Game of Thrones–lite powered by steam.
A reluctant princess has misgivings about her kingdom's new allies as war approaches the peaceful kingdom of Eleysia.
In a prequel to the Web and SyFy Network steampunk adventure of the same name, 15-year-old Riese, next in line for the throne of Eleysia, balks at the role of pretty princess. She would rather be in combat. As war with Nixe looms, she may get her chance to fight. She does not trust either her mother's cousin Amara or Herrick, emissary of the upstart "religion" The Sect, which is offering to assist Eleysia. A secret dalliance with an apothecary's apprentice named Micah, who isn't what or who he claims to be, while disguised as a servant girl adds to Riese's adventure and her problems as war and treachery come to a head. A veteran writer of licensed properties, Cox (working from a concept by series creators Ryan Copple and Kaleena Kiff) does an excellent job telling an entertaining tale with a known, less-than-happy conclusion by enclosing it within an envelope set in the TV series' present. An interesting world and exciting conflicts make up for some predictable characterizations. Boy-girl liplock in the altogether and some graphic battles may raise the lower end of the appropriate audience higher than the publisher's stated 12, but this is definitely a treat for teen and adult fans of the show.
Game of Thrones–lite powered by steam. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: June 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-269-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
The traditional selkie story plays out in an arc of unrequited love and abandonment in this moody iteration.
Writing in terse prose cast into short lines, Virgo begins the story with the sailor going to sea as a boy but halfway through suddenly shifts point of view to that of the dreamy child born to the silent couple years later. The author shows similar indecision in describing the selkie’s garment. It is a “shadow” when the sailor steals it and a “roll of white skin” when the boy (rather than, as is more common, his mother) at last takes it down to the sea one night and swims “out under the old / moon’s path on the waters, leaving / his memories behind.” As if the sailor’s immoral act and the ensuing picture of failed domestic life in the narrative isn’t sad and remote enough, Pérez adds a full suite of subtly tinted sketches that depict either small, slumped figures in lonely landscapes or claustrophobic assemblages of floating bodies or heads, detached hands and surreal fish with human faces. As the lead victim, the selkie woman is most likely to draw sympathy from readers, but she is the least developed of the three central figures. Not much here for children, but the portentous atmosphere may prompt readers of the inked and pierced set to overlook the story’s overall lack of clarity or cohesion. (Folk tale. 14-18)
Pub Date: June 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-88899-971-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
A tear-jerker that fails to connect despite desperate effort.
Tragedy hovers over a blossoming romance.
Brazilian-American Sebastian “Bash” Alvaréz is just trying to get by when he meets the nerdy, white Birdie Paxton. The two spark up some romantic fire, but disaster quickly strikes. Late one night, Bash and his ne’er-do-well pal “Wild” Kyle are driving erratically (Kyle is at the wheel) and slam right into Birdie’s baby brother, Benny. The boys flee the scene, while Benny slips into a coma and the town begins to hunt for the perpetrators of the hit-and-run. Bash keeps his secret from Birdie as they grow closer, and readers will roll their eyes at the excessive misery. The author gives Bash a dying mother to balance out the equation, but the choice overloads the devastation factor. With everything emotional and awful and crazy and turned up to 11, nothing really sticks out. The two moping, guilt-ridden protagonists are drawn well enough—they alternate narration—but seem to be stuck in a narrative hell bent on getting readers to cry. Secondary characters are poorly sketched, given no interior life, and merely activated to interact with Birdie and Bash. The novel’s end is disproportionately sunny and hopeful, giving readers tonal whiplash. A last-minute Hail Mary act gets the teens out of the narrative corner, but it feels spectacularly tacked-on.
A tear-jerker that fails to connect despite desperate effort. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-11622-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
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