Tag: Sarah driver

Literature

The Huntress: Sky by Sarah Driver

by Stephanie Williamson3 Comments on The Huntress: Sky by Sarah Driver

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Seek the scattered Storm-Opals of Sea, Sky and Land, before an enemy finds them and uses them to wield dark power . . .

The trail of the Storm-Opals takes Mouse further than she has ever been before. With her little brother Sparrow and friend Crow alongside her, she stumbles into the world of Sky, where fortresses are hidden amongst the clouds, secret libraries (skybraries) nestle atop gigantic icebergs and the sky swirls with warring tribes and their ferocious flying beasts. Can they solve Da’s message before it’s too late for their ship, their tribe and the whole of Trianukka?

Mouse is back on her quest to find the Storm-Opals and be reunited with her Da.

The second book in The Huntress series begins with Mouse and her friends discovering the legendary Sky-Tribes. It introduces us to some incredible new characters, including my favourite, Kestrel. She’s very different to Mouse and strong in her own unique way- she’s gentle, fiercely loyal and has a vision for the future that she’ll defend to the death.

I was never a fan of books written in the present tense until I read Sea. It works so well in this trilogy and makes me feel fully immersed in the world Sarah has created. This book is non-stop action and we flit between riding ferocious beasts to breaking into fortresses to dream-dancing and sailing through poisonous frog infested waters. Like the first book, it’s full of great cultural expressions related to Mouse’s world and the Sea Tribes, such as ” don’t take your sails down yet” and “have raw eels poisoned your brain?” I love how each community Mouse comes across during this adventure has its own unique qualities and culture.

The novel is full of irresistible new creations such as draggles, the Skybrary where the books belonging to the divided clans are preserved and wish-tea, which tastes of whatever you wish for. Mouse, Crow and Sparrow are fantastic characters, complex and three-dimensional. I feel like they had grown up a lot in their own different ways by the end of this second book and I enjoy following their character development, how they make sense of the world and the quest they must carry out.

Full of twists and shocking reveals, The Huntress: Sky is a magical sequel to The Huntress: Sea and a book for adventurers!

The Huntress: Storm will be released on the 31st of May 2018. Read my review of Sea here.

 

Literature

The Huntress: Sea by Sarah Driver

by Stephanie Williamson1 Comment on The Huntress: Sea by Sarah Driver

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In the sky, the fire spirits dance and ripple. Grandma says they showed our Tribe that I’d be a captain, before I was even born.

Ever since Ma died, Mouse has looked after her little brother, Sparrow, dreaming of her destiny as captain of the Huntress. But now Da’s missing, Sparrow is in danger, and a deathly cold is creeping across Trianukka . . .

Sea-churning, beast-chattering, dream-dancing, whale-riding, terrodyl-flying, world-saving adventure. 

The best book I have read all year, The Huntress reminded me of why I want to write for children and filled my heart with longing for more of Mouse’s world and adventures. Sarah Driver has written the book she wanted to read and it is epic.

The Huntress: Sea is a middle-grade novel and the first in a trilogy. It tells the story of Mouse’s first adventure on perilous, icy seas, fighting to save her brother and crew from a villain who wants to take Mouse’s place as future captain of The Huntress. It’s vivid, colourful, mythical and action-packed.

Sarah Driver has dreamt up an incredible world, inspired in part by research in Iceland. Trianukka is inhabited by different tribes and creatures such as the evil terrodyls whose blood will burn holes in your skin, moonsprites who are created from drops of moonlight that escape lanterns and whales whose songs keep the terrodyls away and shine bright and blue in the air.  She’s created an entire culture complete with language, beliefs and traditions that is so authentic it could be real. I loved the descriptions of all of these and of life on board a ship. This is a place for fur cloaks, seal-skins, golden eggs and heavy chests of precious stones.

The language used by those aboard The Huntress is unique in its structure- heart-gladness, fear-scratched -, almost a type of dialect that belongs to Mouse and her people. Mouse is an incredible protagonist and made me laugh out loud. She’s scrawny and brave and sometimes brash and overconfident, as many young teenagers are. Another favourite character was Mouse’s hard as nails grandmother and captain and their tough-love relationship. “Mouse! Get down from there or I’ll shoot ye down, little fool!”

The book is full of beautiful, individual ideas like the idea that ships have souls, that a small boy can sing to whales and ask them to guide his ship, and that the will of the sea-gods can be found in the aurora. Even more irresistible is that Mouse has the beast-chatter and can communicate with the creatures of Trianukka.

There are so many more brilliant aspects to this novel that I won’t reveal, but you can purchase it and discover them for yourself here. The next book in the trilogy is out in September and is available for pre-order here. A novel reminiscent of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials and Stevenson’s Treasure Island, but still unlike anything I’ve read before, it will set children’s imaginations on fire.