In the first section of this wise, warmhearted fairytale, the elf Yorsh is only a sweetly naïve child; but as the last of his kind, he accepts his destined burden to return summer to a world of endless rain and famine. Assisted by a pair of sympathetic humans and a very difficult dragon, Yorsh discovers that fulfilling a prophecy can sometimes be simpler than it seems. But it can also be more complicated, as an adolescent Yorsh learns in the second story. Even with the help of a dragon and a feisty orphan girl, he finds bringing back the sun was much easier than lifting the darkness of oppression and bigotry. Graceful, witty prose lightly sketches a land filled with astonishingly vivid and original characters. Gentle Yorsh may be an innocent, but he’s no fool; through his eyes, his companions glow with humor, tenderness and courage. Their quest provides plenty of suspense and heroic action, never flinching from conflict or the pain it breeds, yet the narrative continually opts for clever, non-violent solutions; the climactic sacrifice is portrayed as necessary, even glorious, but also almost unbearably tragic. Readers are left assured that kindness and hope will prevail, however tenuously, over anger and fear. (Fantasy. 10+)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7868-3636-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2006
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
A satisfying blend of fantasy, adventure story, eco-fable and political satire with broad appeal; especially recommended for...
Fans of Meloy’s indie-rock band, The Decemberists, will recognize themes running through his engaging debut celebrating the struggle of ordinary folk (including plants and animals) to throw off tyranny and shape their destinies.
When her baby brother is carried off by crows to the Impassable Wilderness at the heart of Portland, Ore., stubbornly courageous Prue McKeel, 12, sets out to reclaim him, accompanied by annoying schoolfellow and class pariah Curtis Mehlberg. Their quest soon becomes entangled with longstanding conflicts among residents of this magical wilderness, which harbors secrets both strange (talking animals, sentient plants) and familiar (xenophobic mistrust, government red tape). Overcoming a slow start, the story gains momentum when Prue and Curtis enter the woods, encountering its vividly portrayed denizens, human and otherwise. Captured by the mysterious Dowager Governess, Curtis must choose sides in a confusing conflict; either way, he’ll need courage and ingenuity to survive. Prue’s search leads through South Wood’s impenetrable bureaucracy to North Wood, where mystics commune with nature. Gritty urban settings abound in contemporary fantasy (Holly Black, Neil Gaiman and China Miéville are exemplars). Faithfully recreating Portland’s wild Forest Park, Meloy gives his world a uniquely Pacific Northwest spin. Illustrations by Ellis, Meloy’s wife, bring forest and inhabitants to gently whimsical life.
A satisfying blend of fantasy, adventure story, eco-fable and political satire with broad appeal; especially recommended for preteen boys. (Fantasy. 10 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202468-8
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
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