Invisible Sun
In this stand-alone companion to Black Hole Sun (2010), Gill returns to his fascinating future world: a postapocalyptic Mars trashed by Earth emigrants. Our guides to this strange new world are two renegade teenage mercenaries: Durango and Vienne. Durango, the son of a morally corrupt politician, is a rowdy, carefree teen seeking to escape his roots, and he is hopelessly in love with Vienne. We learn about Vienne’s past and then see her embark on a dangerous odyssey as she is captured by an enemy corporation and used as a killing machine. This swift read features constant, bombarding action and subplots to spare. Durango’s clever banter with his interior sidekick—the acerbic Mimi, his former chief who has been installed in his brain as an artificial intelligence system—is a highlight, employing the witty, realistic thoughts and retorts of a teen boy. Mimi calls Durango “Cowboy,” and indeed, there is a strong western flavor to Gill’s science fiction. The tense cliff-hanger ending, with a cute Star Wars reference, will leave readers poised for more. Grades 8-11. --Debbie Carton