Makiia LucierRecensioni
Autore di Year of the Reaper
Recensioni
I liked the characters, the mystery was great - Cas sounded much older than his years, I kept forgetting he was a teen. I wish they had done more with his magical gifts but all in all it was enjoyable.
As we have experienced Covid, the characters in this novel has been dealing with a plague taking out much of the population quickly. Jehan is headed to marry a prince in another kingdom. The travel is treacherous, as they don't want to get sick. On the ride, several fall ill. The novel picks up a year later when Cas returns to his life. No one realizes that he is alive. He's been assumed dead. Held prisoner, he escapes and returns home. Thing is, Cas can see the dead after surviving the plague. He helps them. He learns much of what happens by listening to the dead. While helping a dead toll keeper, a girl steals his horse.
Cas returns home (sans horse), rescuing the King and Queen's new child when an attempt is made on their lives. Quite an entrance. He also finds his brother is the lead soldier for the King, protecting him and his family. If I recall, the king and his queen, Jehan are staying in Cas's family home in order to stay from from the sickness that hasn't quite died out. The queen makes sure that he gets clothing, wanting to thank him. They have a bit of a rocky beginning of a relationship. Of course, the girl who stole his horse, Lena, shows up as well. She is the king's sister. Lena's grandfather tells of Jehan's travels in his journals, but then he died and there is no official record of how she arrived at the palace. Lena wants to research what happened.
As the novel progresses, Cas and Lena get closer to each other and also to what happened to everyone who traveled with Queen Jehan. There are a few twists and a nice romance between Cas and Lena. Overall, it was perfectly fine. I figure if I don't remember much, it wasn't outstanding or great. It was a lovely distraction, but that's really all it was.
As I mentioned in my review of the first book, the author wrote that her stories come from a love of the Indiana Jones movies as well as a lifelong fascination with old maps. Both of these passions are evident in her work.
We met most of the characters in this book in the previous one, but eight years have passed. The focus is now on Reyna, who is 17 and an aspiring mapmaker who must come up with a masterwork for the School of Navigation. She is on a ship sailing home to St. John del Mar when the ship is attacked. Something was very strange about the attackers and their methods however. In any event, Reyna managed to escape, and made it to Selene, the capital city of the neighboring kingdom of Lunes.
Swimming up to the dock in Selene, Reyna encountered Prince Levi, mourning his father - the king - who had just died. They are drawn to one another, but Reyna felt she had to leave on the first del Marian ship she saw to go home and if possible get help for the captured crew of her ship. Back in del Mar, it was decided that Lord Elias, now 27, would go to Luna for the coronation of the new queen, Levi’s older sister Vashti.
Before long, Levi showed up in St. John del Mar to report that Elias’s ship and the whole crew had also been taken under mysterious circumstances, and Levi’s brother Asher - traveling home on a different ship - was missing as well.
Levi and Reyna set out together to find their friends and family who had vanished. What they discovered was stranger and more dangerous than they could have imagined.
Evaluation: I love the characters in this series as well as the world-building - imaginative but not too complicated. Although part of a duology, either book can be read as a standalone, but if you read one, you will want to read more! My only complaint is that there were several loose ends left dangling at the end of this second book. I hope this means the author will consider another companion book to continue the story.
The story begins with a description of a deadly ambush killing everyone attending a St. John del Mar royal outing for the education of two of the princes. The group included the Royal Navigator, Lord Antoni, and the oldest princes - Bartolome and Teodor - who were receiving a lesson in magnets.
We then fast-forward eighteen years. The surviving prince, Ulises, 19, is now King of St. John del Mar. Elias, his best friend and the son of Lord Antoni, is training to be a navigator and mapmaker himself. Mercedes, a close friend of both the boys, is King Ulises’s cousin and only living relative. Her father had been the old king’s younger brother. Her mother was a noblewoman from Mondrago, the neighboring kingdom blamed for the ambush. Thus Mondragans are scorned in del Mar, and Mercedes, recognizable as mixed race by her green eyes and freckles, is taunted and spit on when she leaves the castle, in spite of the fact that she is second in line to the throne.
Lord Silva took over as Royal Navigator after Lord Antoni died, and trained Elias just as he had trained Elias’s father. His granddaughter Reyna, only nine, helps out with mapmaking. She longs to be a navigator herself but as a female, her best hope is perhaps being able to teach geography to male students. But Ulises, Elias, and Mercedes dote on Reyna and feel she has exceptional potential. Indeed, it was Reyna who spotted an unusual map at the marketplace that now occupies the full attention of the castle.
Lord Silva confirms that the worksmanship on this mysterious map looks identical to maps drawn by Lord Antoni, but it features a beacon on the cliffs erected only ten years ago. Lord Antoni died eighteen years earlier; how was this possible? And there was more: hidden among the trees in the map were tiny letters that read:
“Adventurer, two princes lost but not gone.
Follow the path of the ancient mariners, Tramontana to Ostro.
Look not to what is there but to what is not.”
Perhaps someone was fooling them or even setting a trap, but they had to know the truth. The three friends decided they must follow the instructions on the map and solve the mystery.
Evaluation: There is so much to like in this fantasy, from the appealing characters to the fearsome sea serpents and friendly sea worms that ply the waters around this Mediterranean-like country. And it’s hard to beat a story that combines elements of Treasure Island and the Indiana Jones adventures. The book can be read as a standalone, but I’m eager to read the next one in this duology.
Characterization: Excellent
Recommended: Recommended
Level: High School and above
What a fun read! I am a big fan of sea-faring books, and this one did not disappoint. Having chosen this from my review group at work, I didn’t have time to read Isle of Blood and Stone first, however, these are companion novels and can totally be read independent of each other which was so nice!
The world building was excellent, and only expanded on what I’m sure was initially instilled in book one. I was able to catch on quickly to the different kingdoms and the caste system without anything being overly info-dumpy, which can be attributed to the great writing style. The novel begins with action from the start, throwing the reader directly into the story which I really loved. From there the pacing continues at a good speed and I found myself flying through this book in a day.
The characters are also wonderful. From what I’ve seen in other reviews, I believe Reyna was a young girl in book one and acted as a side character. In Song of the Abyss, she’s all grown up and having adventures of her own. Reyna is a map-maker in training for the royal family and after a few mishaps, ends up on an adventure with Prince Levi of a rival kingdom in order to save those they both care about. I love that Reyna is smart and compassionate and not afraid to speak her truth. Levi is sweet and caring and ready to help. They have a connection almost immediately, but their romance develops nicely over the course of the book without the insta-love factor. It’s there as a secondary plot element, which is great, seeing at the main focus is finding their friends and family who have vanished and saving them from a cruel fate. There’s also a really large focus on women who work together and support each other, instead of betraying and tearing each other down, so I appreciated that aspect of the novel a lot.
I really enjoyed picking this one up and now I think I’ll go back and read the first book in the series. Can’t wait to see what Makiia Lucier writes next!
The story drops the reader directly into a day in the life of one Lord Antoni, with little to no explanation of why. It took me a minute to figure out that he was an important mapmaker, and that he was somehow linked to the royal family. Once I'd finally settled in a bit, and the big reveal of the chapter happened, the book suddenly fast forwarded eighteen years. So, to say that I started this book with no footing is pretty accurate. It took me another four or five chapters after that to really settle in, and feel like I had my bearings enough to enjoy the story.
What's great about this book though is that the characters are actually really intriguing, once you get to know them. Reyna, who was studying to be a mapmaker herself and unknowingly sets things in motion, made me pay attention. Once the discovery of the maps that may have been made by Lord Antoni, after his supposed death, came to light I was fully on board. By the time that Elias came fully into the picture, and the quest began in earnest, I was more than ready to follow along to the end.
Unfortunately, this is a really slow building story. I mentioned above that it's heavy on the historical portion of things, and that's definitely an accurate assessment. Action is scarce, and descriptions abound. The reader is taken back to the times of court politics and intrigue, but not in the way that I'm used to in the fantasy books I generally read. It's very heavily described, rather than shown. While the mystery aspect of this was good, it took so long for things to establish, and then longer still for things to pick up, that I found myself wanting to skim forward. I was invested enough to want to know how things turned out though, so that's a good sign.
Did I mention that I was on the fence? On the one hand, the ending ties back into the beginning and brings the characters and the plot full circle. All of my questions were finally answered, and I felt pretty satisfied. On the other hand, it took so long for me to actually settle myself into my surroundings at the beginning that it made things feel really slow. I see the potential here, and I liked the book enough to want to see what happens next. I only hope that the next portion of this story has a bit more action.
The story drops the reader directly into a day in the life of one Lord Antoni, with little to no explanation of why. It took me a minute to figure out that he was an important mapmaker, and that he was somehow linked to the royal family. Once I'd finally settled in a bit, and the big reveal of the chapter happened, the book suddenly fast forwarded eighteen years. So, to say that I started this book with no footing is pretty accurate. It took me another four or five chapters after that to really settle in, and feel like I had my bearings enough to enjoy the story.
What's great about this book though is that the characters are actually really intriguing, once you get to know them. Reyna, who was studying to be a mapmaker herself and unknowingly sets things in motion, made me pay attention. Once the discovery of the maps that may have been made by Lord Antoni, after his supposed death, came to light I was fully on board. By the time that Elias came fully into the picture, and the quest began in earnest, I was more than ready to follow along to the end.
Unfortunately, this is a really slow building story. I mentioned above that it's heavy on the historical portion of things, and that's definitely an accurate assessment. Action is scarce, and descriptions abound. The reader is taken back to the times of court politics and intrigue, but not in the way that I'm used to in the fantasy books I generally read. It's very heavily described, rather than shown. While the mystery aspect of this was good, it took so long for things to establish, and then longer still for things to pick up, that I found myself wanting to skim forward. I was invested enough to want to know how things turned out though, so that's a good sign.
Did I mention that I was on the fence? On the one hand, the ending ties back into the beginning and brings the characters and the plot full circle. All of my questions were finally answered, and I felt pretty satisfied. On the other hand, it took so long for me to actually settle myself into my surroundings at the beginning that it made things feel really slow. I see the potential here, and I liked the book enough to want to see what happens next. I only hope that the next portion of this story has a bit more action.
“Adventurer, two princes lost but not gone. Follow the path of the ancient mariners, Tramontana to Ostro. Look not to what is there, but to what is not.”
Yeah, I didn’t love this as much as I wanted which really seems to be the story of my life lately. I just know this is going to be a completely forgettable read for me. For so much of this story I just didn’t care, and I feel like a lot of it was because I wasn’t invested in the world. I feel like I didn’t know enough about the setting or the characters. While I did enjoy the family and friendship moments with Elias, Mercedes, Ulises and some of the others, they weren’t enough to pull me in. It felt like someone was telling me a story without giving me all the background. I just didn’t get the motivations for the villain, or know enough about the worldbuilding or politics. I just didn’t care and was underwhelmed.
I received a copy of the book from HMH via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
And maps, and the study of cartography, are central to this novel, and may be foreign to so many in this day and age, when so many people may not even have ever handled an actual paper map. Lord Elias is the royal mapmaker and longtime friend of the newly crowned King Ulises, and he is a a natural explorer, adventurer, and he wants to solve the long-time mystery and disappearance of of Ulise's two brothers. Two maps hold the clues and together with Ulises and Mercedes (Ulise's beautiful cousin, and his eventual love interest; what would the story be without that?); the three of them embark on a precarious adventure to uncover secrets about what happened many years ago with the boys' disappearance.
Although the story seemed a little slow to unfold, the characters gradually grew on me; after reading many main female characters in books recently, I really enjoyed reading a young male character; it's also a book with little violence, no use of bad language (suitable for younger readers), focus on story, with no obvious plot holes, and a new setting for a 'royal family' fantasy. I also very much enjoyed the look at the drawing up of maps and cartography, and the use of compasses; author Makiia Luciier evidently researched this extensively, and I have seen on her Twitter feed a great many interesting old maps!
I'd love to have seen more about the connection to the sea and more of the sea serpents; the community on the sea derives its character from the creatures and nature of the sea, so we see that in the designs, food, and colors around the people.
Overall, this is a lovely read, with a mystery that pulls you in, with main characters that are all likeable, in a beautiful setting at least I can see myself visiting (reminded me a bit of Cyprus?). If you prefer your YA fantasy without the blood and gore as in many books of late, this is the one for you. Luciier is natural storyteller and has conjured a beautiful novel on a magical Isle that you will want to visit.
PS. Another beautiful book cover.
The romance was sweet but I didn't really feel it.
It's interesting but I wanted more. Kept me up reading though.
The real treat in this novel is the main character. We get to see some real growth in her as a maturing woman who can't stop doing what she sees as right. I can see why the slow part in the beginning, illustrating her time in school and establishing her as a teenager, was necessary. It just makes the stark changes in her world and character all the more vivid as Cleo joins the Red Cross and does her part for stricken Portland.
The historical details were something else. From snippets on Victorian society to the devastating effects the illness had on daily life as well as one's trust in family and neighbors in such circumstances, this scary world was amazingly vivid. I enjoyed how the author showed us the effects the disease had on society as a whole and the intimate details on whole families wiped out or the effect lone survivors had while everyone else was sick.
The only thing I wished the author might have devoted more time on was Edmund's and Cleo's relationship. For a book being touted as a "romance", this book had a very lack luster one. As more than one of my fellow reviewers have pointed out, it's more a strong friend connection with perks than a timeless and all encompassing love connection. I could have wished for more development in that arena.
But as a whole, this book was a wonderful read. Full of wonderful historical details and with a main character that I grew to love as she matured, I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a touching and horrifying portrayal of Spanish Flu-gripped America.
Solid, middle of the line effort. I really liked the first few chapters, especially the bantering in Latin. I enjoyed the setup of scenery and characters. For a book that only covered about a month in total and spent about 20-40 pages on any particular day, it moved fast enough. It was engaging, kept my interest, and was easy to finish.
Some major things got in the way for me though:
*The romance. I love a good love story. I have never said this before and I hope to never say it again, but when Edmund was introduced and Cleo reacted, I could feel my eyes rolling and my lips mumbling "oh come on!" of their own accord. It would have gone down better if one of three things happened. 1. Edmund died. 2. In the panic and desperation of the epidemic/war, they had a quickie wedding or one night stand and had to work through the muck of the aftermath. 3. The book followed up with them both years down the road and showed that it amounted to nothing, that the romance that flared between them was sparked by the circumstances. It was special, but incapsulated in that time, never to be fanned to life again.
As it was, none of those things happened. Edmund was a perfect gentleman with no faults and everything going for him. He was immediately taken with her and promptly took up the role of solicitous fiance, making arrangements on her behalf and putting her best interests ahead of his own. The humor about the birth control pamphlet (fascinaing!) had me chuckling to myself, but nothing even came of that, despite being built up so much.
*Cleo herself. It was interesting to read about the spanish flu through the eyes of a 17 year old orphan of priviledge (strange indeed). But then Cleo morphed into a superhero, saving men, women, and children, scaring away burglers with a withering stare and idle threat, digging graves, and rescuing the nearly departed from the mortuary. Cleo's only faults, lying to her family and being reckless with her own health/safety, were not faults so much as "the indirect boast" (Jane Austen) because they were done for the benefit of others. I couldn't relate to her and she got on my nerves. Even when she made stupid, rash decisions that likely would have had serious consequences in real life, everything worked out.
*The death toll. While there were occasionally deaths, Cleo saved many more lives than were taken. Of her family and the primary characters, only one died. Doing the math from the historical notes, it seemed that only 1 in 15 died of the spanish flu (at least in Portland... really a 7% mortality rate? That can't be right... ) so I guess the lack of immediate characters succumbing wasn't inaccurate. But still, no one personally connected with her went down, with the exception of Margaret (we only meet her briefly in the beginning) and Kate (whom Cleo only knew for a few weeks and didn't even start to learn anything personal about her until just a few days before she died). Even the patients that were brought in- those who died got a passing line and those who slowly regained health were checked up on throughout the whole book. With the focus on life over death, it gave the impression that the spanish flu actually wasn't that bad. Which brought me to...
*The point. What was the point of the story? It was not a death-struck year, but a flu-ridden month. It seemed to me that Cleo was altered more by her personal tragedy as a child than by the events of either the war or the spanish flu.
A Death-Struck Year is Makiia Lucier's debut novel and I hate to say it, but it shows. I didn't dislike this book--far from it. I thought the plot was interesting, the characters were mostly well-done, and the setting was great. I just wanted a little...more.
Firstly: the characters. Cleo, the heroine, is lovely. She's brave, thoughtful, and compassionate, and stronger than she's aware. Hannah and Kate are particular high points, and I also enjoyed Jack and Lucy. Edmund, the romantic lead, had some nice moments, but this is one place where I felt like there was something lacking--I wanted more opportunity to get to know Edmund. I felt like our chance to get to know him was rushed, and I never really knew that much about him.
Which brings me to my second point: there's some insta-love happening here. Cleo and Edmund seem to fall for each other really quickly, without really any explanation why, and having only bumped into one another about twice. Once the relationship starts, it does have some nice developing scenes, but then it kind of gets abandoned when Lucier decides to finish the book. The whole romantic subplot just needed a little more fleshing out.
The ending of the book, on the whole, was really kind of abrupt. Lucier spends a great deal of time on atmosphere; the book takes place in Portland, Oregon in 1918, and there's a war on, in addition to the Spanish flu epidemic. The story centers around Cleo's decision to volunteer with the Red Cross, helping people who fall ill in a city that's caught off-guard by sweeping illness. Lucier paints an elaborate, colorful picture of the city in that time, and the people who fill it, and it's the book's strength. It's hard not to be swept up, a bit, in the story, despite the niggling plot holes and distractions. When things suddenly, anticlimactically wrap up, then, it's all sort of odd and empty-feeling, and certainly devoid of all the depth and color Lucier spent so much time on in the previous 250 pages. It's kind of a let down.
Finally, and this is extremely nit-picky, but: I've gotten to be accepting of the choppy, incomplete-sentence writing style so many writers tend to use nowadays as long as the story's being told from first person point-of-view, and it's a contemporary novel. It's conversational, so I get it. In fact, I get it so well, that it's started creeping into my own blog writing here and there. However, when the book is written from the point-of-view of an educated older teen in the very early 20th century, it just doesn't work. For as well-researched as everything else in this novel was, Cleo's incomplete speech patterns were completely anachronistic. That said, these instances were only occasional.
Overall, I did enjoy the story, here. A Death-Struck Year was an entertaining read, despite my gripes, and I think Makiia Lucier is a writer with promise. Historical fiction can be difficult to write, particularly for the YA market, and I think she captured the voice nicely. I'll be interested to see what Lucier comes up with next.
Completely clean in every way. Interesting historical premise. 3 stars.
A Death-Struck Year was released Tuesday and is on shelves now. Thanks to HMH Books and Edelweiss for the advanced review copy.
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Dazzling sea dragons, desired dragonfruit eggs and deadly wishes.
That rating is basically for the sea dragons and Fetu.
This had an interesting premise but the execution was off. The pacing wasn’t quite right and the romance lacked chemistry. Highly valuable information wasn’t passed on and the choices made regarding dangerous criminals were silly. As I said, the idea is fantastic but it wasn’t fully fleshed out.
Justice for the sea dragons