In this fascinating but frustrating sequel to Wolf Tower (2000), Lee continues her heroine’s imaginary journal. Claidi is blissfully preparing for her wedding to the tribal chieftain Argul when she is kidnapped by agents of the Towers, whose Law she destroyed in the previous story. She is taken to the Rise, a clifflike palace powered by a stupendous waterfall, where creatures evolve oddly, and rooms wander about inexplicably under the baneful Wolf Star. Despite her fury at her abduction and her longing for Argul, Claidi is intrigued by the Rise’s eccentric wonders, and drawn to its peculiar inhabitants—the surly prince Venn and his strange servants—only to discover that Venn’s peculiarities are linked to both Argul and her own shrouded past. Lee pieces together an intricate, disturbingly different, world, and Claidi remains an engaging character, delightfully down-to-earth among marvels. But Venn, despite his deep wounds, seems remarkably unsympathetic, and the remaining characters are little more than ciphers. While the narrative deepens and extends the themes of iconoclasm and self-reliance from Wolf Tower, it suffers the typical flaws of a series novel: too much action without anything really happening, and minor questions resolved while, through a preposterous deus ex machina, major mysteries are left hanging. Although helpful artifacts keep popping up at convenient plot points, the underlying nature of science/magic remains muddled. As part of the series, this is essential; but as a standalone, it’s likely to leave readers as much puzzled as enchanted. (Fiction. 11+)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-525-46673-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2001
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly...
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 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
A sweet if muddled tale of the magic of Appalachia.
A teenage witch goes up against the evil king of the mountain to save a cursed village.
Witch-in-training Verity Vox has spent a year apiece in different villages, helping in any way she can as she learns her art. When it’s time to move on, she receives a sign that shows her where to go next. When the latest sign appears in the form of a note begging for help that floats down on a leaf, she’s eager for the challenge. Verity winds up in Foxfire, a village in the Appalachian mountains that’s been magically cut off from the rest of the world for years, leaving its people close to starvation. The root of their suffering is a man they know as Earl, who lives in the hills and strikes deals with the townspeople that ultimately cause crops to wither, folks to disappear, and the only bridge out of the valley to crumble. Verity is determined to change the villagers’ fortunes, but to do so she’ll have to face off against not just Earl but the ancient power of the mountains itself. Loosely based on the Germanic Erlking legend and told in a voice reminiscent of folktales, the story features a queer romance and a cast that presents white. The convoluted magic system undercuts the strong themes of reciprocity, poverty, and privilege, but Appalachian readers will instantly recognize home.
A sweet if muddled tale of the magic of Appalachia. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9798890032706
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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