A funny and fantastical spin through a future New England.
A man wakes up with no memory in a foreign land—Vermont—in this debut novel.
In 2110, a man finds himself in Middlesex in the country of Vermont, but there’s one problem —he has no idea where he came from or how he ended up in this unfamiliar territory. Dubbed Flatlander by the inhabitants, who include the swashbuckling King Henry, the wanderer is told that Vermont is now its own sovereignty, free from the rules and regulations of what the residents call the “Old Country.” King Henry and his court, prejudiced against Flatlanders to begin with, do not trust this newcomer because of his amnesia. But he will be offered citizenship if he completes 10 important quests for the monarch (“Quests that are designed to help the republic. Helping fix problems that have been festering for much too long. As Vermonters, we sometimes like to think that we’re immune to many of the problems that the rest of the world faces, yet that is not so”). Through demons, assassinations, political intrigue, a moose named Pete, and more, Flatlander must complete his tasks, figure out who he is, and be accepted by King Henry and his country—not an easy mission, to say the least. As Flatlander journeys through every inch of Vermont, he learns more about his past, his future, and the country that he is fighting to be a part of. Kranichfeld’s enthusiasm for epic fantasy novels is apparent in this work—it’s full of imaginative, irregular creatures and characters, which should inspire delight (or, in some cases, disgust) in readers. His prose remains dense but still seals in excitement, propelling the reader through Flatlander’s exploits. The explanatory footnotes included throughout the text are charming and helpful, adding more layers to the tale’s lore or aiding those readers unfamiliar with New England or Vermont. It is clear that the author has a deep love for the setting—he is creating perhaps a new genre of geographical fiction here, combining the culture and hallowed grounds of Vermont with the themes of a Homerian epic. Balling’s illustrations—simple sketches etched in black and white—add a mysterious air and a window to what to visualize as the tale proceeds. Lovers of adventure stories should certainly adore this book, and wait with bated breath for the next chapter.
A funny and fantastical spin through a future New England.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4917-9992-5
Page Count: 684
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Nov. 27, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
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