Rome Reframed, by Amy Bearce, for Timeslip Tuesday

Rome Reframed is Amy Bearce's second middle grade time travel story--the first, Paris on Repeat, was lots of fun, so I was happy to be taken on a visit to Rome!

There we meet Lucas, an 8th grader from Austin, Texas, who's scholarly parents are working on a book that involves a six month trip through Europe.  The parents had hoped that Lucas and his two little brothers would have a great time; Lucas isn't.  He didn't want to leave his friends and soccer team, and be dragged from place to place while having to write a journal about what he sees, with accompanying photographs, for school back home.  And the excitement his parents and next older brother feel about all they are seeing and learning makes him feel like the odd one out in the family--he struggles with school work, and feels like a failure.  When he learns he's in danger of failing his project, and 8th grade as a result, his spirits sink further.

But Rome takes an interest in him, in the form of a strange old woman who give him a mysterious coin, which takes him back in time.  A visit to the colosseum, when it was still in use, give him a visceral appreciation for history, and a visit to Michelangelo painting the Sistine chapel gives him a new appreciation for dedication to art, and he begins to think that his own photographic talent is possibly more real than he'd previously thought.  And then other trips to past, some accompanied by his new Italian friend, Vivi, a girl with her own dreams of a career as a singer, cement his growing realization that he isn't a failure after all.

It's a fun story, with time travel both as teaching tool and sightseeing adventures, and many kids might find Lucas's journey to a sense of self-worth inspiring (although it turns out he is in fact a super talented photographer, which is nice for him, but which might make kids who don't actually have undiscovered talents feel depressed).  I was annoyed with Lucas's parents, who basically have been using him as a baby-sitter for his younger brothers while going about their work, but they are more supportive than he thinks they are.

On the plus side for all ages--this is a great sightseeing trip to Rome, and worth reading just for that!

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (4/4/21)

Here's what I found in my blog reading this week; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Amari and the Night Brothers, by B.B. Alston, at Aotales

Bloom, by Nicola Skinner, at Bellis Does Books

City of Secrets, by Victoria Ying, at books4yourkids

The Hedgehog of Oz, by Cory Leonardo, at Puss Reboots

The In-Between, by Rebecca K. S. Ansari, at Aotales

The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke, by Kirsty Applebaum, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Quintessance by Jess Redman, at Silver Button Books

Root Magic, by Eden Royce, at Fuse #8

Rumaysa, by Radiya Hafiza, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

The Secret Lake, by Karen Inglis, at Charlotte's Library 

Switched, by Bruce Hale, at proseandkahn

The Three Impossibles, by Susie Bower, at Scope for Imagination

Uma and the Answer to Absolutely Everything, by Sam Copeland, at Twirling Book Princess

Unicorn Island by Donna Galanti, at Jean Little Library

The Weather Weaver by Tamsin Mori, at Laptrinhx

Wildlore: the Accidental Apprentice, by Amanda Foody, at teatimelit, The Book View, Charlotte's Library, The Bookwyrm's Den, Storme Reads A Lot, Waking Braincells, Cracking the Cover, and Read, Write, Repeat

Four at  A little but a lot--The Wizard in the Wood, by Louie Stowell,  Harley Hitch and the Iron Forest by Vashti Hardy, Real Pigeons Fight Crime, by Andrew MacDonald,  Space Detectives byMark Powers

Authors and Interviews

Cynthia Leitich Smith (Sisters of the Neversea) in conversation with Kathi Appelt at Cynthia Leitich Smith

Jenna Lehne (Bone Tree) at Spooky MG

Adam Perry (The Thieving Collectors of Fine Children’s Books), at MG Book Village

Eli Brown (Oddity) at Nerdy Book Club

Other Good Stuff

In case you don't have enough to read already, here's a nice list of mg coming out in April (lots of great fantasy!) at The Contented Reader

Here are the children's books shortlisted for Australia's Aurealis Awards:

The Lost Soul Atlas, Zana Fraillon (Hachette Australia)

Tricky Nick, Nicholas J Johnson (Pan Australia)

Across the Risen Sea, Bren MacDibble (Allen & Unwin)

The Chicken’s Curse, Frances Watts (Allen & Unwin)

Hodgepodge: How to Make a Pet Monster, Lili Wilkinson, illustrated by Dustin Spence (Allen & Unwin)

Her Perilous Mansion, Sean Williams (Allen & Unwin)

and Happy Easter to all who are celebrating today. I enjoy finding a peculiar Victorian Easter card for this round-up every year, and though there were many remarkable ones, this one tickled me with its seasonal confusion.

Wildlore: the Accidental Apprentice, by Amanda Foody

Wildlore: the Accidental Apprentice, by Amanda Foody (March 30th 2021 by Margaret K. McElderry Books), is a particularly excellent middle grade fantasy for Pokemon fans, but is also a fun read for the rest of us!

When we first meet Barclay Thorne, he's an apprentice mushroom farm in Dullshire.  It's a place that lives up to its name--after it was attached by a ferocious magical being, Gravaldor, when Barclay was little (his parents were killed during the mayhem),  numerous rules were put into place to deter future deadly excitements.  Magic, especially the magic of the Lore Keepers and the Beasts they control, is at the top of forbidden things.  So when Barclay strays to far outside the town gathering mushrooms, meets a young Lore Keeper, Viola, and accidently acquires one of these beasts himself, he's desperate to get rid of it.

The beast, a legendary Lufthound, is contained by a mark on Barclay's arm; if he wanted to, he could summon it and its storm magic forth, or simply draw on the power of speed it gives him.  He wants no part, though, in the world of Lore Keepers and their beasts--the death of his parents from that magic haunts him.  But when the magic stirs in him despite himself, he must flee Dullshire for his life.

Fortunately Viola finds him, and leads him to a Lore Keeper stronghold far off in the woods.  There he is plunged into a competition to become apprenticed to one of the greatest Lore Keepers of all, with the hope that by proving himself she can remove his mark and break the bond between him and his beast.

But gradually his heart, despite itself, warms to Root, as he calls the Lufthound.  And gradually he learns that the Lore Keepers and beasts aren't his enemy.  Placing first in the competition becomes his goal, and with Viola and other new friends at his side, and the magic of his beast, it starts to seem possible.  Unfortunately, there's a really nasty and powerful Lore Keeper who wants Root to add to his own beast collection, and who has an even more disturbing agenda on top of that!  Treachery, intrigue, and magical challenges fill the pages as Barclay starts questioning all his assumptions, and finally accepts that he and Root are not just a team, but a potential source of good for the folks of places like Dullshire.

So there are two great things about the book that will appeal lots to young readers.  The magic of the beast is very Pokémon-esque; the competitions were exhilarating and the range of beast and their magic fascinating.  The second is the relationship between Barclay and Root, and how Barclay changes his mind, in large part because of Root's intelligence and personality, about the Lore Keepers. Add to that fun supporting characters like Viola and her small dragon beast, and the result is a book with tons of kid appeal!

I myself, a cynical adult reader, was put off at first by "Dullshire" which I found utterly unsubtle.  But once into the world of the Lore Keepers, I was hooked (it helped that Barclay isn't just a simple mushroom gatherer--he really likes to read and learn! and indeed being a  mushroom gatherer requires many of the same traits that make for a successful Lore Keeper--keenness of observation, patience, and a tolerance for risk).  I raced to the book's finish, and now want more!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy, by Mary Winn Heider

When I first read the title, I thought The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy, by Mary Winn Heider (middle grade, Little Brown, March 2021), might have a touch of sci fi to it.  It almost did, but not in the way I was expecting.  The center of the galaxy, as far as the two main characters are concerned, is not deep space, but a football stadium.  There their father was the quarterback for a pro-team, the Chicago Horribles, failing for years to lead them to victory before retiring with traumatic brain injury.  He's no longer the father they remembered from when they were young; now he needs their care.  But then he takes leaving one step further, by simply walking out and disappearing one day.  

Winston and Louise, his two kids, are left with no answers, and lots of grief.  Winston distracts himself by fiercely committing to tuba playing in the school band.  Louise, something of a genius, seeks a cure for TBI by plunging into science.  Their lives start getting a bit odd, what with an actual bear being used for the team's new mascot (Louise becomes determined to save it), Louise's experiments with jellyfish leaving her glowing (this is the touch of sci fi I mentioned above), and the teachers apparently plotting something peculiar that leads to a tuba catastrophe.  It all cumulates with a giant popstar halftime concert with the one and only Kittytown Dynamo....and all this oddness moves them closer to healing and closure.

This is a book that deals with serious issues, while at the same time being warm and friendly as all get out.  There are no mean girls, for instance, of the sort that often plague middle grade protagonists.  Instead Louise shares science club with a group of girls who continuously offer friendship, and Winston shares tuba playing with another girl who's really nice and supportive.  I loved the tuba playing, the mad science, and the giant Kitty concert made laugh out loud--it is hilarious!  The plight of the bear will pull hard at kids who care about animals, and the plight of Winson and Louise's family tugs at the heartstrings of readers of all ages.  

short answer--a book I truly enjoyed!

(disclaimer--review copy received from the publisher)

The Secret Lake, by Karen Inglis, for Timeslip Tuesday

Just up the street from me is a strange little shop that sells junk, ostensibly raising money for animals.  As a used book hunter, it is both a great place to visit--I've had some good luck, and a horrible one--the children's books are in bins.  Big bins, overflowing.  Which means an awful lot of work is needed to go through them.  Nevertheless, I persist, and on my most recent trip I found an English time travel book for kids--The Secret Lake, by Karen Inglis (May 2018, Well Said Press, which is the author's own press).

It's the story of two kids, Stella and Tom who move into a flat next to a lovely public garden.  There they find a tunnel that takes them down and out again into the past.  They meet a boy, Jack, who's suspected of being a thief, and believe in his innocence.  They also meet two girls who live in the very house where their flat is, and the youngest, Emma, becomes an ally.  They also meet in the past a dog they know in the present, who's always causing much distress for her owner, a very old woman, by constantly running away.

Stella and Tom help Jack clear his name, and return to their own time.  There they realize the old woman and her dog know about the time tunnel too....

It's a perfectly fine story, that I didn't mind reading at all, but which didn't move me much.  The author tries hard for the emotional weight that makes many of the best known time-slip stories (like Tom's Midnight Garden and Charlotte Sometimes) so very memorable, and though the effort is plain to see, the emotional heft didn't feel quite earned.  The fact that unexplained magic moles are responsible for the time travel perhaps contributed to this feeling.  The fact that the time travel experience was very easy, with little fraughtness or distress, resulting in little emotional growth for the two kids, was certainly a contributor.  

Short answer--not a bad book, but not a classic in the making. Perhaps kids who haven't read the great ones will be more satisfied than I was.

this week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and sci fi (3/28/21)

A bit late with the round-up this week, because of getting a few hours of hard work done in the yard before the rain....but I hope you find something interesting here, and please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

The Accidental Apprentice by Amanda Foody, at Rajiv's Reviews and Jill's Book Blog

Addison Cooke and the Tomb of the Khan, by Jonathan W. Stokes, at Say What?

The Artifact Hunters (Rookskill Castle #2), by Janet Fox at Charlotte's Library

Bloom, by Nicola Skinner, at Always in the Middle

Crater Lake, Evolution, by Jennifer Killick, at Bellis Does Books

Dragon Fire (The Unwanteds Quests #5),  by Lisa McMann, at Say What?

Dragon Slayers (The Unwanteds Quests #6), by Lisa McMann, at Say What?

Harklights, by Tim Tilley, at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

The Hedgehog of Oz, by Cory Leonardo, at Blythe and Bold

The Lost Fairy Tales (Pages & Co. #2), by Anna James, at Say What?

The Magicians of Caprona, by Diana Wynne Jones, at Entering the Enchanted Castle

Skin Taker, by Michelle Paver, at Book Craic and Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

The Smoking Hourglass, by Jennifer Bell, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads 

Time Travel for Love and Profit, by Sarah Lariviere, at Not Acting My Age

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads--The Haunting, by Lindsey Duga, and  Almost There and Almost Not, by Linda Urban

5 short reviews at A little but a lot

Authors and Interviews

Amanda Foody (The Accidental Apprentice) at The Nerd Daily

Other Good Stuff

Creepy Middle Grade Beasts at Spooky Middle Grade

All the covers from #the21ders MG spring debuts, compiled by My Brain on Books

The Artifact Hunters (Rookskill Castle #2), by Janet Fox, for Timeslip Tuesday

In The Artifact Hunters (middle grade, Viking, August 2020), Janet Fox returns to Rookskill Castle and its extraordinary children.  Though the castle is central to the story once again, this is a new adventure, with a new central character and new dangers! 

The Nazis have reached Prague, and it is no longer safe for Isaac Wolf and his parents to stay there.   Perhaps they would have, though, if it hadn't been for another evil that has arrived--an evil fey being, desperate to possess the treasures Isaac's father guards.  So Isaac's parents send him away to England, with an eternity knot pendent to be his talisman of passage leading him to where he needs to go.  They hope that they will be the target of the hunting fey, keeping Isaac safe.  And they hope as well that Isaac will be able to follow the clues that will lead him back in time, where, in the past, he will learn the secrets of the family magic.

After a strange and dreamlike journey, passing from one courier to the next along the way, Isaac makes it to Rookskill Castle, where the magically gifted kids who call it home welcome him. Isaac is struggling to make sense of his occasional journeys back in time, and is relieved to find kids who can help and support him as he finds about ancient artifacts of tremendous power that must be kept safe.....

But the fey hunter wasn't distracted, and arrives in Scotland determined to use Isaac to gain control of the artifacts. And the strong magic within Isaac has woken an enemy closer to home, who also wants to breech the walls and magical wards of the castle....It's touch and go, and things get very tense indeed!

The time travel contributes a lot to the swing of the story--each journey back into the past, Isaac learns a bit more more about what's expected of him. Though he's only back in time for very short periods, it's still enough to give the reader vivid impressions of bits of the past (an ancient British settlement, the library of Alexandria, an Incan temple, and a visit with (13-century) King Arthur were the highlights), and it's fun to follow all the clues along with Isaac.

Isaac and his friends have a lot of darkness to fight against, and the strong message here is that there is a choice--the good thing is not always the easy thing. Isaac is presented with such a choice....and though of course he'll choose the right way, it will be a tense part of the book for younger readers than me! There were lots of dangers, including some that were quite horrific in a nightmarish way (warped mechanical modifications to living creatures, including people), but nothing the target audience (give or take) can't cope with.

My one complaint that I can articulate (and it's more a personal reaction than any sort of well-articulated literary criticism) is that there are two supernatural enemies attacking the castle, which is fine. The magic artifacts become more powerful and dangerous in times of war and must, so Isaac learns, be kept especially safe at such times. But the Nazis, who are right there and who tick all the boxes of people who should be actively involved in hunting down Isaac and the artifacts aren't, despite what the blurb say ("...soon he finds himself in a race against Nazi spies..."). The fantastical villains (especially the evil fallen fey) just seemed to me something of a forced set-up, and so I found it a bit hard to be frightened or interested in the evil fallen fey. Enemy 2 had a more interesting twist related to the castle's past, so I liked it better.

An additional regret--the reader who has some general knowledge will infer that Isaac is Jewish, based on names, and "what that Nazis were doing to his people," but this isn't said explicitly anywhere (to the best of my belief) and this indirection bothered me, and I think made the book somewhat weaker than it could have been otherwise.

In any event, if you are a reader who loves friendship, teamwork, terror, and magic in an old mysterious castle, this might work well for you! I know lots of people loved the first Rookskill Castle, but it didn't quite work for me (my review) I enjoyed this one somewhat more, perhaps because of the time travel element.

This week's round-up of middle grade sci fi and fantasy from around the blogs (3/21/21)

Here's the first spring round-up of the year; please let me know if I missed your post!

The Reviews

Casey Grimes at Trickery School, by AJ Vanderhorst, at Always in the Middle

City of the Plauge God, by Sarwat Chadda, at Charlotte's Library

Delphine and the Silver Needle, by Alyssa Moon, at Ms. Yingling Reads

Dragon Curse (The Unwanteds Quests #4), by Lisa McMann, at Say What?

The Edge of the Ocean (Strangeworlds Travel Agency #2) by L. D. Lapinski, at Bellis Does Books

A Face Like Glass, by Frances Hardinge, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

The Fire Keeper (The Storm Runner #2), by J.C. Cervantes, at Say What?

The Girl in Wooden Armour, by Conrad Mason, at Mr Ripleys Enchanted Books

Harley Hitch and the Iron Forest, by Vashti Hardy, at Book Craic

The Ickabog, by J.K. Rowling, at Children's Books Heal

The In-Between, by Rebecca Ansari, at Silver Button Books

The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade, by Mark Brallier, at Twirling Book Princess

The Night Spinner, by Abi Elphinstone, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Oddity, by Eli Brown and Karin Rytter, at Puss Reboots

Rumaysa: A Fairytale, by Radiya Hafıza, at legenbooksdary

The Shadow Crosser (The Storm Runner #3) by J.C. Cervantes, at Say What?

Space Detectives, by Mark Powers and Dapo Adeola, at Readaraptor

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads--Casey Grimes at Trickery School, by AJ Vanderhorst, and Bridge of Souls (Cassidy Blake #3), by Victoria Schwab

Authors and Interviews

Jennifer Adam (The Last Windwitch) at MG Book Village

Shane Arbuthnott (Guardians of Porthaven) at MG Book Village

Other Good Stuff

Here's the shortlist for the British Book Awards Children's fiction category:

• The Danger Gang, Tom Fletcher & Shane Devries (Puffin)
• The Ickabog, J.K. Rowling (Scholastic; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers UK)
• Dragon Mountain, Katie & Kevin Tsang (Sterling Children’s; Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)
  

At Book Craic, here's a look at upcoming May releases in Ireland--lots of tasty looking mg fantasy!

"Laurence Fishburne will play The Schoolmaster and Michelle Yeoh Professor Anemone in The School For Good And Evil, joining Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Sofia Wylie and Sophia Anne Caruso in the Paul Feig-directed pic for Netflix." via Deadline

City of the Plauge God, by Sarwat Chadda

City of the Plague God, by Sarwat Chadda (Rick Riordan Presents, January 2021), brings Mesopotamian deities to New York city to great effect.   

Sik seems to be an ordinary Iraqi-New Yorker boy, going to school, working hard in the family deli, and grieving for his brother Mo, killed in an accident while doing humanitarian work in Iraq.  Sik, however, is the only 13-year-old in the city being hunted by Nergal, the Mesopotamian god of pestilence, who thinks Sik has something he wants. When Nergal's grotesque minions attack, he's saved by the sudden appearance of  a sword-wielding girl, Belet, the adopted daughter of Ishtar (goddess of war and passion).  Nergal then tries to force Sik's hand by spreading pestilence and disease across the city, starting  with the deli and Sik's parents, but since Sik has no clue what it is he's being asked to hand over, he can only watch in horror (from the comfort of Ishtar's very upscale home...).  

Sik isn't a heroic fighter, and pestilence is hard to beat with a sword in any event.  So when disaster strikes Ishtar, leaving the kids on their own, they are at a loss. Then in Central Park, in a glass greenhouse ziggurat, Sik meets Gilgamesh, who gives him a quest for the one thing that can stem Nergal's tide of death and decay--the flower of immortality.  To get there he'll have to travel through the land of the dead and use his wits to make it through many challenges.  

Fortunatly, he's not alone, because waiting for him there is his brother.  And Sik has the great blessing of being able to talk, working out bitterness and regrets as they travel together to save the world.

I'm realizing that I'm making it sound like a quest story, and it is except that the quest doesn't really take up all that much of the book.  Before we get to that point, there's much running around a fly-infested rotting city pursued by Nergal's gastly minions (there's also flying over the city in chariots pulled by winged lions...), as well as less action packed bits  of discussion, plotting, Ishtar being Ishtar and Belet being Belet (being Ishtar's adopted daughter is not easy...).   

The talking swords, disgusting minions,flying lions, and small bits of humor, will appeal lots to many readers; others will prefer the more introspective bits about grief, friendship, and family.  Little details, and little extra touches, like the line of cuneiform at the bottom of each page, bring a Mesopotamian zest that may well have readers looking for more about this ancient culture.  Sic's Islamic faith isn't a driver of the plot, but it's there and real (and rather surprisingly unthreatened by his trip to the land of the dead...).  And as an inclusivity bonus, toward the end we learn that Mo and another minor character were a couple.

The fact that this book came out during the current pandemic is just coincidence, but it's really such a different, exaggeratedly fantastical, kind of plague that I didn't find it a distressing reminder of the real world.

Of all the Rick Riordan Presents books, this is the one that felt to me closest in the structure of the story to the myths that it borrows from (possibly because I read the Epic of Gilgamesh fairly recently), and I although I of course wasn't aware of this until about 2/3 of the way through, it added to my overall appreciation, which was great.

(Middle grade readers might know Sarwat Chadda as the author of the Ash Mistry series (Hindu mythological adventures), but might not know that he is also Joshua Kahn, the author of the most excellent Shadow Magic series).

This week's round-up of middle grade fantasy and science fiction from around the blogs (3/14/21)

Welcome to this week's round-up, and a sad farewell to our lost hour.  Please let me know if I missed your post.

The Reviews

The Ash House by Angharad Walker, at Rajiv's Reviews

Begone the Raggedy Witches, by Celine Kiernan, at Leaf's Reviews

City of Secrets, by Victoria Ying, at Pages Unbound

The Crowns of Coswald, by D.E. Night, at Lost in Neverland

Dragon Mountain, by Katie & Kevin Tsang, at Litericious

Hollowpox (Nevermore #3) by Jessica Townsend, at Completely Full Bookshelf

Legacy of Blood (Spartan Warrior #3), by Michael Ford, at Say What?

The Midnight Gaurdians, by Ross Montgomery, at Spread Book Joy (You Tube)

Oddity by Eli Brown, at Log Cabin Library

One Jar of Magic by Corey Ann Haydu, at Rajiv's Reviews

The Storm Keeper's Battle, by Catherine Doyle, at Sifa Elizabeth Reads

Unlocked by Shannon Messenger, at Justine Laismith

Two at Ms. Yingling Reads--The Serpent's Nest (Young Captain Nemo #3), by Jason Henderson, and The Memory Thief (Thirteen Witches #1), by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Two at Bookends--Da Vinci’s Cat, by Catherine Gilbert Murdock, and The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother), by David Levithan

The spring issue of Armadillo Magazine (which I had never heard of before this week; my loss) is full of great reviews from the UK

And here are some reviews from The Guardian

Authors and Interviews

 Marie Arnold (The Year I Flew Away) at MG Book Village

Kaela Rivera (Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls) at MG Book Village 

Mikki Lish and Kelly Ngai (The Magician's Map), at Library Girl and Book Boy

Chris Wormell (The Magic Place) by Library Girl and Book Boy and A Cat, a Book, and a Cup of Tea

A Cat, a Book, and a Cup of Tea

Donna Galanti (Unicorn Island) at Literary Rambles

Nick Goss (Hacker Jack) at Middle Grade Ninja podcast

Other Good Stuff and a Sad

RIP Norman Juster.  

V.E. Schwab’s City of Ghosts Is Getting a TV adaptation, via Tor

The new Hans Christen Anderson museum in Denmark looks remarkable, but I will wait a few years to give the topiary a chance to grow to match the vision shown here.

The Bone Maker, by Sarah Beth Durst

Sarah Beth Durst has been a favorite author for ages, and is among the select few whose books get a place on my bookshelf of favorite contemporary sci fi/fantasy. Here is the relevant shelf, as well as a less relevant one, with several more not shown at all:

As you can see, I have enough room on the shelf for one more of her books before I have to re-arrange.*  And that book will be The Bone Maker (Harper Voyager, March 9, 2021), her newest adult fantasy.

Kreya was the leader of a small group of heroes that defeated the evil bone maker Eklor, who had used bone magic to animate an army of murderous constructs in a bid for power.  Kreya's husband Jentt was killed in that battle.  25 years later, Kreya is desperately practicing her own bone magic in an isolated tower, following Eklor's forbidden path of using human bones to bring Jentt back to life.  The only thing holding her back is the difficulty in acquiring those bones (people in this country are cremated)--Eklor murdered and killed, but Kreya won't, and the bones she's gotten ahold of have only been enough for a few days of Jentt's life at a time.  She knows, though, where a lot of unburned bones can be found--the battleground where Eklor was defeated.  A forbidden place, guarded by soldiers, located within a deadly jungle.  

It's not a journey she can make alone, so Kreya enlists the help of one of her old companions, Zera, who has gotten fabulously wealthy from her gift of making bone talismans (which briefly grant the user gifts such as speed, strength, stealth, etc.)  What they find at the battlefield (after a difficult journey) appalls them--a new army of killer constructs.  Eklor, it seemed, wasn't defeated.  So the original group is all regathered (with Jentt brought fully back to life, at a great cost to Kreya), and they revisit the battlefield to confirm that Eklor's back.  They barely escape with their lives.

None of them have any interest in being heroes again.  

At this point, about halfway through the book, I was afraid they were going to just revisit what they did the first time, but happily the plot twisted.  And instead of being a story about fighting, it became a story in which the group have to solve a mystery.  Since I prefer to read about people thinking more than I enjoy people fighting, this made me happy!  One reason for this preference is that when people are thinking, there's also a lot more opportunity for recognition of ambiguous moral choices and interesting reflections about grief, friendship, and mindfully choosing what you want from your one wild and precious life.  Which isn't to say that there wasn't a lot happening--after all, with a mass murder megalomaniac trying for his second chance at world domination, there's a lot that happens, not much of it pleasant.

Kreya is a great, really solidly developed, character, who carries the book.  Hers is the primary pov, and the supporting cast pretty much orbits around her  (Zera gradually becomes more three dimensional, in step with her and Kreya rebuilding their friendship, which makes for nice reading, the other three guys are not as deeply explored).  The magic of bone working wins second place in book carrying--it is really nifty!  My only hesitation about the book was my unassuaged feeling of anthropological uncertainty about how the society functioned, coupled with some geographical uncertainty.   This was also the first book I've read in ages that was this long (496 pages), which is a different type of reading than I mostly do (middle grade, and old comfort reads).  But though it could perhaps have been a bit shorter for my personal taste, I was so invested in the story that nothing else was really important and I was sad to have finished.

Recommended in particular to those no longer in their first flush of youthful heroics, and fans of older women friendships that make it possible to save the day.  Fans of T. Kingfisher's books set in her fantasy world (like Clockwork Boys, and Paladin's Grace) should enjoy this one lots, as similar themes are explored.

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher

*back to my bookshelf--perhaps the best solution will be to move all of Pratchett to their own shelf, with lots of room to grow, because I want all the Discworld books in hardcover, and move Diana Wynne Jones to her own appropriately sized bookshelf....and that will free up a lot of space, which is good, because all the other authors (Kate Milford, Stephanie Burgis, Leah Cypess, Sage Blackwood, Rachel Neumeier, and more) are still writing new books.....(except that Sarah Crowe, the author of Bone Jack just to the right of the SBD books hasn't written anything since, sigh) and also I am slowly working on replacing ARCs with hardcopies, while keeping many of the ARCs, so there is a clear need to plan for future growth  (I hope to use part of my anticipated stimulus money on a couple of additional lally columns in the basement, to ensure that this book growth isn't too much for the poor old house...)