This YA series opener creates a vivid, evocative foundation for a potential fantasy series.
In Duga’s (Kiss of the Royal, 2018) YA fantasy novel, a teenager discovers that her childhood trauma has allowed her to forge a connection to a magical realm, and may help her find her missing mother.
Sixteen-year-old Briony “Brye” Redwrell is a competitive swimmer in Knoxville, Tennessee. She plans to spend the summer with her best friend, Isabelle “Izzie” Jennison. After a particularly tough meet, she learns that her grandmother, Willa Kaftan, has broken her leg. Willa lives alone in the Smoky Mountains, in an area called Firefly Valley. Brye’s dad sends her to care for Willa, causing mixed emotions. Ten years ago, Brye experienced a house fire in the valley, during which she lost all her memories up to that point. Her mother, Heather, seemingly abandoned her family during the chaos. Thankfully, Izzie joins Brye on her excursion to the Smokies. Soon after they arrive, Brye learns that the charred remains of her old home are scheduled for demolition. Visiting the site triggers memories of the fire, and of her mother. She soon encounters an attractive young man whom she doesn’t remember—yet his “mere touch” triggers a “powerful sense of nostalgia.” After a supernatural event, Brye realizes that to uncover her past, she must learn to trust people, starting with the young man, who calls himself Alder. Duga conjures a classic American landscape and a sublimely sensuous adventure. The emotional complexity of loving a place as though it were a person—and vice versa—is embodied by this description of the energy radiating from Alder: “The essence of the Smokies...the world’s best aftershave....it was distractingly intoxicating.” Brye learns of realms beyond the purely physical, and meets a spirit emissary named Raysh, who appears as a translucent fox. Elegant fantasy components, such as “mana” (the aforementioned energy), elemental gates, and giant animal deities are reminiscent of the work of genre greats, such as J.R.R. Tolkien and Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. There are occasional references to modern teenage life—to Instagram, for example—but they never intrude for long. A pleasant finale and the promise of further trips to Firefly Valley should please audiences.
This YA series opener creates a vivid, evocative foundation for a potential fantasy series.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-731-3
Page Count: 350
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This follow-up to Firebirds Rising (2006) will hold great appeal for fantasy fans who don’t mind exchanging their epics for short stories. From the lush and lyrical to the minimalist, soaring is exactly what these stories do, taking the reader through unexplored lands of the fantastic, well beyond wizards, vampires and faeries. Some stories are clearly rooted in fantasy legends, like Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s flowing centerpiece, “The Ghosts of Strangers.” Others, like Carol Emshwiller’s “The Dignity He’s Due,” employ some characterizations and settings that step just beyond reality, satisfying those who can’t get enough of the urban fantasy genre. Each story includes an author’s note for further information. Traditional themes in YA literature, including romance, deception and family relations, drive the stories. Both acclaimed and lesser-known authors are included, so readers who pick this up because they recognize a favorite author’s name may discover new favorites. (Short stories/fantasy. YA)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-14-240552-9
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Penguin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Exciting, original update of the ripping-yarns formula.
Allen (Slaves of the Shinar, 2007) sends the 14-year-old son of Chinese immigrants into the western territories of post–Civil War America.
When Yen Tzu-lu (nicknamed Lu) hears his grandfather speaking in Chinese with a mysterious white man named Jack Straw about some kind of mission, he never dreams that he will be plucked from his Mississippi River hometown to join it. Jack, a legendary gunslinger, is leading a group of roughnecks that includes a former slave who fought in the Union army, a Mexican outlaw and ex-Confederate John MacLemore and his daughter. They’re out to reclaim a gold mine that MacLemore says belongs to him, and Lu has been hired as an explosives expert. (He’s not, but only Jack knows that.) En route, the group encounters Native American tribesmen, bullying Union soldiers, supernatural ghost-riders and a dark figure who may just be the devil himself. The harsh realities of frontier travel are slightly mitigated for Lu by the pleasures of learning to ride horses and hunt. The author clearly has a great love for old-style boy’s-adventure tales, but he doesn’t allow the genre’s tropes to keep him from trying new things. In particular, the multicultural cast of characters, while perhaps historically improbable, is refreshing, and Allen doesn’t gloss over the widespread racial prejudices of the time. Best of all, however, he knows how to tell a cracking good story.
Exciting, original update of the ripping-yarns formula.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-59020-273-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Overlook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
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