First of all, let me say upon finishing this book: Wow. Now let me start from the beginning: This is a big, thick doorstop of a book. I almost decided it wasn't worth the commitment, but then I re-read the glowing reviews and resigned myself to lugging it around for a week. When I was halfway through, I realized that this book is enormous for a good reason. The epic story that takes place in this book could have easily been spread into a trilogy (or more) but the author bit the bullet and told the whole darn thing in one go. I really, really admire that, especially in light of my experience with year-long waits between finding out, say, whether Snape was evil or not, or what the prophecy about Percy Jackson said, or whether there really is a District 13. So there is a great reason to forgive it its length: no cliffhanger ending to put you on edge while the author spends the next year working out what happens next.

Now for the story. The Lost Conspiracy was originally titled Gullstruck Island in the UK, which is name of the setting, an island whose native populations live alongside their imperial conquerors. At the center of the story is a native tribe called the Lace. Our two main characters are Lace and they're sisters. They younger is Hathin whose sole purpose in life is to watch over her older sister Arilou. Arilou is a not a normal human being, but a member of a small race known as the Lost. The Lost can send their senses out of their bodies to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch anything anywhere on Gullstruck Island or beyond. So obviously, they're revered and considered very powerful. The thing is, Hathin isn't 100% sure her sister is really Lost, but her whole village is counting on her to "translate" Airlou's slurred speech and prove to government inspectors that she really is one of the Lost.

And that's just the first few pages. What follows is no less than the entire history of the struggle between the Lace and the Cavalcaste nation. I told you this was epic, right? It has shades of many powerful stories: The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Schindler's List, Robin Hood. It also feels anthropological. Like Hardinge studied and then blended together hundreds of details about ancient civilizations, religions, folklore, and the history of colonial conflict. Overall, it's a pretty amazing accomplishment. And did I mention the writing? Beautiful writing. Highly recommended for all fantasy buffs. ( )

I love Frances Hardinge. Her books are consistently well-written, meaningful, and a pleasure to read. The Lost Conspiracy might be my favorite of all (though I still need to read The Lie Tree).

Hardinge's world-building is always top-notch, and Gullstruck is no exception. There's a lot of history to get through before we truly understand the position of the Lace, the Lost, and the dead in society, but it's never a chore. The characters are well-rounded and understandable, if not always sympathetic. (I loved the Superior!)

I'll admit I came into this predisposed to feel righteous fury for Hathin, having to devote her life to Arilou, who would never thank her, but was pleasantly surprised to find the complexity of Hathin's emotions regarding that very topic. She loves her and pities her, but is sometimes filled with anger that she'll be constantly shackled to her, and then feels incredible guilt for that anger. And the fact that she bears the burden of being Arliou to outsiders but receives no real recognition for it is heartbreaking, infuriating, and sadly too realistic. The reveal of Camber being the villain and the mastermind was a beautiful parallel to Hathin - if she hadn't gone on this adventure and discovered herself outside of Arilou, she might have ended up like him: faceless, alone and unremarked upon. Or like Larsh: bitter and repressed.

The plot of the book is an unfortunately important message about how easily prejudiced can be born and genocide/slavery can be justified, even by men who think they're doing the right thing. The Lace are killed in mobs and rounded up and sent to labor camps, and everyone believes that there's some kind of innate justification in this, and so they don't think about it too hard. Hathin's entire village is killed in a terrible manner, and while she mourns, she understands there's not really time to fully do so. And while she seeks revenge, she eventually understand that there's a point where revenge has to stop, otherwise you're constantly seeking it.

A FEW minor quibbles: I wish the cover had shown Hathin smiling, and I wish Arilou hadn't turned out to be a Lost. And while Hathing experienced a few complicated emotions on discovering that she was, and that she preferred the Sours as her family, I wish there was a little space to explore that more. Hathin spent her whole life in service to someone who was completely helpless, and that person basically abandons her to a new family and becomes an acclaimed part of society? That's not fair. And I wish we had found out who Camber's boss's were, though I suppose it doesn't really matter. ( )

What can I say? I was expecting a fantasy novel, not a gripping exploration of the mechanics of genocide. This is an exhilarating and excoriating tale of rivalry and revenge, treachery and faithfulness, in a context of colonialism and inter-ethnic violence. It is the nearest thing I have ever encountered to an imaginative match for Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast trilogy, placing believable if exotic characters into a setting of baroque and byzantine complexity. It probes the reasonableness and irrationality of evil, the subtle truths and untruths of myth and unquestioned tradition, in a subtropical and volcanic world whose splintered facets seem to reflect a nightmare vision of the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. The book is stunning. MB 13-viii-2021 ( )

[I wrote this review in 2010]

** A very good fantasy adventure story for older children and young adults.**

The story is of two sisters, Avrilou and Hathin, and their search to solve the mystery of what happened one fateful day in their village of the Hollow Beasts, a village of people of 'Lace' descent. Avrilou is believed to be a Lost - a revered status - she is believed to have the power that all Lost lay claim to, the ability to leave their bodies and fly with their minds to any location. The Lost are treasured for their abilities to see events, predict incoming weather fronts, solve mysteries and more. Hathin is Avrilou's 'invisible' younger sister - invisible because she has an uncanny ability to go unnoticed. She is Avrilou's helper, or minder, as Avrilou does not have speech and appears often 'away with the fairies' or away from her body. She is so vacant at times that her family and villagers are not completely sure of her Lost status. One day as Avrilou is being tested for her abilities a series of strange events is set in motion which will alter the fate of the village, the Lace, and particularly Avrilou and Hathin as they struggle to make sense of it all and find the culprit responsible for turning their world upside down.

I think Frances Hardinge borrows a little bit from volcano mythology (particularly New Zealand Maori legend) which adds a certain folklore-ish feel to the story. This works well in the story if you understand the basis, but I'm not sure that young readers will necessarily 'get' the personification of the volcanoes and their rivalry, and their tightrope relationship with humans. My only other 'gripe' is more personal - one of the major characters Jimboly is a dentist of sorts, and the Lace people mark themselves by intricate tooth decoration - as someone with a dentistry phobia the descriptions didn't appeal much - and I know there are many others out there squeamish about teeth! Otherwise, it's a very well-written and pacy story, long but not wordy, and after a slow-ish beginning the pages just seem to turn all by themselves. Recommended for ages 10+. **** 4 stars. ( )

Tiptree longlist 2010. Superb world-building, engaging and rounded characters who actually grow and change throughout the book, and excellent adventures. Highly recommended. ( )