Review: Exile

Book Two of the Keeper of the Lost Cities
By Shannon Messenger
Available now from Aladdin (Simon & Schuster)
Review copy
Read my review of Keeper of the Lost Cities

I had an interesting experience with KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES.  That was one of the few times a reader contacted me for more detail, because they'd read a negative review, but trusted my judgment - and my review was positive.  I told them that I thought the criticisms were fair, but that I'd had a more positive reaction to the book.  Thus, I was definitely willing to read EXILE and see where the story went.  I think Shannon Messenger is taking her series in the right direction.

EXILE is the continuing story of Sophie, who grew up in our world before discovering she was an elf.  Now she's struggling to learn how to use her powers and caught between the Council and the Black Swan, a possible terrorist group.  There also appears to be a third group in the mix.

There are less Harry Potter comparisons in EXILE.  Sophie is still attending magic school, but the new year is just starting up, so she isn't very busy with classwork and most of the story takes place after school.  The romance is also shut down to all but a few hints, thankfully.  Instead, Sophie's friendship with the three boys is emphasized.  She spends time building real relationships with them.

Sophie is still a special snowflake, but in EXILE, her special powers aren't the answer to everything.  In fact, sometimes they're a problem.  She's also learning to work with other people's strengths, because one person never has the answer to everything.  I did quite enjoy this passage:

"You are normal, Sophie. That doesn't mean you can't also be exceptional."
"You realize those two things are opposites, right?"
"Actually, someday you'll find that when you stop equating normal with acceptance, the two are far more similar than you think." -p. 173, ARC

I flip-flopped between liking the worldbuilding and finding it too strange to hold.  The servant gnomes show signs of being less obedient than expected, which was nice.  The Council is vaguely sinister and draconian, but I don't get a real sense that I'm supposed to suspect them of villainy.  Their zoo that is supposed to save the world sounds like the worst thing ever.  And I just can't figure out whether that's on purpose.  But the strange bit is that the elves can't handle guilt.  Even after it being integral to the book, I haven't quite figured it out.  I feel guilty for jumping when someone startles me.  Totally nice people who don't do bad things feel guilt.  Maybe I need to be a kid to go with it.

I think that EXILE moved faster than KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, even though they're about the same length.  There's more adventure and mystery, less setup.  At the same time, I am a bit miffed that there's been two books and zero keeping of lost cities.  I feel like this series is still finding its footing, but I'm willing to stick with it because the books are fun.  They have a telepathic unicorn!  (Okay, alicorn, but it's really a flying telepathic unicorn.)

Review: Keeper of the Lost Cities

Book One of the Lost Cities
By Shannon Messenger
Available now from Aladdin (Simon & Schuster)
Review copy

I've seen KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES advertised as both the new Harry Potter and Hunger Games.  Now, it shares a lot of DNA with the Harry Potter books, but I think the Hunger Games comparison just means they think it's going to be big.

Sophie Foster always knew she wasn't normal.  For one thing, she was a prodigy.  For another, she could read minds.  But she didn't know there were others like her until a boy found her in a museum and explained that she was an elf and needed to go home and live with her people.  Suddenly Sophie must leave behind the people she thought were her family and adapt to a new land, where she already has some enemies due to her unusual upbringing.  But she does get to go to magic school!  (Sophie is somewhat less excited about this than Harry.)

KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES doesn't fall into the dystopian fiction category, but Shannon Messenger does seem to understand dystopias better than many of the authors writing in that genre.  Shangri-La is supposed to be a land of peace and understanding, where people have money but don't need it.  But things are clearly not as good for the common people as the nobility.  Sophie is frequently brought before a tribunal on unfair charges, and references are made to precedents that might not have been the best rulings.  Plus there's someone using magic to set fires in the human world - and no one wants to do a thing about it.

For the most part, KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES is really fun.  Sophie is special, but not too special.  She's neither good at alchemy nor transporting herself from place to place.  The fact that she gave up her family is not forgotten and integrating into a new family isn't easy.  And, of course, magical schools are always exciting.  Messenger's magic system seems pretty well defined, which is always a good thing.

I did have some problems with the story.  Considering KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES is about a twelve year old, there is a lot of emphasis on boys and dating.  Sophie has no less than three prospective suitors.  It's also quite long for a middle grade novel.  I think relutant readers will remain reluctant when faced with close to five hundred pages.  Harry Potter built up to longer entries in the series. 

The plot also jumps around.  There's the learning and socializing, finding the arsonist, and finding out the secrets of her past.  I thought the arsonist would be the action plot contained to KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, but the fiend's identity remains undiscovered at the end of the novel.  There's a decent amount of action, but I just wanted a little more.

I enjoyed KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES and think Shannon Messenger is an author to watch, but I'm not convinced that the Lost Cities is the next Harry Potter.  I do think that the many fans who have read the Harry Potter series (likely more than once) and want to read something new will probably enjoy KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES.  It's also a good pick for Artemis Fowl fans.