Miranda and Caliban

Starred review from October 17, 2016
Carey (the Santa Olivia series) turns Shakespeare’s Tempest on its head, in ways that are always supportable by the original text, with this brilliant deconstruction. On the deserted island where Miranda grows up, her magician father, Prospero, keeps mostly to himself for the sake of his magical studies. Miranda is the childhood playmate and teacher of the orphan Caliban, the island’s original inhabitant, but when they come of age, their friendship grows into romance, which Prospero cannot tolerate. The magician has had plans for Miranda for years—plans involving his enemies, a love spell, and, of course, a tempest. Carey’s version of Prospero is unable to see his daughter as more than a tool, and unable to see Caliban through his preconceptions and academic prejudices. The foreordained pattern of the play mixes beautifully with Carey’s intricate characterization and eye for sensory detail, building mercilessly to dazzling, and devastating, tragic effect.

December 1, 2016
In an eye-opening departure from her previous fantasy yarns (Poison Fruit, 2014, etc.), Carey reimagines the back story of Shakespeare's The Tempest as a tale of star-crossed lovers. Sort of.Whereas the play's action occupies but a single day--in many interpretations, an allegory of Shakespeare himself constructing a play, as the magus Prospero constructs his brave new world--Carey reconstitutes the events of the prior 12 years without contradicting or even straining the original text, a notable feat in itself. Shakespeare's magical island has only three material inhabitants: Prospero, his young daughter, Miranda, and the strange, feral boy Caliban, the orphaned son of the witch Sycorax. Prospero, determined to civilize the seemingly intractably savage Caliban, captures and confines him. Desperately lonely, Miranda finds herself drawn to the boy despite his bestial appearance and soon detects a spark of intelligence within him. Under Miranda's tender attentions, Caliban learns (or recovers) his powers of speech. As their friendship deepens, she learns from Caliban just how little her father has told her of her past or his plans for the future--plans that take no account of any personal wishes or desires she might have--and why he is so determined to render Caliban tractable. In Carey's interpretation, Prospero, with his godlike abilities to reward and punish, remains an aloof, sometimes-cruel, and wholly unlovable character. But she transforms the largely passive Shakespearean Miranda into a dutiful yet dignified and ultimately tragic figure. And she challenges our perception of Caliban by presenting his attempted rape of the adolescent Miranda (alluded to but not dramatized in the play) as a sympathetic and at least semireciprocal act. Ultimately, he's still a slave, but of love rather than brutish lust. Intriguing and impressive while remaining inextricable from its dramatic context.

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Starred review from May 1, 2017

The events of Shakespeare's The Tempest serve as the climax to a coming-of-age story that imagines Miranda's lonely life growing up on an island and the deep friendship between her and the wild child Caliban. Miranda's father, Prospero, relies on magic to punish and bind, while the sprite Ariel uses cruel words. Miranda and Caliban find kindness in each other as they discover more about the world around them, but even they cannot thwart Prospero's larger plans. In Carey's hands, Shakespeare's characters take on new dimensions, and his happy ending turns devastating. Very short chapters propel the story forward, and perspectives alternate between Miranda and Caliban, both of whom have unique voices that deepen as they age and begin to rebel. While teens will know more than the protagonists, they will empathize with their confusion and innocence and bristle when Ariel uses Miranda's and Caliban's lack of knowledge against them. Familiarity with the source material will foreshadow the conclusion, but even those who haven't read The Tempest will feel the lingering pain of the characters long after putting down the book. VERDICT While it fully stands on its own, this beautiful and heartbreaking tale adds new depth and perspective to a timeless Shakespearean work-perfect for fans of the classics.-Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington Public Library, VA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
In this heartbreaking retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest, Miranda and Caliban take center stage for a doomed love story infused with dark magic, broken trust, and lost innocence. Young Miranda barely remembers a time before the deserted island where she lives with her father, the magician Prospero. With only spirits bound by Prospero for company, Miranda is fascinated when he uses magic to capture Caliban, the wild boy she's spied roaming the hills. Miranda is tasked with civilizing him, a feat she accomplishes with patience and kindness. Caliban and Miranda, equally subject to Prospero's inscrutable experiments and terrifying punishments, turn from friendship to romance as they age. Carey artfully uses foreknowledge of Shakespeare's play to cast a looming sense of dread over the young lovers, and indeed, Prospero's machinations come to devastating fruition with a storm, a shipwreck, and a love potion. Here Prospero is an emotionally manipulative, controlling figure who sees others, especially his daughter, as tools; while Miranda and Caliban, both narrators with distinct voices, are given rich inner lives through Carey's delicate, sensitive portrayal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

September 15, 2016

In this reimagining of Shakespeare's The Tempest from the author of the New York Times best-selling "Kushiel's Legacy" series, lonely Miranda and her friend, the feral boy Caliban, challenge the dark magic keeping them on the island.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017

A young girl lives with her mage father on a remote island, lonely but safe from whatever threats her powerful parent had stirred up in the past. Then a strange, wild boy is brought into their midst, bespelled by her father to serve him. This poignant retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest alternates between Miranda and Caliban's perspectives as they grow up under the watchful eye of the sorcerer Prospero. While their relationship develops, the two discover the truth about Prospero, his journey to the island, his magical machinations, and finally his ultimate search for revenge. No one will be left untouched when the storm finally comes. VERDICT In this stand-alone, Carey evokes the same stunning worldbuilding and imagery of her "Kushiel's Legacy" and "Sundering" series, as she stirs new emotions from an old story and reveals another side to Shakespeare's epic play. [See Prepub Alert, 8/22/16.]--KC

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.