Review: "I was just thinking we needed to go on a suicide mission, right ice-boy?"
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 2, 2011
WARNING: Don't read this novella before reading Julie Kagawa's third novel, "The Iron Queen," or you will be hopelessly lost.That said, this little story serves as a bridge between Kagawa's last book and her forthcoming one, with the two faerie men going on a small-scale quest of their own. Unlike the previous Iron Fey stories, this one is entirely from the perspective of Robin Goodfellow, and he adds a snarky, slightly jaded tone to Kagawa's prose.While looking for Grimalkin, Ash and Puck are stopped by the Leanansidhe, who is calling in the favor Ash owes her -- Titania stole her favorite violin, and now she wants it back. In other words, Ash has to sneak into enemy territory and steal something from the queen. Not a good idea, but Puck is willing to help him out.However, Oberon drops by just to suggest that Puck betray "ice boy," so that Puck can end up with Meghan. And even when the two enemies manage to sneak into the Summer Court, they find that their target is not what they thought -- and they might not be able to escape Titania's wrath.While not as satisfying as a full-length novel, "Summer's Crossing" is a good snack story to tide readers over until Kagawa's next book. This solid little novella  wraps up a few loose ends from Kagawa's previous books, and shows us what Puck and Ash are getting up to now that Meghan is off in the Iron Kingdom. Well, obviously they have trouble, or it would be a very dull story.And this is the only story thus far to not be narrated by Meghan. Instead, we see everything through Puck's eyes, and he gives Kagawa's prose a snarky, clever edge. Her atmospheric descriptions are as pretty as ever ("only in Arcadia did the sun shine full and bright, and the sweetest apples grow on the trees over the thorn fence, always ripe for the picking"), but there's often an edge of mischief to what Puck sees.If there's a problem, it's that Puck doesn't seem deeply tempted for very long. But it's nice to see more of Kagawa's trickster-with-a-heart-of-gold, and the feelings that he keeps hidden from everyone else. Fortunately, he and Ash seem to be developing a buddy cop dynamic, despite their mutual emnity -- they glare and snipe at each other, but they actually work rather well together"Summer's Crossing" is a solid addition to Julie Kagawa's faerie tales, particularly as it fleshes out the "honest Puck" and his archenemy. Vibrant, tense and enjoyable.