The second Firebirds anthology gathers an all-star cast to explore adolescence and discovering the world. Tamora Pierce makes a welcome foray into modern fantasy with a schoolgirl whose family worships an ancient hunt goddess and who discovers social responsibility. For Alison Goodman’s psychic heroine, social upheaval is the backdrop for both romance and personal growth. The protagonists of Carol Emshwiller’s “Quill” and Alan Dean Foster’s “Perception” are forced to look at themselves through the eyes of aliens, while Emma Bull’s hero learns a little something about hubris, sacrifice and power. Diana Wynne Jones brings a lighter touch with a boy whose younger brother speaks in nonsense strings of sesquipedalian words, and Kara Dalkey adds contemporary flavor, taking the current trend for constant communication among teenagers to a terrifying extreme. Only Francesca Lia Block’s shapeless offering disappoints, but it’s more than redeemed by Pamela Dean’s fully realized and fascinating heroine. A third of the collection is devoted to science fiction, an exciting presence in a field dominated by fantasy. Altogether, a gorgeous and rich collection. (Fantasy. 12+)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-14-240549-3
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Firebird/Penguin
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
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In a radical departure from her realistic fiction and comic chronicles of Anastasia, Lowry creates a chilling, tightly controlled future society where all controversy, pain, and choice have been expunged, each childhood year has its privileges and responsibilities, and family members are selected for compatibility.
As Jonas approaches the "Ceremony of Twelve," he wonders what his adult "Assignment" will be. Father, a "Nurturer," cares for "newchildren"; Mother works in the "Department of Justice"; but Jonas's admitted talents suggest no particular calling. In the event, he is named "Receiver," to replace an Elder with a unique function: holding the community's memories—painful, troubling, or prone to lead (like love) to disorder; the Elder ("The Giver") now begins to transfer these memories to Jonas. The process is deeply disturbing; for the first time, Jonas learns about ordinary things like color, the sun, snow, and mountains, as well as love, war, and death: the ceremony known as "release" is revealed to be murder. Horrified, Jonas plots escape to "Elsewhere," a step he believes will return the memories to all the people, but his timing is upset by a decision to release a newchild he has come to love. Ill-equipped, Jonas sets out with the baby on a desperate journey whose enigmatic conclusion resonates with allegory: Jonas may be a Christ figure, but the contrasts here with Christian symbols are also intriguing.
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 978-0-395-64566-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
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Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
24
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Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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