A strong ensemble adventure, grim, gritty, and genuinely enjoyable.
Smuggler’s son Jess Brightwell and his band of troublemaking Scholars face danger again in this third installment (Paper and Fire, 2016, etc.).
After surviving the destruction of two cities, Jess and company are now prisoners of fanatical Burners in besieged Philadelphia. Once promising Scholars and soldiers, the group members—Jess, Obscurist Morgan Hault, escaped prisoner Thomas Schreiber, ex-Garda Glain Wathen, disgraced noble Dario Santiago, clever Scholar Khalila Seif, and former teachers Christopher Wolfe and Niccolo Santi—have become fugitives from the Great Library, whose corrupt leaders suppress knowledge and persecute innovators. Told from Everyman Jess’ cynical perspective and punctuated by “Ephemera” (confiscated or covert correspondence), this installment marks the beginning of a revolution, as idealistic intelligentsia lose innocence and hone lethal skills when they witness the Library’s atrocities and the Burners’ suicidal zealotry. The globe-trotting freedom fighters remain racially homogenous—aside from Muslim Khalila, most appear to be white—and secondary characters such as the Native Americans they encounter are exotically enigmatic. Allies if not friends, group members find the hardships deepen their relationships, and romantic couples—including a lovingly portrayed same-sex pair—consider terrible sacrifices. Caine’s semi-steampunk world blends fantasy and science fiction but also covers typical dystopian territory, albeit at a fairly literary level, with her trademark witty banter, dark humor, and abundant action sequences.
A strong ensemble adventure, grim, gritty, and genuinely enjoyable. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: July 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-451-47241-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
IN THE NEWS
Hard-to-read story, hard-to-stop-reading writing.
A hardscrabble antihero’s coming out lands him in an off-the-grid conversion camp.
Connor Major of Ambrose, Illinois, has quite a mouth on him. But when it comes to the rite-of-passage revelation to his single, hardcore Christian mother that he’s gay, he can’t find his words. At the behest of his boyfriend, Ario, Connor begrudgingly comes out, which is where the book begins. His rocky relationship with his mother is disintegrating, his frustration with exuberantly out Ario grows, accusations of being the absentee father of his BFF’s baby boy haunt him, and he gets violently absconded to a Christian conversion camp in Costa Rica. And that’s all before the unraveling of a mystery, a murder, gunshots, physical violence, emotional abuse, heat, humidity, and hell on Earth happen in the span of a single day. This story points fingers at despicable zealots and applauds resilient queer kids. Connor’s physical and emotional inability to fully find comfort in being gay isn’t magically erased, acknowledging the difficulty of self-acceptance in the face of disapproving homophobes. Lord of the Flies–like survival skills, murder, and brutal violence (Tasers, spears, guns) fuel the story. And secret sex and romance underscore the lack of social liberty and self-acceptance but also support the optimistic hope of freedom. Connor is White, as is the majority of the cast; Ario is Muslim.
Hard-to-read story, hard-to-stop-reading writing. (Fiction 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-63583-061-3
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fear the reaper(s)…but relish this intelligent and entertaining blend of dark humor and high death tolls.
Death proves impermanent in this sequel to Scythe (2016).
In a world run by the (almost) all-powerful and (almost) omniscient artificial intelligence Thunderhead, only the Honorable Scythes deal permanent death to near-immortal humans. Yet a growing contingent of scythes, feared and flattered by society and operating outside the Thunderhead’s control, are proving rather dishonorable. No longer apprentices, 18-year-olds Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch realize “the scythedom is…high school with murder” as they watch their fellow scythes jockey for power and prestige. Citra now gleans as Scythe Anastasia, questioning the status quo but also opposing the homicidally enthusiastic “new-order” scythes and their dangerous demagogue. Self-appointed as Scythe Lucifer, Rowan hunts other scythes whom he deems corrupt. Meanwhile, the existentially troubled Thunderhead questions its role as both creation and caretaker of humanity, sworn not to take life but fearing that its utopia will otherwise collapse into dystopia. Nationality and race are minimally mentioned—ethnic biases and genocide are considered very gauche—yet a population that defies death, aging, sickness, poverty, and war risks becoming bleakly homogenous, alleviated only by “unsavories” and scythes. This sequel digs deeper into Shusterman’s complex world and complicated characters, offering political maneuvering, fatal conspiracies, and impending catastrophe via a slowly unfurling plot and startling bursts of action.
Fear the reaper(s)…but relish this intelligent and entertaining blend of dark humor and high death tolls. (Science fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7245-7
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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