Fiction Friday (37)

Given everything that has been going on in my life these past few months, well not everything, mostly just the baby, but either way time has been in high demand and very short supply. One of the things that inevitably got lost in the shuffle was my time for reading. For years, I've reserved a little time before bed every night for that activity, but find myself often too exhausted to last more than a few pages. As things begin to grow more and more under control, I'm making more of an effort to engage in the single most important research activity for a writer. As a result, I finished reading the book I began back in April, one that I entered into with the best intentions to finish quickly because it was a story I'd been waiting for ever since I picked up The Search for WondLa a few years back. Though there's always a bit of sadness when a trilogy ends, the satisfaction almost always outweighs it. Enjoy. 

The Battle for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
(Simon & Schuster 2014)

The concluding book in the Middle Grade science fiction fantasy trilogy that follows a young girl as she traverses a troubling new world in peril is a fitting conclusion to the epic story. As with the first two offerings, this is a story of trusting those who are different than you and uniting under shared values and goals, despite clashes of tradition.

Picking up right where the last book left off, the opening chapter sets the tone for the entire story as Eva finds herself in imminent danger. There are very few moments of safety in the story as the war for control of Orbona rages between the humans and the new inhabitants, a war based on mistrust and misinformation. Eva has the unique position of being free of any ties binding her to one side or the other. Having recently "emerged" from her underground home, she has stepped into the middle of this conflict without feeling particularly attached to anyone but the few close friends she has made. She doesn't side with either the humans or the aliens, siding instead with the notion of peace and togetherness. Her detachment allows her to see things as they actually are, removed from the filters that too often blind the others. It's because of this that Eva is able to discover the truth that lies hidden under the surface and eventually expose the lies that have been guiding the events on her world.

Some point towards the end of the second book, it was clear that Eva would emerge as the hero who would save her home from repeating the horrible history that once devastated it in the past. This novel shows her stepping into that role, but not without making some mistakes, and not before much damage is done. Balancing a sense of reality with the fantasy is one thing the series has always done well, and nothing ever comes too easily for Eva. It is her belief in herself and her love of family and friends that always allows her sense of right to triumph over wrong.

Fiction Friday (34)

A few weeks ago, I looked on my self of books to read and found that none in particular were jumping out at me. That was because I was specifically in the mood to read a book which I did not own. So the next time I was out near a bookstore, I simply purchased the book and began reading it. It was one I'd been meaning to read for two years. I'm happy to say the book lived up to my expectations and it certainly did feel like the right book for me at this time. Enjoy.

A Hero for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi
(Simon & Schuster 2012)

The second book in the WondLa series is as equally exciting and interesting as the first. When the story opens, Eva Nine is finally free of the troubles that followed her throughout the first book during her journey across the strange planet formerly known as Earth. Her renewed search for other surviving humans quickly comes to an end once she's picked up by an airship whose pilot's task is specifically to set out and retrieve children like Eva who were conceived and raised in underground Sanctuaries.

Eva is hopeful that New Attica, the human city founded by Cadmus, a futuristic survivalist of the grandest kind, will become her new home. Initially she is in awe of the city, and the quirkiness of its human inhabitants. In its sheltered existence, humanity seems to have evolved very little as the humans have been kept in the dark when it comes to the immense changes to the world, and to its new inhabitants. They live and act much like society today, without much ambition. Little-by-little, Eva grows disillusioned with New Attica and the ignorance of its people. Then she meets Eva Eight, her sister who had been raised in the same Sanctuary before Eva. Their meeting sets off a chain reaction of events that will put Eva on a course of trying to prevent the destruction of her world, which she now realizes isn't the Earth she'd grown up learning about.

At it's heart, this is a story about overcoming the fear of others and trusting the actions of people more than their words, or their appearance. The message is powerful, and never delivered in a heavy handed way. And there is certainly plenty of action to keep the pages turning. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. My only problem with it is same problem I often have with second books in a series, or books that fall in the middle of a larger story. This book feels like a bridge between two bigger stories. It is missing the wonderful sense of discovery from the first book, and lacks a decisive conclusion that I image will come in the next. But that is okay with me as long as the story keeps on going.

And as always, Tony DiTerlizzi's artwork is amazing.