Pros: Talk about world building! It's wild world building in a microcosm!
Cons: Only that Haly got the short end of the stick here.
The Bottom Line: If you haven't read the first two books recently, then you really ought to do that first and then brace yourself for this last one.
Holy cow, where to start. I really should have reviewed this book while it was still super-fresh in my mind. But I’ll see if I can still do it justice. If you have not already read Pearl North’s first two books in this trilogy (Libyrinth and The Boy From Ilysies), then you need to go about doing that.
Queen Thela has Endymion’s Rose, a pen that gives her the power to unmake the world and craft a reality to her liking. She has kidnappedPoas well, and it may be that only he can keep her from using the pen. Meanwhile, Haly does everything she can to keep the inhabitants of the Libyrinth from starving, and that means traveling to a city that is no longer what she thought it was. It is there that she will discover the legendary Book of the Night, and the truth in its pages, as well as the truth of her world and everyone in it.
So that’s only a super tiny snippet of the fractal that is this book. Honestly, this one could easily have ended up in the adult section for a myriad of reasons. This book somehow manages to make it beyond imagination to stuff that I never expected, nor would I have ever expected even if given years and years to try. This book starts off simply enough, with a small quest to go on and the hope of finding some food – and then it just spins off into this bizarre story of a future so far ahead I think only The Doctor (for us Dr. Who fans) would understand and be able to manage it. It’s like swimming around in a pool and then deciding to go off into the deep end – only to realize that once you’ve reached the deep end you’re not in the pool anymore, but swimming in the middle of the ocean.
And I mean all of that in a good way.
Each character is trying to accomplish a goal, whether it’s just to get home, find food, or survive, and the stakes keep getting higher and higher as the pages turn. Clauda is back with her Wing and I’m surprised that some of the things she saw didn’t scramble her brain like an egg. It was nice to see her and Selene finally work things out. The dynamic between Queen Thela andPowas undeniably interesting. He and Clauda took the brunt of the book on their shoulders while Haly seemed mostly in the background despite some of the things she found. In the end, I was disappointed that Haly felt more like a side character than a main protagonist. I had thought the story would return to her, but in the end she kind of got screwed the most which was a bit bummy.
This book has elements of The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor, Fushigi Yuugi, (and I know you pulled a Wash!), and all sorts of stuff that will make your brain twist in ways you weren’t sure were possible. It’s a book that will demand at least one repeat read – preferably with the first two books being reread first.
NT
Review originally posted on Epinions.com
How about an interview with the author? Visit my other blog to find out all about Pearl North!
Notes from the playlist: "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons
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