A nuanced and grand fantasy-series finale.
This final book in a middle-grade fantasy trilogy sees a young teen and her friends protect her twin siblings while trying to save her father's soul.
In her previous adventure, 13-year-old Makenna Grace Gold defeated a seven-headed Red Dragon in China. She’s the Virago, a “Protector of Protectors” who shares a heroic lineage with Joan of Arc. However, a Souler has taken her father Michael’s soul to the Under Realms. It’s the work of Sir Malvado Seaton—the Dark One—who wants to keep Makenna’s infant siblings, Noah and Emi, from spreading a sense of hope around the world. Marigold Frith, the fairy Prelate, sends Makenna’s classmates Sam Taylor and Stephen Levine down to the Under Realms to retrieve Michael’s soul. Fairies Bree and Dee Delphine stand in as magical doppelgängers of Sam and Stephen on Earth while they’re away. And to keep Makenna’s mom, Misty, from worrying about her husband, the fairies secretly turn Fluffy, the Virago’s loyal worm, into Michael’s double as the Gold family visits China. The heroes must be ready for anything as Seaton flies in his private jet to Shanghai; his wicked, two-tailed cat, Savannah, arrives early and tries to attack the twins in their room at the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel. Meanwhile, the real Sam and Stephen infiltrate the underworld after giving DuGaiman, a half-troll bouncer, the runaround. Thanks to Sam’s knowledge of a particular video game, they manage to track the Souler through hell’s numerous levels. The danger for Makenna increases when Ms. Creante, an Alghanii Demonesse, heals from her last battle and reenters the fray.
In Bialys’ third series installment, the author performs a narrative victory lap, securing his trilogy a permanent place on his readers’ shelves. The tale expands the cast but maintains an excellent pace and a perfect balance between comedy and drama. Self-doubt torments the principal characters as much as any vampire cat might; indeed, Ms. Creante reminds Makenna, “you have yet to win a battle all on your own.” Later, in the Under Realms, a being named Orsin feeds Stephen from the tree of knowledge, and the boy experiences a vision in which Sam and Makenna get married as adults. Stephen and Sam nearly have a falling out over this possible future, and Bialys offers a potent illustration of young love. Seaton eventually tempts Makenna with a vision of herself as the most popular, graceful student at school (even the obnoxious Heather Stern worships her); the vision could be reality—if only she’ll give up the twins. Fluffy, in the guise of Michael, provides comedic relief as he struggles with being human. Bialys also offers plenty of quick jokes for adult fans, as when Marigold threatens to withhold DuGaiman’s tickets to a Celine Dion show. Such consistently entertaining details keep the story fresh and buoyant despite the darker themes. The sparkling prose never bogs down, and it’s a joy to meet creations with clever names, such as Ms. Judged. In the end, Virago’s adventure ably delivers a fine message of selflessness.
A nuanced and grand fantasy-series finale.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 330
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
This first fantastic installment of the His Dark Materials trilogy propels readers along with horror and high adventure, a...
Pullman (The Tin Princess, 1994, etc.) returns to the familiar territory of Victorian England, but this time inhabits an alternate Earth, where magic is an ordinary fact of life.
Lyra Belacqua and her daemon familiar Pantalaimon spend their days teasing the scholars of Jordan College until her uncle, Lord Asriel, announces that he's learned of astonishing events taking place in the far north involving the aurora borealis. When Lyra rescues Asriel from an attempt on his life, it is only the beginning of a torrent of events that finds Lyra willingly abducted by the velvet Mrs. Coulter, a missionary of pediatric atrocities; a journey with gyptian clansmen to rescue the children who are destined to be severed from their daemons (an act that is clearly hideous); and Lyra's discovery of her unusual powers and destiny. Lyra may suffer from excessive spunk, but she is thorough, intelligent, and charming. The author's care in recreating Victorian speech affectations never hinders the action; copious amounts of gore will not dissuade the squeamish, for resonating at the story's center is the twinkling image of a celestial city.
This first fantastic installment of the His Dark Materials trilogy propels readers along with horror and high adventure, a shattering tale that begins with a promise and delivers an entire universe. (Fiction. 12+)Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 978-0-679-87942-4
Page Count: 397
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1996
SEEN & HEARD
Bent on tracking down the elven Norumbegans in order to save Vermont from an invasion of dream-sucking Thusser, Brian,...
The third of what is now billed as the Norumbegan Quartet, this sequel to Game of Sunken Places (2004) and Suburb Beyond the Stars (2010) gives new meaning to the term “introspective.”
Bent on tracking down the elven Norumbegans in order to save Vermont from an invasion of dream-sucking Thusser, Brian, Gregory and the mechanical troll Kalgrash pass through an interdimensional curtain—to find themselves inside an organic alien body. It is so vast that entire cities of both Norumbegans and their now-rebellious mechanical servants have sprung up despite sudden destructive floods of ichor and other bodily fluids. Arriving at the capital city in, literally, the heart of the “Empire of the Innards,” the trio discovers that the elves are an effete, degenerate lot dwelling in a slum, wrapped up in their own intrigues and about to be assaulted by the teeming hordes of resentful mechanicals they created. Along with tucking in plenty of poker-faced absurdity, Anderson really stacks the deck here. Not only are the boys able to raise no more than flickers of interest in their cause from their self-absorbed hosts, they become embroiled in a murder investigation. Worse yet, as the relentless Thusser spread back on Earth, they also begin appearing in the Empire.Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-13884-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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