Courage, skill, and magic are qualities that characterize 18-year-old Alanna in this third volume of the Song of the Lioness series. The tale (which can be enjoyed separately from the first two books) depicts Alanna's first year as a knight-errant for King Roald of Torvall, and combines the best charms of fantasy, adventure and romance. Alanna's adventures test not only her physical and spiritual qualities but her sense of identity and purpose. Alanna, her talking cat Faithful, her horse Moonlight, and teacher/ companion Coran meet the Bazhir desert tribesmen as the story begins. Finding themselves captive of the Bloody Hawk tribe, Alanna overcomes their leader's distrust through courage and luck. Alanna's defeat of the tribe's best fighter begins her exploits, which amaze and awe the Bazhirs. When she destroys her enemy, the tribe's evil holy man Ibn Nazzior, Alanna is asked to become their shaman. She challenges many of the tribe's customs and beliefs (especially those of sex roles) because of her independent action. As shaman, she trains two young outcast Bazhir women in their magical talents to become the first female tribal shamans. Alanna also fights the evil that enchants a crystal sword, which she won from a desert bandit in battle. The love Alanna feels for Prince Jonathon, who visits the tribe to learn its history, conflicts with her adventurous nature which craves action and recognition as a knight/soldier of the realm. Her attraction for George, the King of Thieves, brings her happiness, but another set of problems. Whom should she marry, Prince Jonathon or George? Alanna's world is a harsh one, but believable. Her uncertainties about her identity and her future are the ones that many young contemporary teens face. This fantasy provides food for introspection as well as flights of imagination into a magical kingdom. (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 1986
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2765-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1986
Evocations of Narnia are not enough to salvage this fantasy, which struggles with thin character development.
A portal fantasy survivor story from an established devotional writer.
Fourteen-year-old Eva’s maternal grandmother lives on a grand estate in England; Eva and her academic parents live in New Haven, Connecticut. When she and Mum finally visit Carrick Hall, Eva is alternately resentful at what she’s missed and overjoyed to connect with sometimes aloof Grandmother. Alongside questions of Eva’s family history, the summer is permeated by a greater mystery surrounding the work of fictional children’s fantasy writer A.H.W. Clifton, who wrote a Narnialike series that Eva adores. As it happens, Grandmother was one of several children who entered and ruled Ternival, the world of Clifton’s books; the others perished in 1952, and Grandmother hasn’t recovered. The Narnia influences are strong—Eva’s grandmother is the Susan figure who’s repudiated both magic and God—and the ensuing trauma has created rifts that echo through her relationships with her daughter and granddaughter. An early narrative implication that Eva will visit Ternival to set things right barely materializes in this series opener; meanwhile, the religious parable overwhelms the magic elements as the story winds on. The serviceable plot is weakened by shallow characterization. Little backstory appears other than that which immediately concerns the plot, and Eva tends to respond emotionally as the story requires—resentful when her seething silence is required, immediately trusting toward characters readers need to trust. Major characters are cued white.
Evocations of Narnia are not enough to salvage this fantasy, which struggles with thin character development. (author’s note, map, author Q&A) (Religious fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780593194454
Page Count: 384
Publisher: WaterBrook
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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