Allende takes her readers into the wilds of Africa in the final installment of her fantasy adventure trilogy that follows City of the Beasts (2002) and Kingdom of the Golden Dragon (2004). This story begins when 18-year-old Alexander Cold and his friend, Brazilian native Nadia Santos, join Alex's salty grandmother Kate, a journalist for International Geographic, and two photographers on a safari in Kenya. When a Catholic missionary persuades them and a local pilot to help find his colleagues who are lost in the remote jungles of Ngoube, the heroic group endangers their lives in an attempt to save them. While packed with hair-raising near misses and vivid glimpses of Africa's landscapes, tribal customs and wildlife, this is stiffly written, didactic and relentlessly descriptive. The characters are distinct, but undeveloped, and Allende awkwardly explains rather than reveals their interrelationships. Alexander and Nadia have totemic animal spirits, but since the origin and nature of this phenomenon are never explained, it's all rather baffling even within the context of Allende's magic realism. A rich but ultimately disappointing travelogue. (Fiction. 12-15)
The final installment of Isabel Allende's celebrated trilogy of the journeys of Jaguar and Eagle soars with radiant settings, spirits, beings, and the transformation of an extraordinary friendship, as Alexander and Nadia embark on mission in Kenya that begins as a search for elephants and ends up exposing a system of injustices.
Alexander Cold knows all too well his grandmother Kate is never far from an adventure. When*International Geographic*commissions her to write an article about the first elephant-led safaris in Africa, they head-with Nadia Santos and the magazine's photography crew-to the blazing, red plains of Kenya.
Days into the tour, a Catholic missionary approaches their camp in search of his companions who have mysteriously disappeared. Kate, Alexander, Nadia, and their team, agreeing to aid the rescue, enlist the help of a local pilot to lead them to the swampy forests of Ngoubé. There they discover a clan of Pygmies who unveil a harsh and surprising world of corruption, slavery, and poaching.
Alexander and Nadia, entrusting the magical strengths of Jaguar and Eagle, their totemic animal spirits, launch a spectacular and precarious struggle to restore freedom and return leadership to its rightful hands.
This thrilling adventure story, set in Kenya and featuring magical realism, is perfect for teens who love action-packed tales of friendship and courage.
HarperCollins 2024
The final installment of Isabel Allende's celebrated trilogy of the journeys of Jaguar and Eagle soars with radiant settings, spirits, beings, and the transformation of an extraordinary friendship, as Alexander and Nadia embark on mission in Kenya that begins as a search for elephants and ends up exposing a system of injustices.
Alexander Cold knows all too well his grandmother Kate is never far from an adventure. When*International Geographic*commissions her to write an article about the first elephant-led safaris in Africa, they head-with Nadia Santos and the magazine's photography crew-to the blazing, red plains of Kenya.
Days into the tour, a Catholic missionary approaches their camp in search of his companions who have mysteriously disappeared. Kate, Alexander, Nadia, and their team, agreeing to aid the rescue, enlist the help of a local pilot to lead them to the swampy forests of Ngoubé. There they discover a clan of Pygmies who unveil a harsh and surprising world of corruption, slavery, and poaching.
Alexander and Nadia, entrusting the magical strengths of Jaguar and Eagle, their totemic animal spirits, launch a spectacular and precarious struggle to restore freedom and return leadership to its rightful hands.
This thrilling adventure story, set in Kenya and featuring magical realism, is perfect for teens who love action-packed tales of friendship and courage.
HarperCollins 2024
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940177061931 |
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Publisher: | HarperCollins |
Publication date: | 01/05/2021 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
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