Exciting, heart-pounding action; genuine motivations; and vivid writing make this a compellingly entertaining coming-of-age...
A teenager who can grasp alien symbols becomes the key to resisting a megacorporation in this debut YA sci-fi novel.
In 2038, Earth is dense with huge, overcrowded apartment buildings populated by a workforce for enormous factories that cheaply manufacture goods sold at high prices in wealthy, luxurious off-world colonies. Militarized robots police the worker bees, and information is highly censored. Samuel Hughes sees only one way to help his unemployed father, William, and gravely ill sister: by working in Tricium Group’s off-world mines. It’s dangerous, and William warns Sam that stories of mining wealth are just propaganda, but the boy is determined, and at age 15, he’s old enough. But then he and other miners barely make it from their crashing transport ship to an escape pod, which lands on an Earth-like planet uninhabited by people or animals, although ruins are visible to the north. The survivors include nine men and eight women; the youngest are Sam and Rebecca Helmsford. The pod contains food and other supplies, but the survivors have to scatter when huge robots begin attacking. Sam and Rebecca flee with Tamrun Jones, a tall ex-soldier whose calm leadership is invaluable. After regrouping in the ruins, Sam discovers that he can perceive a symbol field, at first with pain and difficulty and then increasing facility, which will allow him to control the planet’s technology. In the mountains nearby, he can also get crucial guidance from the Sentience, a kind of wise computer. A ruthless Earth conspiracy at the highest reaches wants to use Sam to exploit the planet’s rich resources—but with help from the Sentience, his friends, and the resistance movement, Sam might pull off a dangerous bid to return to Earth and beard the all-powerful Tricium lion in his den. In his well-written novel, Flanagan tells an appealing story of the seemingly small and weak standing up to overwhelming forces. Though technology is in some ways at the center of the tale, the author takes care to underscore the human element, as in the tender relationship between Sam and his sister, Kara. Similarly, the attraction between Sam and Rebecca isn’t perfunctory or simply a matter of physical attraction but based on the qualities they’ve displayed. When Sam tells her, “I think the person you are is amazing,” it’s believable and touching. The extraterrestrial civilization seems truly—and captivatingly—alien, not just familiar elements in exotic dress. Flanagan does a fine job of establishing what’s at stake by first showing the dreary futility of life for most on Earth, a plausible haves/have-nots setup with resonance for readers today given widening wealth inequality. The plot is well-orchestrated, with several tense battle scenes, some surprises, and a growing sense of urgency as the narrative progresses that leads to a taut, deftly described, complex, and cinematic action sequence. The ending is well-judged, with an outcome that leaves room to grow.
Exciting, heart-pounding action; genuine motivations; and vivid writing make this a compellingly entertaining coming-of-age tale.Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5423-6948-0
Page Count: 235
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s...
The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.
The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can't forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-57720-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
