Scan barcode
bookph1le's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. A solid middle grade fantasy novel. I like this series and the world Johnson has created. Complete review to come.
Full review:
I enjoyed Johnson's first book, The Mark of the Dragonfly, so when I saw this one, I was eager to read it. It was a bit different than I expected, but that wasn't a bad thing. Though it's set in the same world as the first book, it takes place in a different part of the world and concerns a new cast of characters. Some spoilers to follow.
This time around, the reader gets an inside look a Solace, a mountain stronghold that's the home of the archivists, a nation of men and women who devote their lives to studying the mysterious artifacts that appear in their world. Lina is a born tinker and scholar, but she's dealing with the aftermath of her parents' death and her guardian's subsequent withdrawal from her. Complicating things further, the archivists are trying to straddle the fence, refusing to take sides in the war between two other major nations.
Some of the strongest themes in this book are tied to Lina's situation, but what held the book back a little from being really strong for me was that they're not addressed until later in the novel, and then they're tied up rather quickly, as if all the plot threads are being gathered together and dealt with at once. There are some really moving scenes between Lina and Zara, her guardian, in which Lina realizes that adults sometimes make stupid decisions when they're mourning the loss of people they care about. I really liked that Zara was allowed to be flawed and that it hurt her relationship with Lina, but I wish more of that had been woven into the book. For a good chunk of the narrative, the reader sees Lina's bewilderment and hurt at Zara's neglect, but we're never given a good reason for it until it's sweepingly resolved.
There's a similar revelation between Lina and Simon, another apprentice. Simon is an antagonist for most of the book, his actions seemingly driven by his vindictive need to put Lina in her place while also making himself look good before his own master. The problem is, when the reader is given sudden insight into what makes Simon tick, it just seems so abrupt. He has excellent points, and I liked how the author expressed how a picture can look very different when you look at it from inside instead of the outside, but I wish there had been more hints as to where that particular thread was going. Simon was, to me, underserved, and while I did like the change in his character, I didn't entirely buy into it because of the lack of build up.
All of that sounds like a lot of criticism of the book, but it's driven more out of disappointment for how close the book came to being really extraordinary. I really liked this book and felt that if it had been nudged just a bit more it could have been even better because there are so many things it does well. The friendship between Lina and Ozben is truly lovely. It starts out rather opportunistic, but then it delves into some very deep territory once Lina and Ozben start sharing more of their inner selves with one another. There are so many themes here about love, sacrifice, and betrayal, and I thought they were all very well done. I like embedded messages in books like these about how our actions can sometimes have very painful consequences for others, even when we're not aiming to hurt anyone.
I also really enjoy the world building in these books. I'm very curious about where the artifacts come from, so I'm hoping there will be future books that delve more into this aspect. While reading the first book, I was very intrigued by the idea of a nation of scholars, so I enjoyed the insiders look into Solace, which is a pretty fascinating concept. The descriptions of it are very vivid, and I often felt on the verge of shivering whenever Johnson described the cold in the mountains. I love books and love studying, so I for one am a big fan of the concept of a nation built on scholarly pursuits, and Solace became one of those book settings I wished was real because I'd so love to visit it, much like Hogwarts.
I look forward to reading more books from this author. Though these are fantasy novels, they're not the typical high fantasy that's chock full of dragons and elves, which to me is a good thing. It's not that I'm uninterested in those kinds of creatures, it's that I gravitate more toward fantasy novels that invent their own creatures and worlds, and that's one of the great strengths of these first two books. While there are common threads that hold them together, the settings depicted in this novel are quite different from those depicted in the first, making it obvious that Johnson has a very clear, detailed, and broad picture of her world, and I hope she'll continue to expand on it.
Full review:
I enjoyed Johnson's first book, The Mark of the Dragonfly, so when I saw this one, I was eager to read it. It was a bit different than I expected, but that wasn't a bad thing. Though it's set in the same world as the first book, it takes place in a different part of the world and concerns a new cast of characters. Some spoilers to follow.
This time around, the reader gets an inside look a Solace, a mountain stronghold that's the home of the archivists, a nation of men and women who devote their lives to studying the mysterious artifacts that appear in their world. Lina is a born tinker and scholar, but she's dealing with the aftermath of her parents' death and her guardian's subsequent withdrawal from her. Complicating things further, the archivists are trying to straddle the fence, refusing to take sides in the war between two other major nations.
Some of the strongest themes in this book are tied to Lina's situation, but what held the book back a little from being really strong for me was that they're not addressed until later in the novel, and then they're tied up rather quickly, as if all the plot threads are being gathered together and dealt with at once. There are some really moving scenes between Lina and Zara, her guardian, in which Lina realizes that adults sometimes make stupid decisions when they're mourning the loss of people they care about. I really liked that Zara was allowed to be flawed and that it hurt her relationship with Lina, but I wish more of that had been woven into the book. For a good chunk of the narrative, the reader sees Lina's bewilderment and hurt at Zara's neglect, but we're never given a good reason for it until it's sweepingly resolved.
There's a similar revelation between Lina and Simon, another apprentice. Simon is an antagonist for most of the book, his actions seemingly driven by his vindictive need to put Lina in her place while also making himself look good before his own master. The problem is, when the reader is given sudden insight into what makes Simon tick, it just seems so abrupt. He has excellent points, and I liked how the author expressed how a picture can look very different when you look at it from inside instead of the outside, but I wish there had been more hints as to where that particular thread was going. Simon was, to me, underserved, and while I did like the change in his character, I didn't entirely buy into it because of the lack of build up.
All of that sounds like a lot of criticism of the book, but it's driven more out of disappointment for how close the book came to being really extraordinary. I really liked this book and felt that if it had been nudged just a bit more it could have been even better because there are so many things it does well. The friendship between Lina and Ozben is truly lovely. It starts out rather opportunistic, but then it delves into some very deep territory once Lina and Ozben start sharing more of their inner selves with one another. There are so many themes here about love, sacrifice, and betrayal, and I thought they were all very well done. I like embedded messages in books like these about how our actions can sometimes have very painful consequences for others, even when we're not aiming to hurt anyone.
I also really enjoy the world building in these books. I'm very curious about where the artifacts come from, so I'm hoping there will be future books that delve more into this aspect. While reading the first book, I was very intrigued by the idea of a nation of scholars, so I enjoyed the insiders look into Solace, which is a pretty fascinating concept. The descriptions of it are very vivid, and I often felt on the verge of shivering whenever Johnson described the cold in the mountains. I love books and love studying, so I for one am a big fan of the concept of a nation built on scholarly pursuits, and Solace became one of those book settings I wished was real because I'd so love to visit it, much like Hogwarts.
I look forward to reading more books from this author. Though these are fantasy novels, they're not the typical high fantasy that's chock full of dragons and elves, which to me is a good thing. It's not that I'm uninterested in those kinds of creatures, it's that I gravitate more toward fantasy novels that invent their own creatures and worlds, and that's one of the great strengths of these first two books. While there are common threads that hold them together, the settings depicted in this novel are quite different from those depicted in the first, making it obvious that Johnson has a very clear, detailed, and broad picture of her world, and I hope she'll continue to expand on it.
malreynolds111's review against another edition
4.0
I want to know more about Merlin... I hope there is a third book about it's part of the world..
kawarwick's review against another edition
4.0
Lots of adventure! I love the relationship between Lina and Ozben.
lammerman's review against another edition
2.0
This was a really difficult book to get into. It took me SO long to read because I just didn’t have a desire to pick it back up after I’d read the first six chapters or so. It wasn’t a bad book, but it just wasn’t that interesting to me, there wasn’t enough real conflict, and the book was almost over before I felt any investment in the characters.
meganac's review against another edition
4.0
As a companion to The Mark of the Dragonfly , this novel is all I could have asked for.
Lina should be studying to become an archivist, not crawling through ventilation ducts to eavesdrop or discovering secrets chambers. She should be working, not overhearing dangerous things about the Iron War, running into boys with fake bandages in the middle of the night, or discovering air ships in deep tunnels. And yet, Lina is hardly ever doing what she ought to be doing. She possesses a head for risk and a deep, innate curiosity. Curiosity that gets her into trouble. Despite her better judgement, Lina discovers things in Ortana that could change the war, and all of Solace.
I love the adventure in these books. The detail. The way the archivist world is set up gives the same feel as I got when reading Harry Potter, with that world I so wished I could get into. Like Harry Potter, this universe is speckled with things that I wish I could see. There are humanoid characters. There are "magical" objects. There are deep friendships. There are bullies. There are disagreeable teachers, and there are gentle guardians. Heck, there's even assassins.
If you like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, and have a penchant for steampunk, you should like this quite a bit.
This book is clean and great for anyone.
Lina should be studying to become an archivist, not crawling through ventilation ducts to eavesdrop or discovering secrets chambers. She should be working, not overhearing dangerous things about the Iron War, running into boys with fake bandages in the middle of the night, or discovering air ships in deep tunnels. And yet, Lina is hardly ever doing what she ought to be doing. She possesses a head for risk and a deep, innate curiosity. Curiosity that gets her into trouble. Despite her better judgement, Lina discovers things in Ortana that could change the war, and all of Solace.
I love the adventure in these books. The detail. The way the archivist world is set up gives the same feel as I got when reading Harry Potter, with that world I so wished I could get into. Like Harry Potter, this universe is speckled with things that I wish I could see. There are humanoid characters. There are "magical" objects. There are deep friendships. There are bullies. There are disagreeable teachers, and there are gentle guardians. Heck, there's even assassins.
If you like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson, and have a penchant for steampunk, you should like this quite a bit.
This book is clean and great for anyone.
dknott715's review against another edition
This sequel to Mark of the Dragonfly introduces new characters and new adventures as the war rages in the war of Solace. Lina is an Archivist in training. Archivists study and catalog the objects that fall from the skies in Solace. Lina, however, also has more than a drop or two of explorer spirit. A loner, she has carved out a space for her to work on her secret projects, one of which will change the course of the war for one side or the other.
evamadera1's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This book did not challenge typical storytelling the way that the first book in the series did. Instead, this book fell into typical tropes: loner, quirky protagonist, unreasonably antagonist teacher, and instant friendship. These things annoyed me because the plot and the world had so much going for it: sentient ship, isolated scholars, and unique creatures. Additionally, Johnson used the main character as a tool to advance the plot rather than give her any real sort of development. The world still intrigues me so I will read the conclusion but this series has tipped towards unhaul.
yapha's review against another edition
4.0
Lina is an apprentice to the archivists of Ortana. The archivists live in a series of tunnels and chambers in the mountain strongholds of Solace and analyze the items that fall from other worlds into the meteor fields. She is an outsider among the apprentices, preferring to spend her time working on secret projects in an abandoned workshop that she discovered or crawling through forgotten tunnels to learn what she can. The archivists are staying out of the Iron War, not siding with either the Merrow Kingdom or the Dragonfly Territories. They have taken in a huge influx of refugees from both sides. In her wanderings, Lina learns that one of the refugees is not who he seems. To gain his trust, she shares her secrets and the two begin a friendship that could ultimately change the course of the war. Though this takes place in the same world as [b:The Mark of the Dragonfly|18077836|The Mark of the Dragonfly|Jaleigh Johnson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1381287167s/18077836.jpg|25384237], it is not necessary to have read it first. It was a bit slow at the beginning, but the action-packed ending makes up for it. Recommended for grades 4 & up.
libscote's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like I missed something because I didn't see as much of a connection to the first book as I had hoped. Still, I enjoyed the story of Lina and Ozben. The beginning is a little slow but the second half makes up for it.
charlottebreads's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
4.25
Age Rating: 10+
- I didn't enjoy this book as much as The Mark of the Dragonfly
- I thought that Lina made one too many silly decisions, which was really frustrating.
- I liked the characters though. I thought that the main characters were pretty fleshed out. I liked Ozben.I also liked Simon at the end
- Tolwin suckkeddddd, but he was meant to so...
- I loved how this book explored the relationships between the characters. I loved Lina and Ozben's friendship, and Lina and Zara's adoptive-parent-child/mentor-mentee relationship.
- The plot was medium paced and fairly engaging, though not as much as The Mark of the Dragonfly.
- I didn't enjoy this book as much as The Mark of the Dragonfly
- I thought that Lina made one too many silly decisions, which was really frustrating.
- I liked the characters though. I thought that the main characters were pretty fleshed out. I liked Ozben.
- Tolwin suckkeddddd, but he was meant to so...
- I loved how this book explored the relationships between the characters. I loved Lina and Ozben's friendship, and Lina and Zara's adoptive-parent-child/mentor-mentee relationship.
- The plot was medium paced and fairly engaging, though not as much as The Mark of the Dragonfly.