Taking sides (right vs. wrong) and teaming up provides both the suspense and the philosophical tug-of-war in this imaginative story of a 16 year old high school graduate who unwittingly becomes involved in international intrigue. Adam Eddington, a promising zoologist, spends a summer assisting the research of a Dr. O'Keefe on a Portuguese island. The project involves the ability of the starfish to regenerate missing limbs, which Dr. O'Keefe hopes to apply to human beings. On the way to the island Adam is warned against O'Keefe by a glamorous girl and temporarily persuaded to assist her flag-waving father. Adam is a dashing, sophisticated sort, but not without his human qualities. The situation has been foisted upon him but it is one which demands that he commit himself. As the conflict becomes more pronounced, the story gets weaker. The personal probe is valid although many may disagree with the answers, and it accompanies some solidly detailed, excitingly sustained adventure. The author wrote the prizewinning A Wrinkle in Time.
Pub Date: March 7, 1965
ISBN: 0312674880
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1965
A sloppy first novel that shows glimmers of promise.
A boy wizard afflicted with a rare disease battles the forces of evil in this debut fantasy novel.
Feslen Raster, an adopted 14-year-old boy suffering from a rare blood disorder, is viewed as “abnormal”–by official edict, all abnormal citizens are to be kept out of sight. Only his adoptive family’s high social standing allows him to lead a somewhat normal life, though he is still the object of much public ridicule. Feslen does have a few supporters, however: his brother Duxan, his friend Ka-Wei and the aged martial-arts teacher Master Chai, who has taken the young man under his wing. Master Chai sees Feslen’s untapped potential as a powerful mage, and even suspects he may be “the One” prophesied by the ancients to save the world from impending doom, in the form of a group of evil wizards conspiring to take over the land. When Master Chai is murdered and his daughter Mei Xue kidnapped, Feslen vows to rescue her. First, though, he must corral the vast but untamed magical gifts with which he’s been blessed. Embarking on his mission with a motley crew consisting of his brother, Ka-Wei, a mysterious princess, a thief and another novice mage, Feslen encounters the usual array of monsters and spirits on a journey that becomes a coming-of-age experience–both emotionally and magically–for the young wizard. Kang’s debut certainly won’t win any points for style. But despite a derivative, predictable plot and countless mechanical issues, the author’s marriage of Eastern and Western elements in a fantasy setting is intriguingly rendered, and the empathy and love with which Fester is portrayed will keep readers interested.
A sloppy first novel that shows glimmers of promise.Pub Date: July 7, 2006
ISBN: 0-595-37563-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
There are many exciting moments in the battle against Nian, but interjections and details inserted for convenience–though...
An evil, long-dead dragon returns to life in a Chinese restaurant on Topsail Island, N.C., in the first installment of a projected fantasy trilogy.
Furious dragon fire and ancient myth set up what promises to be a roaring adventure when a young boy named Bei defeats Nian the dragon in China, 4000 B.C. Fast-forward to the year 2000, when Nian’s Chinese Buffet is having its grand opening on Topsail Island. Topsail has few good places to eat, so everyone lines up to try the new fare, including 12-year-old Doug. When the residents find out that the fortunes in the cookies actually come true, they really clamor to get in. Doug and his friends suspect something is amiss, but are unable to stop their families from going to the restaurant in search of good luck. Unfortunately, Doug turns out to be right. Stereotypically portrayed Chinese waitstaff capitalize on greed to lure people to the restaurant. There, the dragon waits to steal customers’ souls in order to stage its horrific return. Meanwhile, a second storyline features a young Chinese girl named Hong, who learns she is the descendant of Bei the dragon-slayer and that the birthmark below her ribcage is the harbinger of Nian’s return. She must leave China to find and kill the dragon once more, saving the world from ultimate destruction. Effusively metaphoric narrative strains and descriptive chapters flip back and forth from Doug’s perspective to Hong’s, causing some time-line confusion, until the children meet to destroy the dragon and save the people of Topsail.
There are many exciting moments in the battle against Nian, but interjections and details inserted for convenience–though she has carefully prepared for her quest, Hong forgets that dragons can fly–keep this fantasy outside the realm of believability.Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-595-46153-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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