It would behoove those new to the series to begin with the first book, but those anticipating the conclusion of the trilogy...
The third and final installment in the dystopian Psi Chronicles.
Gevri, bitter from Taemon’s perceived betrayal in Archon (2013), has embraced his father, the cruel Gen. Sarin, and his military tactics. However, when his small group of young archons—people with psychic abilities, like himself—is captured and tortured by the Nau, it’s Taemon who saves them. Despite this, Gevri allows himself to continue on his father’s path until his father’s actions cause him to doubt. The narrative switches between Gevri and Taemon—the True Son of Deliverance, who possesses great psychic ability—with Amma getting the last word (or at least perspective) at the end. When Taemon realizes Gen. Sarin won’t keep his word to leave Deliverance in peace if Taemon saves Gevri, he communes with the Heart of the Earth and decides to lead his people away. However, even outside their city, the people of Deliverance are not safe. Each chapter begins with a Nau military correspondence, cluing readers into their actions, which affect both Deliverance and the Republik. The story’s biggest liability is in occasionally unrealistic characterization; Gen. Sarin in particular is too much the quintessentially evil villain to be believable, and the role of a True Son pretender is equally unconvincing.
It would behoove those new to the series to begin with the first book, but those anticipating the conclusion of the trilogy will not be disappointed by the ever-so-slightly-tidy ending. (Dystopian adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: April 28, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7262-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay.
Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw feels like he’s been running ever since his dad pulled that gun on him and his mom—and used it.
His dad’s been in jail three years now, but Ghost still feels the trauma, which is probably at the root of the many “altercations” he gets into at middle school. When he inserts himself into a practice for a local elite track team, the Defenders, he’s fast enough that the hard-as-nails coach decides to put him on the team. Ghost is surprised to find himself caring enough about being on the team that he curbs his behavior to avoid “altercations.” But Ma doesn’t have money to spare on things like fancy running shoes, so Ghost shoplifts a pair that make his feet feel impossibly light—and his conscience correspondingly heavy. Ghost’s narration is candid and colloquial, reminiscent of such original voices as Bud Caldwell and Joey Pigza; his level of self-understanding is both believably childlike and disarming in its perception. He is self-focused enough that secondary characters initially feel one-dimensional, Coach in particular, but as he gets to know them better, so do readers, in a way that unfolds naturally and pleasingly. His three fellow “newbies” on the Defenders await their turns to star in subsequent series outings. Characters are black by default; those few white people in Ghost’s world are described as such.
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5015-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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PROFILES
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
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