A bracing headlong rush of SF action and angst.
In Seupel’s YA SF novel, a teenager with powerful psychic abilities undergoes training as a fighter against “terrorists” in a post-nuclear-holocaust world.
The story opens some time past the 2040s in an underground “pod” bunker, where 16-year-old Eten has formidable psychic powers and trademark silver hair. Her younger siblings share similar genetic traits, though not so strongly developed. Eten can teleport herself or other objects, divine other peoples’ thoughts to some extent, and, most importantly, fight and kill via telekinesis. The children are told by their military-officer parents they are a post-nuclear-apocalypse evolution of mankind, crucial to the survival of a subterranean, locked-down United States beset by savage enemies on Earth’s radiation-scarred surface. Eten is directed to use her deadly brainwaves on an accused “terrorist” leader, but she begins to doubt the tales being fed to her. It transpires that the kids are part of “Project Samson,” an initiative by the American military and government to grow DNA-modified test-tube embryos into weaponized, ESP-augmented assassins. The Pentagon powers behind Project Samson have learned that maintaining control over these super-beings grows difficult over time—especially when the subjects reach puberty—and uncooperative members of the group have been summarily killed. How long can Eten hide her wrathful discontent and rely on the dubious protection offered by a sympathetic guard, or her faux “mom” and “dad”? The premise of youngsters being cultivated by Black Ops agencies as mutant secret weapons is not an original one (there are similar tales by Dean R. Koontz, Stephen King, and John Farris), but Seupel’s take proceeds in an effective, straight-ahead fashion as Eten, a stranger to concepts such as money or menstruation, becomes a fugitive in the “real world”—a very familiar one in the YA-dystopian genre in which an unjust society is threatened by rising sea levels and violently authoritarian adults. (Trying to ingratiate herself with the fascistic power structure, Eten proclaims, “More than anything in the world, I want to defend our country and make America great again.”) With such strong forward momentum, the material will not require psychic pushes to compel readers to barrel through in one sitting.
A bracing headlong rush of SF action and angst.Pub Date: June 28, 2025
ISBN: 9798992850406
Page Count: 414
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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