Tell the Wind and Fire

Lisa Larsen's sturdy narration engages listeners from its opening line: "It was the best of times until it was the worst of times." In Brennan's fantasy send-up of A TALE OF TWO CITIES, Lucie Manette tells the story of Light New York and Dark New York, the one shining with the opulence of light magic and the other a place where people are "buried" in penury and fear. Larsen's aggressive delivery suits the ugliness of the political corruption and revenge that are at the heart of Brennan's tale before redemption takes place. Those familiar with Dickens's classic will admire what Brennan borrows from the original, but this love story with its magical world-building can be appreciated by anyone. S.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

May 2, 2016
Brennan (Unspoken) delivers an intriguing but uneven romantic fantasy loosely based on Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities. In the near future, New York City is divided between the ruling Light magicians of Light New York, who theoretically represent the forces of good, and Dark magicians, who huddle in the slums of Dark New York. Lucie Manette, born in the latter, now lives in Light New York protected by her boyfriend, Ethan, son of Charles Stryker, one of Light New York's ironfisted rulers. Yet Lucie, known as "the Golden Thread in the Dark," is also an iconic figure for the "sans-merci," violent revolutionaries who aim to end the Light's tyranny over the Dark. Further endangering Lucie and Ethan is Carwyn, Ethan's illegal doppelganger, the product of Charles Stryker's use of magic to save Ethan's life. Though Brennan's prose is powerful, it can also be somewhat strained as she works to create parallels with the language of Dickens's Tale, and her magical system, which involves Light magicians needing to be drained of blood by Dark magicians, is overly complex and at times confusing. Ages 12âup.