Sections
Seven Faceless Saints is a competent YA novel that successfully builds a compelling central dynamic between its main characters even if it forgets to properly develop the conflicts that define their world.
The story is set in Ombrazia, a city where people blessed with magic become disciples and live separate lives from the “unfavored”, as magic is considered a divine gift bestowed by the saints. While these disciples enjoy special protection and rights, never being compulsorily drafted to fight in the war, for example, the common people are not that lucky. The flames of rebellion, then, are already being kindled when one of the disciples is suddenly murdered in their Palazzo [...]
This review contains spoilers.
The first novel of the His Dark Materials trilogy, Northern Lights (the American title is The Golden Compass) is a fascinating fantasy novel that envelops a child’s adventure in an enticing theological debate: the protagonist’s journey into the North to save her friends is wrapped around discussions about sin, guilt, and the nature of the human soul.
We follow Lyra Belacqua, a young orphan girl who lives in Jordan College in a fantastical world that is much like ours, but with one crucial distinction: in her world, a part of each person’s soul lives beside them, assuming an animal form – and these beings are called daemons. One day, Lyra [...]
Ready Player One, a sci-fi novel written by Ernest Cline, uses the vastness of the geek universe to compose the base of its narrative. The book, however, is marked by one-dimensional characters and a shallow, boring story that fails to deliver anything more than glorified references.
The story takes place in a decrepit society dominated by mega-corporations, where hunger, war, disease, and the terrible consequences of climate change have become common afflictions in the lives of the common people. That is, it’s basically nowadays, but a bit worse. In this scenario, people’s only means of escapism is digital: the so-called “Oasis” is a gigantic MMO in VR, a [...]
The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a peculiar children’s story: its most striking moments are not those of joy, adventure, discovery, or magic, but those that are violent and realistic. The wondrous elements serve almost as an excuse to deal with these issues: fantasy is not the goal of the story, but its pretext.
The protagonist – his name is not revealed – is an introspective boy with no friends. He spends most of his days wrapped up in books and exploring the woods around his house. He is a curious, innocent boy who likes his cat named Fluffy and the quiet atmosphere of his home. His life, however, changes when he meets a strange girl, Lettie Hempstock, on a nearby [...]
Written by Clare Vanderpool, Navigating Early is a touching novel, whose narrative is constructed by a surplus of parallels and allegories. The frequent mix of fantasy and reality, however, doesn’t quite land, as it relies heavily on bizarre coincidences to work.
The story takes place in 1945, following a trip two boys undertake through a forest in Maine. Jackie, the protagonist, is a 13-year-old boy who has just lost his mother and is put in a military school by his father. There, he meets a weird boy named Early Auden, and a friendship starts. During Christmas, Early invites Jackie to go on an adventure with him. Jackie, feeling alone, accepts.
Although Jackie is the [...]
Written by Philip Reeve, Mortal Engines is a fantasy novel that builds a preposterous but intriguing world, telling a story with a lot of ups and downs, but that ultimately delivers with its good set of characters and a great amount of creativity.
In the world of Mortal Engines, cities exist on wheels. They are moving entities that are always looking for prey: here, one city can eat another with its metal contraptions just to take its resources and people. Aboard London, Tom Natsworthy is a young apprentice who, one day, finds himself in the position to save the man he considers a hero, Thaddeus Valentine, from the assault of a mysterious girl. The young man, however, learns [...]