Want a NOOK? Explore Now
On a distant world where interplanetary colonists have struggled for generations to survive, a young woman named Espera travels to the fabled City Built of Starships on a quest that may determine the fate of the human species.
Sent by her estranged father on what she believes is a peace mission, the young desert-dweller Espera inadvertently starts a class war in the drug-torn City Built of Starships.
Anonymous
Posted July 23, 2012
As soon as I finished this book, I started looking for another science fiction book by Willis. She's one of my favorite writers of Appalachian fiction, but I didn't know she wrote science fiction, too. Along with Bradbury-esque science fiction, there's a little of the "jack tale" in this journey-quest, with characters like "Big Cook," "Tiny," and, best of all, "Brash," who changes sides so often that he could be a weather vane for gauging who's winning the battle. I got a kick out of the "yeagers"--huge, flying creatures (a salute to Willis' fellow West Virginian, Chuck Yeager, the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound). The links aren't as direct as in the "hunger games" series, but Willis' Appalachian links are there. I really like that this fable--in which the innocent young Seeker, Espera, manages to outmaneuver evil in the "second world"--holds mountains as places of refuge and glowworms as magically healing. I hope this is the beginning of a new series.
Overview
On a distant world where interplanetary colonists have struggled for generations to survive, a young woman named Espera travels to the fabled City Built of Starships on a quest that may determine the fate of the human species.
Sent by her estranged father on what she believes is a peace mission, the young desert-dweller Espera inadvertently starts a class war in the drug-torn City Built of Starships.