Fans of alternate worlds will find a heapin' helping here, though the cast's relationship-chess makes a stronger showing...
In a convoluted sequel to Fair Coin (2012), teens crack wise and lock lips while saving the multiverse from an information overload.
Impelled by spectral phenomena at his senior prom and the unexpected reappearance of Zoe, an "analog" of his girlfriend Jena from a parallel universe, Ephraim again steps out of his own world. Landing in a somewhat more advanced one ("Unfortunately, we also have reality TV"), he learns from an adult version of Jena that all the universes have entered a cycle of uncontrolled proliferation and collapse. How to reboot the continuum without causing loved ones from less "real" planes to disappear? As in the opener, the plot is a mare's nest of comings and goings driven by romantic and ethical conflicts, hidden agendas, mad-science–style devices and arbitrary physics. It's a struggle to keep the cast members straight, too, since most are analogs of one another with, often, similar names. Still, Myers salts his tale with amusing, often-libidinous adolescent banter, and by cheating a little, lands his characters in good places in the end.
Fans of alternate worlds will find a heapin' helping here, though the cast's relationship-chess makes a stronger showing than the narrowly averted cosmic calamity. (Science fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-61614-682-5
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Pyr/Prometheus Books
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
At her father’s funeral during a sweltering Utah summer in the not-so-distant future, Kelsa Phillips rages against her mother, the funeral and her father’s dying in a hospice. So when she meets a shape-shifter named Raven, she (rashly) accompanies him on a road trip through Canada to release knots in the magical veins of energy under the earth to save the world from eco-disaster. But this is a different United States from ours: The authorities have put in place a grid system of movement control in which the only people who can move from state to state are those with valid identification cards. The pair joust with each other, neither trusting the other with vital information even as disaster looms. Plot drives this book from the start to the rousing climax and surprise resolution. Humor will engage readers’ interest while the ever-increasing suspense will keep it. The worldbuilding is scant; it’s a pity Bell didn’t incorporate more detail about the future United States to make it more convincing. Enough threads are left dangling at the end to ensure a sequel (Traitor’s Boy, scheduled for spring 2012), so perhaps it will be fleshed out there. (Fantasy. 13-16)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-19620-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
The Salt trilogy closes with a third generation of children fighting petty but dangerous evils. Hana, a girl from the city's wretched Bawdhouse Burrow, is orphaned when her mother is burned as a witch. Ben grows up far from the city, raised by his grandparents Pearl and Hari in the idyllic village from Gool (2010). When Hana flees the city, she brings with her a terrifying message for those outside its darkness: The Limping Man is coming. He has the terrible power to make people love him even as he torments them, and he plans to wipe out all who stand against him. Since most of the outsiders—Ben's family, the forest Dwellers and "the people without a name"—have mental powers, the Limping Man intends to massacre them. Ben and Hana, along with their allies, must find the Limping Man's secret in order to save their own lives and homes. Ben and Hana’s victories, like those of their parents and grandparents, are local. Even if they do defeat the Limping Man, they cannot vanquish evil from the world; life in the burrows will likely continue to be nasty, brutish and short. The heroes' personalities are defined by their harsh environments, but they reach beyond those limitations. Fantasy heroes who can save only themselves and their loved ones are a welcome change from the usual. (Fantasy. 13-15)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55469-216-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
