The Snowmelt River

September 30, 2013
In this weighty epic adventure, first in a projected four-volume series, British author Ryan sends four teenage orphans on a perilous quest that stretches across multiple worlds. Alan, Kate, Mark, and Mo are brought together by seeming coincidence in a small Irish town, but events soon suggest a greater purpose is at work. They’re drawn to conduct a ritual that catapults them into a war-torn world of magic and strange creatures. There, they discover hidden abilities, grand destinies yet to be fulfilled, and people in need of saving. As the four journey through the perilous landscape, they’re torn apart and forced to survive on their own. Strong points include ambitious world-building and a sweeping scope, steeped in Celtic atmosphere and drawing from Irish myth and legend. However, the protagonists spend most of their time asking questions, and rarely get useful answers in return. This lack of solid information, coupled with a slow-burning plot and names seemingly drawn from a hat (Snakoil Kawkaw, Ghork Mega, Kemtuk Lapeep), makes this a somewhat ponderous read that comes to a halt rather than reaching a true stopping point. Ages 12–up.

November 1, 2013
In this Celtic-flavored crossover brick, four modern teenagers are summoned to another world to save it. Borrowing freely from Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Irish legend in general, Ryan assembles orphaned Alan Duval (or "Duuuvaaalll," as he is often dubbed by assailants), Kate, Mark, and Mark's stammering, half-aboriginal sister, Mo, for a quest. He sends them to the magical world of Monisle, formerly known as Tir, where, 2,000 years after the last invasion attempt, the Tyrant of the Wastelands is sending out his Death Legions for a third time. Along with a prophecy, riddles, magical crystals, a giant eye and like standard-issue elements, the author folds in various nonhuman races. These range from the shape-changing Shee--being, as the author puts it with typical hyperbole, "Great cats turning into women, armed with swords!"--to the dwarven Fir Bolg, whose warriors are all long dead but not, climactically, gone. Amid many vague references to their "fate" and "destiny," the four sail up the mighty titular river on a ship that turns out to be both sentient and a shape-changer itself to do battle with an army led one of the Tyrant's Septemvile, or inner circle. The end is just as busy as the rest, leaving its heroes poised for sequels. The author doesn't make much effort to look beyond the canonical bandwagon for inspiration. (Fantasy. 12-15)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.