Will Stanton, youngest of the Old Ones, goes to visit his Welsh relatives to recover from a serious illness and complete the first quest he has undertaken on his own. Aided only by the mysterious albino boy, Bran, and his gray-eyed dog, Cafall, Will must find the magic golden harp and use it to defeat the Grey King of the mountain and awaken The Sleepers, who will be powerful allies of the Light in its final stand. Strangely enough it is the very real peril of two dogs—Cafall and Pen, who become pawns of the Grey King and are accused of sheep killing by the villainous farmer Caradog Prichard—which occasions most of the suspense. In the whole epic tug of war between Good and Evil, Cafall's death is the first loss worth tears and it makes us care deeply about his loyal, grieving owner, Bran. . . who turns out to be the son of Guinevere and King Arthur, but that's another matter. The Welsh-accented spells, the gray, spirit foxes who come out of the hills to prey, the climactic battle of enchantments between the swans and cormorants commanded by Will and the seething fish controlled by the Grey King must stir even the most sluggish imagination. Yet Will's special status as an Old One—his ability to summon a new, previously unheard of spell or power at each crisis—tends to lull the reader into passivity; there's something alienating about not knowing the rules ahead of time. Although the imagery here is somewhat more familiar and less eerie, this is every bit as grandly orchestrated as Green-witch (1974). Cooper is clearly building towards a thumping conclusion in the fifth and next volume and even those of us who have doubts about the significance of all this thunderous moral absolutism will want to get in on the action.
Pub Date: Sept. 10, 1975
ISBN: 1416949674
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1975
A dystopian world that is all too real and that has much to say about our own.
In an apocalyptic future Canada, Indigenous people have been forced to live on the run to avoid capture by the Recruiters, government military agents who kidnap Indians and confine them to facilities called “schools.”
Orphan Frenchie (Métis) is rescued from the Recruiters by Miigwans (Anishnaabe) along with a small band of other Indians from different nations, most young and each with a tragic story. Miigwans leads the group north to find others, holding on to the belief of safety in numbers. Five years later, Frenchie is now 16, and the bonded travelers have protected one another, strengthened by their loyalty and will to persevere as a people. They must stay forever on alert, just a breath away from capture by the Recruiters or by other Indians who act as their agents. Miigwans reveals that the government has been kidnapping Indians to extract their bone marrow, scientists believing that the key to restoring dreaming to white people is found within their DNA. Frenchie later learns that the truth is even more horrifying. The landscape of North America has been completely altered by climate change, rising oceans having eliminated coastlines and the Great Lakes having been destroyed by pollution and busted oil pipelines. Though the presence of the women in the story is downplayed, Miigwans is a true hero; in him Dimaline creates a character of tremendous emotional depth and tenderness, connecting readers with the complexity and compassion of Indigenous people.
A dystopian world that is all too real and that has much to say about our own. (Science fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-77086-486-3
Page Count: 180
Publisher: DCB
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
A romance born from danger with a fantastic buildup.
Secrets of the past and familial tensions abound in this sequel that teases forbidden romance.
Quell’s connection to her toushana, or dark magic, poses such a great threat to the magical Order of grand Houses, haughty debutantes, and high-stakes bureaucracy that the powerful Dragun brotherhood has determined she must die. Jordan, a former lover still hurt by Quell’s decision to bind to her toushana, is leading the charge—and unbeknownst to them both, Yagrin, his brother who has long hated the Order, has sided with Quell under false pretenses. The narration alternates among the voices of Quell, Jordan, and Nore, who wants a simpler life than her role as heir to the House of Ambrose can afford her; she’s dedicated to resolving this problem by any means necessary. The racially diverse cast of characters is large and at times unwieldy, but as Quell decides to leave the safe houses that have kept her hidden and reenter the world of lavish magical balls to find her long-lost mother, reminders of the earlier volume—beautiful gowns, cattiness, fish-out-of-water awkwardness—bring all the threads together, allowing for continued worldbuilding and a fuller story. Ultimately, Quell and Jordan’s tension boils over into the passionate romance it was always meant to be as the two partner with Yagrin and Nore to reveal the Order’s biggest secrets and potentially change the future of magic forever.
A romance born from danger with a fantastic buildup. (author’s note, histories of the houses, map, lexicon) (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780593527733
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
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