ODE

A hulking escapee from a mythic prison and a courageous young girl form an unlikely bond in Sweitzer’s fantasy novel.

Historian Edwin rolls into the bustling city of Millthrace with astonishing news. He’s stumbled upon the lost prison of Nerikan, which once, the story goes, confined monsters and magic-wielding “Aurlings.” Apparently proving his claim, a giant “ogre” makes a sudden, smashing appearance and scares everyone, save the plucky 12-year-old orphan Olen. She harbors an unusual ability that likely means she’s an Aurling, and she believes that her parents (whom she doesn’t know) are Aurlings as well. Olen asks the ogre (Bakku, as he calls himself) to guide her across the land of Eisen to her alleged hometown, where she hopes to find her parents. Millthrace soldiers and others chase Olen, Bakku, and Edwin, planning to throw the colossal fugitive back into Nerikan. Sweitzer’s delightful novel truly engages the senses, brimming with details from the creepy clicking sounds the monstrous underworld “gore” creatures make to the image of tiny Olen riding Bakku like a bucking bronco (“Now she sat on the shoulders of a giant, lost in the woods, facing Millthrace’s greatest soldier”). The dynamic cast includes baddies in dogged pursuit, weird creatures that pop up in fierce confrontations, Olen’s endearing orphan “sisters,” and Timo, a charismatic trader Edwin befriends in the desert. The characters are consistently surprising, whether choosing to betray someone or proving themselves in battle. The author takes readers across the expanse of the richly imagined Eisen, around forests, into various cities and villages, and through harrowing mountains. No journey, however, is more fulfilling than the emotional one at this story’s core, especially as Olen delves deeper into her origins and steadily grows closer to Bakku.

Indelible characters carry this epic, heartfelt, and magic-infused tale.