Like Ralwil’s craft, this doesn’t fly
Ralwil Turth, an intergalactic space being, has crash-landed on Earth.
After a quick study of humans, Ralwil shape-shifts his alien body into a human one in hopes of blending in while he works to repair his spacecraft. The crash site is a family farm where Ralwil, now in white, adult, male, human form, befriends white 11-year-old Grady Johnson and his widowed mother, staying on in exchange for help on the farm. Realizing the family is struggling to make ends meet, Ralwil takes the DNA from a $20 bill and engineers a fast-growing money tree that he plants on the farm. The spending spree that follows alerts the local banker, who has befriended Ma with the ulterior motive of repossessing the house to sell off at a profit. This slow-moving tale does not rise above its clichéd premise. Though there is a sympathetic tone for the widow and her children, this book is wrought with structural issues, and the time period is unclear (the mention of Star Wars on a movie theater’s marquee narrows it down to the past 40 years or so). The continuity becomes fragmented as previously consistently alternating chapters from Ralwil’s and Grady’s third-person perspectives are suddenly interrupted with new, adult characters’ chapters, a jarring shift that calls the book’s audience into question. Important details are left unaddressed, especially at what is supposed to be the climax.
Like Ralwil’s craft, this doesn’t fly . (Science fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943978-30-4
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Persnickety Press
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
Guaranteed to enchant, enthrall, and enmagick.
An elderly witch, a magical girl, a brave carpenter, a wise monster, a tiny dragon, paper birds, and a madwoman converge to thwart a magician who feeds on sorrow.
Every year Elders of the Protectorate leave a baby in the forest, warning everyone an evil Witch demands this sacrifice. In reality, every year, a kind witch named Xan rescues the babies and find families for them. One year Xan saves a baby girl with a crescent birthmark who accidentally feeds on moonlight and becomes “enmagicked.” Magic babies can be tricky, so Xan adopts little Luna herself and lovingly raises her, with help from an ancient swamp monster and a chatty, wee dragon. Luna’s magical powers emerge as her 13th birthday approaches. Meanwhile, Luna’s deranged real mother enters the forest to find her daughter. Simultaneously, a young carpenter from the Protectorate enters the forest to kill the Witch and end the sacrifices. Xan also enters the forest to rescue the next sacrificed child, and Luna, the monster, and the dragon enter the forest to protect Xan. In the dramatic denouement, a volcano erupts, the real villain attempts to destroy all, and love prevails. Replete with traditional motifs, this nontraditional fairy tale boasts sinister and endearing characters, magical elements, strong storytelling, and unleashed forces. Luna has black eyes, curly, black hair, and “amber” skin.
Guaranteed to enchant, enthrall, and enmagick. (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61620-567-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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