by Jaleigh Johnson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2017
A full-throttle fanfare for those with a predilection for alchemy, adventure, and a little anarchy.
Well-behaved girls seldom make history…or save ill-fated airships from menacing saboteurs.
Stella Glass won’t stand for being left at home while her healer parents embark on an exploratory voyage via airship to the uncharted lands. So, like any forward-thinking, industrious, stubborn trailblazer, she stows herself away in the ship’s hull. It isn’t long before she realizes she’s not the only one camping among the cargo. Cyrus, with whom she immediately butts heads, claims he is there to ensure the ship’s safe travel, but Stella isn’t convinced. It isn’t until a faceless (in actuality, face-changing) man nearly kills them both—and crashes the ship—that Stella realizes just how much Cyrus and his mysterious powers of protection are needed (and how much she digs him). While The Secrets of Solace (2016) was a respite from the hearty steampunk aesthetic of The Mark of the Dragonfly (2014), the metallic, gear-shifting flavor returns in this third book set in Solace. Without much delving into cultural identifiers, Stella and Cyrus occupy the white default in this fantasy world of quasi-humans, face-shifters, telepathic species, and a winged reptilian race. With a pace that doesn’t let up, the combustible action is interwoven with the need to decipher what is exploration and what is invasion: does anyone ever really come in peace? Hopefully.
A full-throttle fanfare for those with a predilection for alchemy, adventure, and a little anarchy. (map, glossary) (Steampunk. 11-15)Pub Date: June 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-101-93312-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2015
Ultimately more than a little full of itself, but well-stocked with big themes, inventively spun fairy-tale tropes, and...
Good has won every fairy-tale contest with Evil for centuries, but a dark sorcerer’s scheme to turn the tables comes to fruition in this ponderous closer.
Broadening conflict swirls around frenemies Agatha and Sophie as the latter joins rejuvenated School Master Rafal, who has dispatched an army of villains from Capt. Hook to various evil stepmothers to take stabs (literally) at changing the ends of their stories. Meanwhile, amid a general slaughter of dwarves and billy goats, Agatha and her rigid but educable true love, Tedros, flee for protection to the League of Thirteen. This turns out to be a company of geriatric versions of characters, from Hansel and Gretel (in wheelchairs) to fat and shrewish Cinderella, led by an enigmatic Merlin. As the tale moves slowly toward climactic battles and choices, Chainani further lightens the load by stuffing it with memes ranging from a magic ring that must be destroyed and a “maleficent” gown for Sophie to this oddly familiar line: “Of all the tales in all the kingdoms in all the Woods, you had to walk into mine.” Rafal’s plan turns out to be an attempt to prove that love can be twisted into an instrument of Evil. Though the proposition eventually founders on the twin rocks of true friendship and family ties, talk of “balance” in the aftermath at least promises to give Evil a fighting chance in future fairy tales. Bruno’s polished vignettes at each chapter’s head and elsewhere add sophisticated visual notes.
Ultimately more than a little full of itself, but well-stocked with big themes, inventively spun fairy-tale tropes, and flashes of hilarity. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: July 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-210495-3
Page Count: 672
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2015
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno
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by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Julia Iredale
by Kenneth Oppel ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2021
A thrilling conclusion to a beautifully crafted, heart-stopping trilogy.
This is the moment teens Seth, Anaya, and Petra have both been anticipating and dreading ever since aliens called cryptogens began attempting to colonize the Earth: the chance to defend their planet.
In an earlier volume, Seth, Anaya, and Petra began growing physical characteristics that made them realize they were half alien. Seth has wings, Petra has a tail, and Anaya has fur. They also have the power of telepathy, which Anaya uses to converse with Terra, a cryptogen rebel looking for human allies who could help stop the invasion of Earth. Terra plans to use a virus stored in the three teens’ bodies to disarm the flyers, which are the winged aliens that are both masterminding the invasion and enslaving the other species of cryptogens known as swimmers and runners. But Terra and her allies can’t pull any of this off without the help of Anaya, Seth, and Petra. Although the trio is anxious about their abilities, they don’t have much of a choice—the entire human race is depending on them for salvation. Like its predecessors, this trilogy closer is fast-paced and well structured. Despite its post-apocalyptic setting, the story is fundamentally character driven, and it is incredibly satisfying to watch each protagonist overcome their inner battles within the context of the larger human-alien war. Main characters read as White.
A thrilling conclusion to a beautifully crafted, heart-stopping trilogy. (Science fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984894-80-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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by Kenneth Oppel ; illustrated by Christopher Steininger
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