A brisk, engaging, but uneven time-travel tale.
A time-travel researcher seized by abductors from the future must be rescued in this SF sequel.
Los Alamos, New Mexico, is home to Project Enlightenment, a secret research facility devoted to time travel. In Going Back (2020), the first volume of Abel’s Defenders of Time Series, a project team led by Special Agent Lou Hessman, head of security, traveled back to 1919 to prevent a time displacement wave from changing history. The team returned with Claire Hill, a 24-year-old reporter who would have died of influenza in her own time. That was three months ago; now joining the team is Dr. Sam Weiss’ niece, Samantha Weiss. She has a doctorate in time-travel physics and, as the usually impassive Hessman can’t help noticing, is “a statuesque beauty.” But she’s barely arrived when Russian-speaking terrorists from the future kidnap her. A rescue mission that includes Hessman, Claire, and her fiance, professor Ben Stein, follows the time-displacement trail to London in 2120. Just as important as retrieving Samantha is understanding why she was nabbed—and why the terrorists allow her to return. The danger is far from over. In this ambitious installment, Abel provides a fast-paced adventure with entertaining action sequences. The plot ties in well to readers’ serious contemporary concerns with plastic waste, lightened by humor and romance. But the book isn’t very imaginative about the future, mainly just providing some technological window dressing for familiar contemporary elements, and is downright retro in some respects. Claire and Samantha, unlike the male characters, are described in terms of their attractiveness: “At five and a half feet tall and slender, with long black hair, a pearly white complexion, and blue eyes,” Claire “was a beauty in any century.” Samantha is Miss rather than Doctor, unlike her uncle. The uncredited monochrome illustrations depict dynamic cityscapes but human figures are amateurish.
A brisk, engaging, but uneven time-travel tale.Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-950906-92-5
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Indigo River Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Joan Aiken or Terry Pratchett this ain't, but the lightweight, gleefully anachronistic comedy will entertain with its cast...
Lady Jane Grey's nine days as queen are reimagined as a tongue-in-cheek shape-shifter romance.
Between the reigns of adolescent King Edward VI and his bloodthirsty half sister, Mary I, England was ruled for nine days by doomed Lady Jane, a 16-year-old political pawn—or that's how it went in our world. In the world of this novel, both Edward and Jane have happier endings. Instead of Catholics and Protestants, England is torn between the Eðians, who shape-shift into animals, and the Verities, who loathe them. As in reality, Jane is wed to Gifford (Guildford in history) Dudley, installed as queen, and imprisoned by Mary. However, thisJane and Gifford escape their executions through animal magic. It's inconvenient for the newlyweds' sex life that Gifford spends every dawn to dusk as a horse, but it’s also terribly convenient for frantic escapes from Mary's soldiers. Fourth-wall–breaking and pop-culture references that span from Shakespeare to Game of Thronesshow signs of strain, especially the many references to The Princess Bride(1973). The latter, sometimes layered one atop the other without a break, merely highlight this book’s contrast with the classic's stellar comic timing; perhaps it's for the best that few teen readers will be familiar with either the decades-old film or even older book.
Joan Aiken or Terry Pratchett this ain't, but the lightweight, gleefully anachronistic comedy will entertain with its cast of likable heroes and buffoonish villains (. (Fantasy. 13-17)Pub Date: June 7, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-239174-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK TO SCREEN
Skillfully weaves together political intrigue, complex sibling relationships, and magic.
Four royal siblings reunite, seeking the Ivory Key, a legendary object that could unlock an incredible source of magic and rescue their country from impending war.
For centuries, Ashoka has relied on magic to fuel its economy and protect its borders. But the magic is running out, and Vira, the newly crowned maharani, is desperate. A suspect in the murder of Lord Harish, Vira’s betrothed, shows signs of ties to the Kamala Society, a secret organization that sealed all the magic quarries when Ashokan provinces fought to control the mining trade. To unlock them and save Ashoka, Vira must retrieve the Ivory Key, but she requires the help of her three estranged siblings, who each have their own reasons for obtaining it. Vira’s twin, Ronak, wants to sell it so he can start a new life. Her half brother, Kaleb, who is accused of murdering his stepmother, the previous maharani, longs to clear his name. Her sister, Riya, who has not revealed her true identity as the rajkumaari to the Ravens, a rebel group she has joined, wishes to prove her loyalty to them. Raman’s immersive, enchanting world is rich in Indian cultural influences. Alternating points of view allow every protagonist to shine, and the epilogue told from a fifth perspective offers a tease for the duology’s next installment.
Skillfully weaves together political intrigue, complex sibling relationships, and magic. (Fantasy. 13-17)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-358-46833-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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