Despite this space saga’s few clever turns, readers face a long, dreary trip.
This third volume of a YA series finds the Ascunse siblings on different planets and at odds thanks to a formidable manipulator.
Fifteen-year-old Tanner and 14-year-old Ryland had been leading normal lives until they learned they were Shifters—aliens endowed with superpowers. They also discovered that Earth is the Lost Colony among a series of 12 planets in an empire ruled by a brutalist named Rian. Now, Tanner and assorted Revolutionaries—including his recently brainwashed girlfriend, Devon Almasta—are on Colony Nine, while Ryland is on Colony Ten. Tanner, Kai (Ryland’s boyfriend), and several others hope to locate Ryland and make strides against the Prophecy that says Shifter youth must be culled lest a chosen one give social primacy to the Ordinaries (those without powers) and imbalance Shifter society. Ryland, meanwhile, becomes under the sway of Atlis, a Shifter with the ability to Push, rearranging a victim’s memories, and by extension, reality. Ryland’s indoctrinated into fascism by assisting in the roundup and execution of 109 Ordinaries. Atlis’ machinations eventually lead her to believe that Rian’s rule is just and that Tanner killed their younger sister. Her increasing violence helps rally the Shifter army, priming her for a lethal confrontation with Tanner and his cohorts. In this third installment, the Pershings (Ordinaries, 2014, etc.) continue to scale back the relatable humor of their debut in favor of military maneuvering and planet-hopping action. Most of the chapters are split between the siblings’ viewpoints, though Devon’s harrowing mental recovery (during which her “teeth clench like a dog sneering at an intruder”) proves dramatically vital. If she can overcome her programming, can’t Ryland? The answer, involving the crafty use of one character’s abilities, is an engaging thread in an otherwise fractious, apocalyptic narrative. The various Colony worlds, potentially alien and imaginative, are instead dismal like the Districts in Hunger Games. If implied bleakness weren’t enough, Tanner calls Atlis “The man I want to kill. The man I need to kill. The man I’m going to kill.” After this YA equivalent of a death metal dirge, it’s hard to imagine what the Pershings will offer next.
Despite this space saga’s few clever turns, readers face a long, dreary trip.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9975129-3-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Pershing Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 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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