A riveting entry in an environmentally aware YA series.
In this sequel to Corr Syl the Warrior (2013), Rogers’ (Arizona Wildlife Notebook, 2013, etc.) hero takes on East Asian militants to save his best friend.
Still reeling from the violence of his first mission as a warrior, Corr Syl returns to his family in the Wycliff District. He’s a member of the ancient Tsaeb race, all of whom are descended from various animals and capable of living harmoniously with the Earth. Corr and his friend Rhya Bright are descended from rabbits and can use their fur as camouflage and think in multiple “thoughtstreams.” As they travel to the Continental Center to work on human psychochemistry research, agents of Ya Zhou, the Imperial Minister of the Taoso nation, capture Rhya. Her duplicitous traveling partner, the lynx-descended Able Remington, facilitates the kidnapping, which will lead to a confrontation between Corr and Zhou—and with his warrior training and advanced senses, Corr is prepared for the challenge. He heads after Rhya in the miraculous IOZ-1899 airship, a Tsaeb creation that interacts with a pilot’s mind. However, Zhou has teamed up with the foul Lactella, a power-mad black widow from the previous novel whose venom allows her to control human hosts. Corr must not only save his friend, but prevent Zhou from raising an army that could dominate the world. In the slim second volume of Rogers’ YA series, he continues to develop his idea that humans should emulate animals, who live better within the bounds of nature, in order to ensure the prosperity of all life on Earth. The author doesn’t mince words on this subject; for example, Ryha mentions helping “humans overcome their mental limitations.” Environmental awareness remains at the plot’s forefront, as when Zhou serves water that is found to be a “stew of lead, arsenic, antibiotics, and hormone disrupters.” Most intriguing, though, is when Rogers merges science fiction with animal facts; Tsaeb warriors hold a discussion, for instance, by “using projected scents, sounds, movements, and thoughts, the electromagnetic fluxes generated by brain and body.” Swift pacing and an action-oriented plot quickly conclude this second Corr adventure, although not before setting up an intriguing third.
A riveting entry in an environmentally aware YA series.Pub Date: April 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5116-9407-0
Page Count: 132
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly...
In a radical departure from her realistic fiction and comic chronicles of Anastasia, Lowry creates a chilling, tightly controlled future society where all controversy, pain, and choice have been expunged, each childhood year has its privileges and responsibilities, and family members are selected for compatibility.
As Jonas approaches the "Ceremony of Twelve," he wonders what his adult "Assignment" will be. Father, a "Nurturer," cares for "newchildren"; Mother works in the "Department of Justice"; but Jonas's admitted talents suggest no particular calling. In the event, he is named "Receiver," to replace an Elder with a unique function: holding the community's memories—painful, troubling, or prone to lead (like love) to disorder; the Elder ("The Giver") now begins to transfer these memories to Jonas. The process is deeply disturbing; for the first time, Jonas learns about ordinary things like color, the sun, snow, and mountains, as well as love, war, and death: the ceremony known as "release" is revealed to be murder. Horrified, Jonas plots escape to "Elsewhere," a step he believes will return the memories to all the people, but his timing is upset by a decision to release a newchild he has come to love. Ill-equipped, Jonas sets out with the baby on a desperate journey whose enigmatic conclusion resonates with allegory: Jonas may be a Christ figure, but the contrasts here with Christian symbols are also intriguing.
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 978-0-395-64566-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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