A review by nataliealane
Across the Great Barrier by Patricia C. Wrede

3.0

I like that there's continuity from the previous book---in "Thirteenth Child" Eff decides she wants to go out to the settlement lands and work with the wildlife; in 'Across the Great Barrier," she is not only working at the college menagerie, but she also gets to go on a research expedition farther out West. We also see greater development and maturity of her personal and magical identities. I could definitely pick up on a formula Wrede has going with these books; more low-key events towards the first 1/1-3/4 of the book with a couple hints of what may come, followed by more sudden realizations/conclusions and a final magical showdown. The relationships and emotions, as well as frontier and family politics, still play a larger role in the plot and sub-plots, but there is definitely more action and magic in AtGB than TC. I also got a firmer sense of the magic systems. Lan and Eff are both great characters, and Wrede writes them, their relationship and dynamics, and their developments, well. I like the sub-plot with Lan. It helps to flesh out his character and build on his relationship with Eff, as well as provoke growth in Eff herself. The plot was slower than in the first book and occasionally got a little boring. There was a lot of traveling and "We stopped and collected data and samples of plants and animals" sort of descriptions, and the first hints of danger/a big threat didn't come until almost the end of the research expedition. Also, even after Eff has some revelation about the possibility of a connection between Wash's magic pendant and her weird lucid dreams, I still fail to see their relevance to the plot. On a similar note, I didn't like how she never really told anyone about them, despite supposedly having intentions to do so. I still enjoyed reading the book (I was furious when my mom interrupted the last chapter or two, in the middle of an important scene!) and will definitely continue the series.