jess
Sabaa gives us an external tragedy in Laia - a girl out to do something, to save what matters most to her - and an internal tragedy in Elias - a boy who does not want to become what he is being made into. Both of them face impossible odds but keep up a spirit of hope.
On top of a gripping young adventure/is this love? tale, we get magic, mythology, and new fantastical beings.
I was a little put off at first by the simplified groupings of peoples: Martials (killers), Scholars (mostly slaves), Mariners, etc. But, I think the author decided to go with that and finish her book rather than come up with some other separation of peoples. Also, besides keeping the already beaten down Scholars in check, it is not entirely obvious in this book why the Martials are so, er, Martial. The current politics are not given (or I missed it).
Creative and compelling.
Adrian makes another whole new world for us. With a far in the future human race along with many completely new alien lifeforms. The story remains a tantalizing space opera - you know there will be betrayals and challenges. Can the rag tag group make it? What will they have to give up to be free? What is freedom anyways? What is loyalty?
The ties that bind our heroes together are as human as we can find in a story - it's friendship and camaraderie. It's trust and faith. Maybe a little bit of hope.
Like any of his works, the reader has to do a lot of work to understand the world - but be patient and give it time. All of the new will seem familiar soon.
I have so much trouble rating this one. Powerful, beautiful, but sad.
On the one hand, this is well done. The characters are so real. The challenges they face are believable. The separate but dependent plots are interesting and creative.
On the other hand, the stories are all depressing; aside from a few moments for readers to catch their breath, this is a downer. I felt it in my heart.
Powerful but challenging reader experience. Interwoven timelines and a bit of mysticism change this relatively calm diary of sorts of a middle aged woman in British Columbia into a mystery.
There is some brutal behavior and explicit content in this book. There is a lot of talk of suicide. Parts of this book are very hard to read because you feel so badly for the characters.
