Four young people divided by geography, class, and philosophy come together in the dream realm to fight the powers of darkness. Maeve, a Sliviite slave of noble descent, runs away from a sinister new master, as Jasper, a clever lowborn entrepreneur, risks his precarious freedom to help her escape. On the opposite side of the sea, Princess Saravelda of Archeld comes incognito to the Healer’s Keep of conquered Bellandra to study her magical gifts, while the outlander Dorjan enrolls, already proficient in his rare talent of walking in dreams. A plot by the disciples of the demonic Shadow King unites these four unlikely allies in a mystical battle to keep the spiritual light from being drained from the world. In this sequel to The Seer and the Sword (2001), Hanley again employs a complicated double narrative, intertwining the tales of her principals while keeping them physically apart. She extends the map of her world with decadent Sliviia and resentful Bellandra, and clarifies the underlying magical structure—although her excessive dependence on sound-alike terminology will force most readers to keep one finger in the glossary. The dramatic action keeps the characters hurtling from crisis to cataclysm, while forcing them to moral compromises that develop character depth. Although the one-dimensional villains, along with a tendency to tell rather than show, make this a more straightforward good-vs.-evil adventure than the subtly ambiguous conflict of Hanley’s debut, the tale works well both as a sequel and on its own. Solid and satisfying. (Fantasy. 12+)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2002
ISBN: 0-8234-1760-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
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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