from the submerged car, she watches helplessly as both her parents die. Pohler’s (The Mystery Box, 2012, etc.) description of their deaths is gruesomely clear and heartbreaking. While Therese is still in a coma following the accident, she travels through the dream world and meets two alluring young men, Hypnos, or Hip, and Thanatos, or Than, twin sons of Hades. Hip is a cad—he says things like “Are we going to make out now, or what?”—while Than is quiet and sensitive. Than, whose job is to eternally guide the souls of the dead to the entrance of the underworld, is immediately drawn to Therese. After this fast and eventful introduction, things slow down—way, way down. Than makes a deal with his father: 40 days among humans to try to make Therese his bride, with some stiff and arbitrary conditions attached; these are Greek gods, after all. As Than and Therese flirt with one another, the story plods along with unnecessary subplots and minor characters, as well as turgid descriptions of everyday actions. Things pick up again about two-thirds of the way through: The entire pantheon of Greek gods picks sides, and, in an arena battle sure to thrill Hunger Games fans, Therese shows her mettle. The outcome neatly tees things up for the three books (at least) in the series still to come. But Pohler’s straightforward storytelling might not appeal to many teenagers, and the book’s central metaphor, a dying tree, feels like an afterthought.
Teenage readers might be swept up in the passion between Therese and Than, though the story is unlikely to inflame any sort of literary fervor.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615685960
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Green Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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