Though plagued by gaps in internal logic, the novel is at least partially redeemed by engaging characters and sheer force of...
A rich fantasy world in the tradition of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland.
The journey to Blunderland—an alternate world where black goo can render solid surfaces penetrable, and people read and write via handmade crafts (a cheap woven rug being analogous to a paperback book)—begins in an ordinary, unnamed American town. Finley Barrett has just moved in and is eager to build a life for herself after surviving both an incident of domestic violence and the death of her beloved mother. Exploring with her puppy Zipper (whose antics fill a perhaps unduly large portion of the book), Fin is drawn to a sculpture garden in a nearby park, particularly its giant mosaic arch that turns out to be a portal to Blunderland, a place that seems entirely alien until its residents help Fin remember that she has been there before. Blunderland is being terrorized by a brutal race nicknamed Creeps and some of the populace hope Fin is the answer to their troubles while others blame her for not helping before. Fin eventually discovers that she is the only one who can keep the Creeps where they belong, and so she sets off to find a magical throne that will help her fulfill her destiny. While Fin’s developing role as reluctant savior is compelling, the exact details surrounding her previous trip to Blunderland, and the fact that she gained entry to it from the exact same town she has just moved to yet doesn’t remember at all, strain believability. Many fantastic elements of the story are captivating and well imagined, such as the town of Soluna where the residents are bitterly divided by their allegiance to night or day. But the novel would be better served by developing concrete plot details rather than dwelling on Zipper’s favorite chew toy or how often he is fed. Blunderland is also overpopulated, causing characters to be introduced and then quickly left behind. But those that O’Kane does stick with are interesting and charming—particularly Ryan, the Native American (but is Blunderland in America?) who is both wise and wise-cracking.
Though plagued by gaps in internal logic, the novel is at least partially redeemed by engaging characters and sheer force of imagination.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2011
ISBN: 978-1450242196
Page Count: 259
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
PROFILES
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