Review: A Lovable Character in a Complex Universe
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 12, 2013
I think it is common among children to fantasize about what would happen if they woke up one morning and discovered that they weren't what everyone thought, that they were beings from another planet, with powers to match. This book is a realistic and enjoyable take on what that might be like. Not necessarily enjoyable for the main character.Nell is an average 16-year-old, enjoying her life on the northeast coast of Australia, looking forward to the future she has planned. Then a mystical encounter with a huge saltwater crocodile starts a series of strange events which send her careening through space, the only scion of an apparently-vicious species that should have died out millennia ago. Aided by her half-Aborigine friend, Sam, and hampered by members of several other species - and even by her father, whose unconditional love is in doubt - she must fight her way across an alien planet to find the evidence to clear the reputation of her race and, incidentally, save herself from lifelong incarceration as a danger to the citizens of the universe.The strength in this writing is in the description, especially of scenes and their emotional impact on the characters, and thus on the reader. This emotional contact gives us great empathy with the main character without ducking the flaws in her personality that help drive the plot. Nell seems a very realistic teenager, with mood swings, uncertainties and emotional spates enough to make the reader, and even Nell herself, question whether she might be going crazy. She is still very likeable, and we follow her quest avidly.A couple of things make it difficult to place the target audience for this story. The names and the complete lack of sexual tension between the two main characters place readership in the 9-12 age-group, but the complexity of the plot seems aimed at a more sophisticated reader.My only complaint is that there is just too much magic in the story. There are so many species arrayed against Nell, each with such powerful abilities, that it is difficult both to keep them all straight and to believe that one young protagonist can actually triumph against such odds.In general, I think most fantasy readers from 10 years on will love this story. I'm just waiting for the sequel, which I gather will be published soon.I was given a free digital copy of this book in order to review it.