Mislaid in Parts Half-Unknown
The Wayward Children series, Book 1
Seanan McGuire
Tordotcom
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time, a child found a doorway to another world... Thus begins the tale of every kid and teen at Eleanor West's special boarding school for former door-travelers, those who were whisked away to another world only to be returned, irrevocably changed, to an Earth that was no longer home. But Antsy didn't just find one door to one world. She found a door to a nexus, a gathering place of lost items, and the vast Shop Where the Lost Things Go... and at the nexus she found more doors to more worlds. Only the shopkeepers didn't tell her that each door she opened cost her in time, until she was a nine-year-old mind in a sixteen-year-old body - and even at Eleanor West's school, among the peculiar students, she can't find a way to fit in, not when she doesn't fit within herself, too physically old to be with the children and too mentally young to connect with the teenagers. When a bully discovers her talent for finding misplaced and lost things - including doorways to other worlds - Antsy feels trapped, until a group of other students helps her flee before being forced to find a door she very much does not wish to find. Unfortunately, their flight necessitates traveling through yet more doors, to yet more worlds... and, in the nature of other worlds, each challenges and tests the wayward children, changing them and their fates - possibly forever...
REVIEW: I've been enjoying McGuire's Wayward Children series for a while, and still find them quite imaginative and poignant, yet part of me is starting to wonder if the series is running a slight bit long, as there's a certain whiff of familiarity in the stories that unfold.
As with the other odd-numbered entries, this one continues the here-and-now arc of Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children and the core group of questing friends who haven't broken the habit of heroism developed in other worlds. After the events at the competing, abusive Whitethorn school, new students fill the halls, often traumatized by the experience and sometimes struggling to fit in. Eleanor West herself seems to be showing her age, too, as her assessments of where to place these new students no longer make for the best possible matches; her background in a Nonsense world seems to be coloring her judgement, and perhaps she's finally reaching the age and state of mental decline that will let her return to her beloved realm beyond the patient door in the woods. As a result, students like Antsy find themselves at a disadvantage, lacking the peer support they need to process their experiences and bond with new friends. It doesn't help that Antsy retains her knack for finding lost things when they need finding, or that the skill has grown in her time away from the Shop. Thus, she doesn't know whom she can turn to or trust when word of her special ability - including the ability to find lost doors that might lead a desperate child back to worlds that have become their true homes - reaches the wrong ears... but Cora (once a mermaid of the Trenches), Kade (formerly a champion of fairy realm of Prism), Christopher (who fell in love with the Skeleton Girl), and Sumi (who died and was resurrected by the sugary Nonsense realm of Confection) - along with former Whitethorn student Emily (who still dreams of dancing again by the endless bonfires in the world of Harvest) are of course ever-watchful and ever-ready to step in where they're needed. Once more, the core group is off on another world-hopping jaunt, and though the worlds and trials are different, it starts feeling a bit similar to previous Wayward Children installments. Along the way, they each must rethink the purpose (if there is any) to the doors, and what they really mean by the ubiquitous warning to would-be travelers to "Be Sure" before stepping through. By now, the notion of going "home" to worlds beyond Earth is less unthinkable than it was earlier in the series - indeed, despite Eleanor West's early assertions to the contrary, there seem to be quite a few students who manage to find their way through doors again, if not back to the worlds they visited before than to new ones - but "homecoming" is still something that must be understood and earned, and satisfaction is no more guaranteed than it is on Earth. For her part, Antsy must finally confront the adults whose lies hurt her and cost her so dearly, but the other characters have their own reconciliations and revelations to deal with.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, there starts to be a hint of familiarity about the story, beyond the marvelous new sights and wonders and dangers and revelations. I'm starting to wonder just how long the series is intended to run. The prequel even-number books are becoming the strongest entries, untethered by the here-and-now arc that could use a little more momentum and direction. Beyond that, it's another enjoyable entry in a very enjoyable series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Coraline (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Catherynne M. Valente) - My Review
No comments:
Post a Comment