Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken

"...There is the journey you make through the world -- the one that aches and sings. We come together with others to make our way and survive its trials, she said. 'But we are, all of us, also wayfarers on a greater journey, this one without end, each of us searching for the answers to the unspoken questions of our hearts. Take comfort, as I have, in knowing that, while we must travel it alone, this journey rewards goodness, and will prove that the things which are denied to us in life will never create a cage for our souls."

Wayfarer is the sequel to Bracken's fantasy novel, Passenger about time traveling families in search of a mysterious and powerful astrolabe.

Wayfarer continues the storyline at the end of the first novel. In Passenger, Etta Spencer, who has the unique ability to time travel, is sent on a quest to find the last remaining astrolabe, a device capable of creating time passages. She has been forced on this journey by the Grand Master of the travellers, Cyrus Ironwood. At the conclusion of Passenger, Etta and Sophia locate the missing astrolabe, but it is stolen from them by the Thorns and Sophia. Changes to the timeline cause Etta to disappear before Nicholas's very eyes, and Sophia is later discovered badly injured, the astrolabe missing.

Wayfarer opens with a prologue dated London, 1932. In this time Rose Linden witnesses the gruesome murder of her parents while hidden in a secret cupboard. The story then jumps to 1905 Texas and 1776 Nassau. Etta has been flung briefly to 1905 Texas and awakens in the desert where she is discovered and taken to 1906 San Francisco.Etta awakens to discover herself in a locked bedroom, recovering from her injuries sustained in her fight with the Thorns. She believes that the timeline has changed and she has been orphaned by her time. Her future gone. She has been snatched back "through a series of passages to wherever the last common point was between the old timeline and the new one they had inadvertently created." Etta has no idea how this has come about but believes that the Thorns have used the astrolabe, causing the changes. Desperate to escape she climbs out the window onto scaffolding but when it collapses, she is rescued by Julian Ironwood. She is astonished that Julian is alive because everyone believes he fell to his death on the path leading up to the monastery Taktsand Palphug.

Julian tells Etta that it is October 12, 1906 and they are in San Francisco.  Etta learns that she is with the Thorns and in the home of Henry Hemlock who reveals he is her father. Henry tells her he was with her in the future when she was taken by Cyrus Ironwood but was not involved in Alice's murder and that her mother easily escaped from the Ironwoods. Henry explains that Etta quest has been set up by her mother Rose and is based on delusions. Rose claimed to have been visited by a traveler from the future who told her there would be a war between the families. Rose became obsessed with restoring the timeline. When she obtained the astrolabe, she hid it rather than destroy it because that would cause a change back to the original timeline and close the passages permanently. Henry believes that Rose manipulated Etta so events could play out the way she thought they should.

To show Etta how Cyrus Ironwood has changed the course of time, Henry takes her on a walk through 1906 San Francisco. Etta notices that there is very little devastation in the city and it has not been destroyed by fire after the earthquake. Henry explains that they are in the original timeline. In the timeline that Etta grew up in, San Francisco was destroyed by a fire following the earthquake. This happened because Cyrus Ironwood altered events during the Russo-Japanese war resulting in reforms in Russia and changing that country's history.  This resulted in further changes that affected events even in San Francisco. They are back in the original timeline because Henry's men who stole the astrolabe from Etta have changed the timeline back to the original. The future Etta experienced no longer exists. Henry explains that they have worked to identify "potential linchpin moments in history" and the Russo-Japanese war was one, meaning that the future was altered from 1905 onward. Henry reveals to Etta that his men were followed by Ironwood's men. One was killed and the other is hiding in Russia with the astrolabe. Henry plans to travel to Russia to retrieve the astrolabe and destroy it before Ironwood.

Etta, Henry, Julian and Winnifred travel to 1919 Russia where Etta discovers Henry is good friends with Tsar Nicholas who knows of their ability to time travel. They find Petrograd in an uproar and Henry's man Kadir has not yet been located with the astrolabe. While the others search the massive Winter Palace, Henry, Etta and Winnifred have dinner with the Tsar. Etta learns that Henry has been guiding the Romanov family for generations and that his interference has resulted in Russia not becoming involved in World War I. However Henry tells Etta that the Tsar will still die as it is inevitable in any timeline but his family will survive. The dinner comes to a violent end when a bomb is set off at the table, severely injuring Henry. Etta is rescued by Julian who tells her that Kadir has been found dead and the astrolabe gone. They make their way out of the palace as it is stormed by the revolutionaries. Etta believes Cyrus Ironwood's agents are attempting to return the time line back to his version.

Etta and Julian manage to escape from Russia and find themselves in 1939 New York City which is utterly devastated. They are picked up by a patrol and taken to a field hospital where they encounter Julian's nanny, Octavia Ironwood who is badly injured. She tells Julian that Cyrus Ironwood is time travelling again and that he has come for the gold stored in a vault. There is to be an auction and the gold is required for the buy-in. Julian believes the Belladonna has somehow come into possession of the astrolabe. The bidding will be done by "submitting offers of secrets and favors."Octavia warns them about the Shadows who are murdering travellers and guardians. Etta and Julian need to locate sufficient gold for the buy-in and once at the auction they need to get the astrolabe and destroy it.

Meanwhile Nicholas and Sophia travel to the Three Crowns Tavern to meet up with Rose Linden. Sophia now wears an eye-patch after losing her left eye because of the beating in Palmyra. While Sophia was recovering in Palmyra, Nicholas received a note from Rose indicating that they had to meet on October 13th or not at all. Nicholas is aware that Sophia has not given up on taking the astrolabe, but he needs her to help him navigate the passages. Rose doesn't show but Sophia and Nicholas notice a man with the Linden sigil on his glove in the corner of the tavern. He gives them a folded sheet of parchment with the Linden seal and tells them that Rose had other business to deal with. As Nicholas is questioning the guardian, a diversion is created and the parchment is stolen from their table by a Chinese man. In their attempt to apprehend the man, Sophia fires her pistol setting off a brawl in the tavern. Nicholas and Sophia manage to escape and when they return to their camp by the Thames, they discover the Chinese man stealing from their campsite. Confronting him they discover him to be a woman named Li Min. Li Min refuses to divulge the contents of the note

Nicholas and Sophia travel to 1430 Prague where they encounter a young boy who leads them to a little shop. There they meet up with the Belladonna, an imposing woman who uses dark magic. Sophia tells her they wish to know the date of the last common year so they can locate a friend. The Belladonna agrees to help them in exchange for a favour. Nicholas asks the Belladonna if the Thorns are still in possession of the astrolabe and she replies that according to her last report, yes. However, the Belladonna tricks Sophia and Nicholas. She places a ring on Nicholas's finger and tells him the task she requires is the murder of Cyrus Ironwood before she provides the information they are seeking. This ring will eventually spread a poison through his body killing him unless he completes the Belladonna's task.

Nicholas and Sophia leave the Belladonna and travel through several passages before arriving in 148 B.C. Carthage which is under siege during the Third Punic War. They manage to escape an attack by the Shadows and are aided by Remus Jacaranda who takes them to his house. He tells Nicholas and Sophia that Fitzhugh is making his rounds as a healer. Remus serves them a tea which Nicholas does not drink. Remus knows nothing of the last common year but he does tell them about the history of the astrolabes and their ancestors. When Nicholas realizes that Remus has lied about Fitzhugh, Remus tells him they have sent for the Ironwoods as this is their chance to finally escape their exile in Carthage. Sophia has been poisoned by the hemlock tea, but Nicholas carries her and pursued by Fitzhugh and Miles Ironwood races to the passage. He is helped by the sudden appearance of Li Min and they are transported to 1499 Vatican where they are hunted by the Shadows. The three spend some time hiding in the old tombs beneath the Vatican where Li Min tells them more about her history and the Shadows. She also reveals that Etta Spencer is dead, sending Nicholas into shock but also leading him to confront Cyrus Ironwood in 1776 New York. There Ironwood proposes a new course of action for Nicholas, one that will lead to a life Nicholas Carter could never have dreamed of.

Discussion

Like the first novel,Wayfarer is a complex story that weaves through many settings and even more characters than its predecessor, Passenger. This characteristic makes it a complicated read and difficult at times to keep track of the little details. In Wayfarer, Bracken has her characters travel to an overwhelming number of eras and locations: 1919 Petrograd, 1776 New York, 1776 Nassau, 1905 Texas, 1906 San Francisco, 148 B.C. Carthage, 1100 Reynisfjall Mountain, 1932 London, 1939 New York, 1430 Prague, 1499 Vatican City, 1830 Rio de Janeiro, and 1891 Mount Kurama. Not to mention the time passages that are only mentioned in passing. The plot too becomes more complex as more characters are introduced; the Shadows who serve a mysterious Ancient One who seeks the remaining astrolabe, the Belladonna who is known as the Witch of Prague, Li Min who it turns out is Etta's Aunt Winnifred and the Ancient One seeking to gain control of the remaining astrolabe after it is revealed he has absorbed the power of the other missing astrolabes.

The complex plot can be distilled down to a quest by multiple parties, each with their own agenda, for possession of the remaining astrolabe. It's a quest for ultimate power and the control of time itself. It turns out that this last astrolabe has come into the possession of the Belladonna who holds an auction for it. Everyone shows up and as expected the auction morphs into a deadly fight with completely unexpected results. Unlike Passenger which had a developing romance between Nicholas Carter and Etta Spencer, Wayfarer follows the journeys of two groups; Etta and Julian, and Sophia, Nicholas and Li Min.

Better editing could have distilled this novel down into a cleaner, tighter version of the story. At over 500 pages, the reader has to slog through pages of detail that sometimes overwhelm the storytelling. In the first novel, Passenger, Bracken succeeded in giving her readers the essence of what time travel might be like, but in Wayfarer, these become destinations that Etta, Nicholas and Sophia simply race from one to the next in their quest for the astrolabe. Readers learn some of the backstory to the time traveling families and it's interesting to consider how time travellers might change the outcome of history with what might seem like insignificant interference.

At times, Wayfarer reads like a Tolkien story; there are four astrolabes with special powers given to each family. Three are lost and only one remains - the master astrolabe which has a unique ability to create timelines. The Shadows are people stolen from their families when they were young , "their humanity ripped from them with bloody training and manipulation." They exist to serve the Ancient One. We are told by Li Min,  "They  are here for one purpose alone:  to serve him. To find what he seeks  above all else." The Shadows wear loosely flowing black robes with hoods that shield their faces and carry a curved blade.  It sounds remarkably like Sauron and the Nazgul or Ringwraiths from Lord of the Rings. As it turns out, the astrolabe if found by the Ancient One will make him immortal (not unlike Sauron).

Readers who enjoy a complex fantasy story will enjoy Wayfarer. Bracken keeps her readers guessing about where the story will go and that alone makes Wayfarer an engaging tale. Bracken ties together all the loose ends and provides a satisfying ending to her story, one that suggests hope and healing for the future. A fitting conclusion to this fantasy duology.

Book Details:

Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
New York: Hyperion        2017
532 pp.

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken

Bracken's latest novel, Passenger is historical fantasy that focuses on time travel. What if you belonged to a family with the ability to travel through time? What if you never knew this and ...

Seventeen-year-old Henrietta (Etta) Spencer is an aspiring violinist. Etta will be performing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic this evening. Etta's debut had been delayed for years by her instructor, ninety-four year old Alice because of crippling stage fright. But in the past three years, Etta's stage fright diminished and she is anxious to start her solo career. Etta dropped everything else including her boyfriend Pierce to focus on her debut.

Etta's mom Rose is a mysterious woman who hasn't told her daughter much about her life. Etta knows her mother has travelled to Cambodia when she was eighteen and also studied at the Sorbonne. She doesn't know her father.

At the concert hall while Etta prepares, Alice tells her she has an errand to do and quickly leaves. Etta will be performing on the Antonius, one of several Stradivarius violins in the Metropolitan Museum of Arts collection. When Alice doesn't return, Etta becomes anxious and sets out to find her. Unable to locate her mother,  Etta decides to check the conservation wing where her mother has her office. Outside the office Etta hears Alice and her mother arguing, seemingly about whether Etta is ready to perform. Alice states that Etta is not ready for this but her mother believes she can handle it. Furious at what she's hearing,  Etta barges in and insists she will perform tonight. However, when she steps onto the stage  in the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium to perform minutes later, Etta hears a terrible feedback noise and must be led offstage. One of the other prospective performers, a dark-haired girl named Sophia helps her out of the backstage area and into the Egyptian wing of the museum. Sophia leads her closer and closer to the source of the feedback. The two discover Alice shot and dying from a chest wound as they are approached by three men in tuxedos.  The next thing Etta knows, Sophia shoves her towards the high pitched sound and she finds herself waking up on board a ship being attacked by another ship.

Etta discovers that she is a prisoner on a ship, the Ardent, a British merchant ship which has just been disabled and boarded by the crew of a privateer, the Challenger, captained by Nathaniel Hall. The Challenger was authorized to act as a privateer and to legally hunt British ships. Nicholas Carter, a black man who is Hall's second-in-command, has been working the past three years for Lowe and Lowe Shipping, traveling from the West Indies to the American colonies when he was approached by Cyrus Ironwood to intercept the Ardent and take the two women on board to New York City by September 21. Etta knows nothing of this at this time and when she awakes on the ship, she rushes on deck just as the battle for the Ardent has ended, terrified and confused. Nicholas and Captain Hall explain to Etta about the capture of the Ardent just as Sophia comes on deck. Sophia tells Captain Hall (who knows nothing of Nicholas's mission) that she and Etta are the Spencer sisters. Her familiar and rude way with Nicholas make Etta realize that the two know each other. With Nicholas now in command of the Ardent and Captain Hall returned to his own ship, Nicholas explains his mission to Sophia and Etta.

Alone in their quarters, Etta demands to know who Sophia is and an explanation of how she came to be on the ship. Sophia tells Etta that she has "traveled" to the eighteenth century and that Etta belongs to one of several families who have the ability to travel through time. This ability has been inherited from one of her parents, likely her mother Rose. Etta realizes that the argument she overheard at the Met was not about her musical debut but about whether or not she was ready to time travel. Sophia tells Etta that her mother's name is Rose Linden, that she had the ability to time travel and simply disappeared one day.

Sophia explains that their ancestors were able to take advantage of "tears in the fabric of time, pass through holes to emerge in a different era...They're like the natural crevices - fissures - you find around the world. The passages have always existed, and our families have always been able to find and use them." The passages could lead from Egypt in the time of the pharaohs to medieval Paris. Considering this, Etta believes her mother wanted her to know about her unique abilities and for her to travel.

Sophia tells Etta that she was born in 1910 Philadelphia. She explains to Etta that they traveled through a passage but when they arrived in this time Etta became unconscious. The only ship Sophia could gain passage on was bound for England so Cyrus Ironwood hired Nicholas and Captain Hall to capture the Ardent and take it to New York where they will meet him. Sophia reveals that Ironwood has used travelers to manipulate time to secure the Ironwood fortune and bring the other traveler families under his control. Grandfather has chosen 1776 as the year where he is based and where all travelers must travel from. There are less than one hundred travelers now. When they travel they observe the norms of each era, something Etta finds difficult when she attends dinner that night and experiences the racism towards blacks typical of the late eighteenth century.

Etta realizes that Sophia knows Nicholas Carter because he is also a traveler. As the illegitimate son of Cyrus's son Augustus, he has inherited the ability to travel. In conversation with Nicholas, Etta learns that Rose Linden was "the only traveler to successfully outwit Ironwood", stealing something of his and disappearing. Nicholas tells her that Rose broke the heart of Augustus Ironwood, Cyrus Ironwood's heir. Nicholas promises to help Etta if in fact she is being used in some way to harm Rose. Etta and Sophia are escorted to New York City after they come ashore near Oyster Bay, off Long Island Sound.They are taken to the Dove Tavern opposite the Royal Artillery Park where they meet Cyrus Ironwood, Sophia's grandfather.

Cyrus tells Etta that he met her mother while they were sightseeing in Renaissance Italy. He arranged for her to marry his son Augustus but she disappeared suddenly seventeen years ago. Cyrus shows Etta her mother's travel journal which travelers keep to avoid crossing paths with themselves in another time. He also shows her a letter written by Virgil Ironwood to his brother Augustus about a new passage in Nassau, Bahamas that put him in Manhattan 2015 as they hunt for the item Cyrus is after. In Manhattan 2015 Virgil discovers Henrietta Spencer who looks just like her mother (the missing) Rose Linden. Virgil is happy to see them well settled. Both Virgil and Augustus were dead within the year. Cyrus tells Etta that he needs her to steal back what her mother stole from him.

Cyrus reveals that through the influence of his agents, Etta was asked to perform at the museum as a way to trick her into traveling back to his time. Sophia was sent to determine if Etta was able to sense the time passage and was therefore a traveler. Cyrus believes that Etta's mother Rose Linden stole an astrolabe which belonged to his ancestors. His search through various eras has proved fruitless and cost him his direct heirs.Rose claimed it belonged to the Linden family but Cyrus insists it does not. The astrolabe is special because "it can examine a passage and inform the bearer of the destination and time period on the other side..." Cyrus tells her he wants it to protect travelers who are fewer now and who risk their lives using uncharted passages. He tells Etta he has been searching for some time and has lost two sons, Augustus and Wilbur and a grandson, Julian in his attempt to track it down. He also gives Etta a letter an agent found in their home that was written by Rose to Etta in a special code. He wants her to decipher the letter because he believes it holds clues to the location of the astrolabe. Cyrus gives Etta until Sept 30 to locate the astrolobe.

Although Etta recognizes the code, she hides this from Cyrus who tells her she will decipher it before beginning her search. She agrees to help Cyrus believing if she can find the astrolabe she will be able to find her mother and save Alice. To ensure that Etta does not trick him, Cyrus pressures Nicholas into accompanying Etta on her search in exchange for revoking the ban on his traveling and giving Nicholas all of his plantation holdings in 1776. But will Etta be able to outwit Cyrus at his own game long enough to save her life and all that she holds dear?

Discussion

Alexandra Bracken's novels are characterized by complicated storylines and Passenger is no different. The main storyline is gradually revealed against the backdrop of 1776 Manhattan and Etta Spencer's abrupt encounter with Nicholas who is of mixed white/black race. Bracken reveals much of the backstory in bits and pieces throughout the novel. And that backstory is complicated, so much so that it is unlikely readers will remember all the details when the next novel is published. So here is a basic summary that will contain spoilers.

There were four families, the Ironwood, Jacaranda, Linden and Hemlock families who were time travelers. Although at first these families worked together much like clans with each having its role. as record keepers, financiers and shifters who checked the stability of the time passages, eventually there was a falling out. Cyrus Ironwood's first wife, Minerva was murdered by Roman Jacaranda after Cyrus was implicated in a conspiracy to gain control of the travelers. This started a war between the four families. Cyrus eliminated almost all of the other families and became the Grand Master. Rose and her grandfather were the last Lindens and they preferred to stay out of the fray. Rose became part of a group called refugees - people without a home when their timeline was changed. While the remnants of the Jacaranda and Hemlock families joined with the Ironwoods, some became "Thorns", people who are trying to restore their futures.

Initially each of the four families had an astrolabe. Three were lost or destroyed. When Rose disappeared so did the remaining astrolabe. Although Cyrus tells Etta that it is his, Alice in the 1940 era tells Etta and Nicholas it belongs to the Linden family. She also tells them that the astrolabe can create new passages and is therefore much more powerful than Cyrus has led them to believe. It could give whoever possesses it, the ability to control time. The Thorns want it so they can create passages to the past in an attempt to return to the original timeline.

Cyrus married Minerva but hid her in the past for her own safety. Her location was discovered by the other families who waited for a year when there was no direct passage and then murdered her. This meant that Cyrus had no way of preventing her murder. Cyrus's second wife produced two sons, Wilbur and Augustus. Augustus was intending to marry Rose when she suddenly disappeared.  Augustus spent years searching for her and became increasingly troubled. He fathered Nicholas in 1757 with the Ironwood family slave. Captain Hall and his wife, now part of the Ironwood family, purchased Nicholas and his life improved greatly from that point on.

With the hunt on for the last astrolabe, Cyrus having lost Wilbur and Augustus, sent his grandson Julian along with Nicholas to search. When Cyrus almost located the astrolabe, Rose moved it and hid it. She and Professor Linden did not destroy it.Rose believed that one day Cyrus would likely come close again to finding the astrolabe and she wrote a coded letter to Etta. From her childhood, Etta was taught the coding system used in the letter so when Cyrus shows her the letter Etta is able to decipher it. She believes that the first clue is a passage near the Elgin Marbles.

As Etta and Nicholas search for the astrolabe they travel from 1940 London and the Blitz where they encounter a young Alice to the lush Cambodian jungle and the ruins of Angkor Wat. From 1880 Paris and the gorgeous Medici Fountain to the blowing sands of Damascus, Etta and Nicholas struggle to follow the clues Rose has laid out to find the hidden astrolabe.But they soon discover that they are being pursued by two men whose identities are not known.

Set against Etta and Nicholas's hunt for the missing astrolabe is their blossoming romance. In Nicholas's natural time of 1776, such a romance is forbidden by law but as they travel through various eras their relationship deepens quickly. This sets up an intense conflict for Nicholas. He has signed a contract with Cyrus to bring back the astrolabe in exchange for his freedom. But gradually he feels the temptation to leave his natural time and be with Etta who treats him as a partner rather than as a servant.
"Could he kiss her, knowing that he was on the verge of betraying her and ensuring that the astrolabe got back to Ironwood?
Could he kiss her, knowing that she must return to her time and he must remain in his? The vilification they would face if she were to come with him back to his time, and they were unable to deal with the cruel laws of the colonies..."
Etta begins to have what Nicholas believes is a "dangerous" effect on him leading him to think about things he's buried for some time: to leave his era and to keep the astrolabe and travel with Etta to different centuries until they were safe. Gradually his thinking changes.  "...he felt the touch of a changing wind blowing through him, pushing him toward a different path. All of these things he desired, he could have; if not on a ship, then by seeking out the passages that could carry him where he wanted to go. And he would her: the lady with whom he wished to travel."

Etta too becomes conflicted over their blossoming relationship. She believes part of the attraction is that their relationship seems impossible because they are from two different eras. Etta also struggles with the morality of time travel. When they arrive at her mother's room in Damascus, she and Nicholas discover  a huge collection of relics from different eras. Etta asks, "...Is there a point to it, other than to amuse themselves?..." Etta questions why the passages were made and believes their original function has been corrupted.

Passenger is an intriguing read but it sometimes gets bogged down in its own story. There's simply so much detail about the time travelers it's hard to keep track of all the information. However on the positive side, the story itself is very interesting and engages the reader from the beginning. Etta, finding herself in a very different world from her natural time, never seems to blink. She's determined to return to her time, continue on with her performance career and to save her beloved Alice. Bracken could have left out the sometimes lengthy descriptive romance passages which divert from the storyline.

For those needing a refresher for the sequel, Wayfarer, here is a brief summary of the conclusion of Passenger:

At the conclusion of Passenger, Etta and her companion Nicholas Carter have traced the astrolabe to Rose Linden's house in Damascus in 1599. There they meet Hasan who is a guardian for the family. Hasan shows Etta a letter written by her mother Rose which tells her to trust no one and that the astrolabe must be destroyed. The letter also leaves Etta and Nicholas with a cryptic clue: "Bring jasmine to the bride who sleeps eternal beneath the sky, and look for the sigil." Up until this time Etta did not know why Cyrus Ironwood wanted the astrolabe but she learns that Ironwood wants the astrolabe to create a passage back to a point where he can save his first wife Minerva without losing his fortune or his control over the travelling families. Nicholas tells Etta that Cyrus must have determined "which events were crucial to his success" and found an opening to travel back and save her.    However, if Cyrus changes the past everyone's future will be at stake. Hasan tells Etta the Thorns are no better because they want to destroy everything Ironwood built for himself so as to save the council of families and save their loved ones whom Cyrus killed. But which timeline should exist? The original one? The altered one?

With this dilemma Hasan reveals to Etta and Nicholas his solution to Rose's riddle: their destination is Palmyra - the Bride of the Desert and the valley of the tombs located there, specifically a tomb with the Linden sigil - a tree. In the marketplace Etta glimpses her mother Rose as a much younger woman, Nicholas is stabbed. Etta is forcibly taken by Sophia and two guardians. Sophia has been following Etta and Nicholas through the time passages. She forces Etta to lead her to the astrolabe. During their journey Etta who wants the astrolabe to create a passage back to her own time and free her mother, decides that she will only destroy the astrolabe as a last resort.

After a long journey to the ruins at Palmyra, they travel to the valley of tombs and in the most complete tomb they find the large, gold astrolabe. Etta's attempt to destroy the astrolabe is unsuccessful and she and Sophia are set upon by the guardians who turn out to be Thorns. Nicholas arrives on the scene but is unable to help Etta - she is badly wounded and the Thorns and Sophia leave with the astrolabe. Etta is flung through another time passage, leaving a badly wounded Nicholas alone. After a day, Rose and Hasan arrive and Nicholas recounts what happened.

Rose explains a number of things to Nicholas: that she did not tell Etta about her ability to time travel in order for her plan to destroy the astrolabe to work, that she was warned by a strange traveler from the future that it must be destroyed, and that she is responsible for Alice's death. She also tells Nicholas that Etta is alive, that the Thorns "must not have been part of the original event - the version of the timeline in which the astrolabe was destroyed." The timeline has been altered and Etta has been flung to the last common event before it shifted. Rose tells Nicholas he must retrieve the astrolabe from Sophia Ironwood and find Etta. They agree to meet in 1776 Nassau in one month's time. After meeting with Rose, Nicholas is taken by Hasan to a Bedouin tribe's camp where he finds a badly injured Sophia - without the astrolabe.

Passenger is huge novel, just short of 500 pages but fans of fantasy and adventure who love a large dose of romance will enjoy this latest offering by Bracken.

Book Details:

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
Los Angeles: Hyperion    2016
486 pp.

In The After Light by Alexandra Bracken

The third and final installment in the Darkest Minds series sees the Psi children finally force the people of America and the rest of the world to acknowledge the truth of the camps and what the government has really been doing to the IAAN children. The truth about the source of IAAN is finally revealed as well as a potential cure.

The novel opens with the events right after the bombing of Los Angeles by the American Government. President Gray attacked the Children's League and the Federal Coalition of former politicians after the possible involvement of both organizations in the assassination attempt on him. The Children's League had a headquarters in Los Angeles and this led to the city being bombed by the government. Following the bombing, the US Army and National Guard  have created a secure "perimeter around downtown Los Angeles using the elaborate freeway system."  to prevent the rogue agents and the Psi children from leaving the city. Ruby, sent out on her own by the former Children's League agents, has ambushed a soldier, and using her abilities has searched through her mind, discovering gaps in the freeway's defenses.

The Los Angeles headquarters has been badly bombed, but many have survived including Cole, Liam, Vida, Chubbs and of course Clancy Gray.  Ruby believes they now need to leave LA as quickly as possible. Internment camps are located throughout the city with government troops picking up anyone they can find. Cate Connor and other agents are now missing, possibly having fled LA or possibly being held in one of the camps.

What's left of the League has moved location every few days and must search constantly for water and food. While preparing to return to their hiding, Ruby comes across three agents, Ferguson, Gates and Sen who are eating the food they found rather than bringing it back to the seventeen kids in hiding. Ruby overhears them talking about turning in the kids when they get out of LA to get the reward money to fund their next attack on President Gray. Ruby realizes that she must tell Cole.

In the warehouse where they are hiding, Liam, Cole, Vida, Chubbs, Nico meet Senator Anabel Cruz who is the Federal Coalition's International Liaison. She was meeting with Amplify, a underground news organization, when the attacks on Los Angeles began. Cole took her in after the reporter she was with was killed. Senator Cruz is interested in helping them and Cole believes she can help them get the truth out about the camps.

Ruby informs the group that not all the freeways are actually manned and that some have been set up with empty vehicles and floodlights. After Ruby marks their locations on a city map, Sen and Gates try to stall the group from leaving, but Cole is insistent that they leave early in the morning.  Ruby tells agent Cole Stewart, about the other agent's plans to turn over the kids. Cole who is an agent who has kept his Psi abilities a secret, tells Ruby that he has had two Greens commit to memory the details of the research into IANN. He has been unable to read the research because he is concerned that the other agents might suspect his secret abilities. Cole tells her that they need to separate from the agents; they are going to the Ranch but she must enter the minds of each of the rogue agents and convince them that the Ranch is indefensible and that they are going to go to Kansas HQ.

They divide into four teams and split up between three different exits. Team A has Cole, Ruby, Liam, Vida and Clancy Gray who because of his ability to influence the minds of others will be with Ruby. Senator Cruz and Nico travel with other groups leaving the city. They manage to slip through the perimeter and hot wire two vehicles to travel to Lodi, south of Sacramento. One vehicle contains Cole, Ruby and Clancy while the second SUV Ford Explorer carries Liam, Chubbs and Vida. In Burbank, Liam's SUV is hit by a military Humvee which causes it to roll over. Cole destroys the Humvee with fire, killing one soldier and badly beating the other. Liam has a dislocated shoulder while Chubbs has his prescription glasses mangled.

They continue on, placing Liam, Chubbs and Vida into the bed of the red pickup truck. At this time Ruby realizes that Clancy probably knows that Cole is a Red (only Ruby knows) because he will have recognized the tell-tale physical tic Cole often exhibits. She also realizes that Clancy manipulated Cole into destroying the Humvee and killing the soldier. When she sees that Clancy begins to manipulate Cole again, she physically knocks him out. Cole begins to understand what happened and is so furious he drugs Clancy. He is also concerned that if the others discover that he is a Red they will never trust him but Ruby tells him they must keep Clancy drugged until they reach the Ranch and then keep him segregated.

In the small town of Mojave, the group notices "road code" a system of graffiti providing directions to  travel safely which the kids from East River developed. The crescent moon shape meant a safe place to rest or sleep. The names in the graffiti are those kids who have passed through the area. Eventually Ruby clues in that letters are those of Kylie, Lucy, Zu and Hina from East River and she follows the road code to a deserted overgrown mountain home. There they find Zu and a large group of children who have been hiding out in the home for some time. Zu is so traumatized by what has happened that she doesn't speak. Ruby, Cole and the large group continue on to Lodi.

In Lodi they discover that the Ranch is a series of deep underground tunnels  as well as some above ground garages and buildings. They learn that most of the agents at the Ranch, with the exception of Cate, left to move to the Kansas HQ when they were contacted by the Los Angeles agents  (the ones Ruby influenced). They not only left but took most of the food and other supplies with them including the servers. They also learn that the flash drive with the research from Leda Corporation about the causes of IAAN was destroyed when the EMP hit Los Angeles. Cate decides to go after the agents who left but Cole and Ruby believe this is not a good idea.

The kids settle into the Ranch and Clancy is placed in isolation where he is only to be seen by either Cole or Ruby. He begins provoking Ruby, asking her if she knows what's happening at Thurmond. He tells her that the cure is merely another way to control the Psi children.  "It's not some magic bandage that's going to heal all wounds. It's not going to erase the stigma of what we are in their minds. If there aren't side effects, they'll always be waiting, watching, praying that we don't relapse..."

Life is tense at the Ranch for many reasons. Ruby is frustrated at the loss of the flashdrive and the research on the cause of IAAN and begins sleepwalking. Liam and Cole struggle to get along, each keeping secrets from the other. Nico manages to access Clancy's server after Ruby seemingly tricks Clancy into revealing the password and they discover that Thurmond is slated to be closed with the kids being moved out. Cole tells Ruby they need to hit the camp before it is shut down if they are to prove to the world that the camps are not for rehabilitation, but for abuse and mistreatment. They decide in order to prepare for the liberation of Thurmond, they must do a hit on a smaller camp to make sure the plan is workable.  Cole decides on Oasis, the camp where Senator Cruz's daughter, Rosa is being kept.

Senator Cruz arranges for gas and ammunition to be brought in from Canada while Ruby and Cole continue working on the plan to attack Thurmond before the beginning of March. They decide to send several kids into Oasis ahead of the actual attack so they know the layout of the camp. Nico who has been monitoring online videos learns that Cate, as well as Sen and Johnston have been captured by the US military. The video of Cate's capture has been put out by Amplify and this leads Liam to begin leaning towards putting out videos of the camp situation rather than using the children to attack the camps.

Meanwhile Ruby learns that Dr. Gray is still alive and that she is being held with the Children's League at an unknown location. When they learn where she is being held two teams are sent out, one to retrieve Dr. Gray and one to liberate the Psi children from Oasis. But these operations reveal more and more obstacles to overcome; freeing Dr. Gray's mind from the damage Clancy did and dealing with Reds who are now guarding Thurmond and who have attacked the Kansas HQs. When tragedy strikes one of the teams sent out to check on a camp of Reds, Ruby comes to the stark realization of what Clancy's been up to. Too late to save herself, Ruby enters Thurmond to take down the camp.

Discussion

In The After Light, Bracken brings the Darkest Minds series to a satisfying conclusion, tying up loose ends and filling in missing details. The novel ends on a hopeful note, the children freed but still fighting for their right to live their own lives, in light of what was done to them.

The novel takes its title from a response Ruby gives Nico when he asks her what the future looks like. She remembers looking past the razor wire at Thurmond so she could remember that there was a world outside the camp. Cole said the future looked like an open road - a prophecy that is fulfilled at the end of the book. But Ruby tells Nico "'I see it in colors....A deep blue, fading into golds and reds -- like fire on a horizon. Afterlight. It's a sky that wants you to guess if the sun is about to rise or set."

Perhaps the greatest strength of the novel, besides its engaging story, is the wonderful characters Bracken creates and develops through the series. Ruby, Cole, Liam, Vida, Chubbs, Zu, Clancy and Nico are all fully developed characters whom the reader becomes totally invested in. There are several budding romances in the novel, strong conflicts between Cole and Liam and between Ruby and Nico, and the tragedy of Zu who is so traumatized she can't speak. All of this makes the characters and the story very realistic.

Ruby is a wonderfully strong protagonist who never loses her human side despite all the suffering she's experienced. She's determined to free the children from the camps, to understand what caused IAAN and to learn about the possible cure that Lillian Gray had found. Other than his mother, Ruby, more than anyone,  recognizes the danger Clancy Gray poses. And it becomes even more evident in the third novel why Lillian Gray was so determined to find a cure for her son.

Clancy Gray is the tragic anti-hero in the novel. He is manipulative and determined to retain his power to control people until the very end - even after he receives the invasive cure he so dreaded.  He tells Ruby, "...I can figure a way around this, how to deactivate the device she planted there. How to get everything back. I can do it. I'm closer to the right people than ever. I can find my father, wherever he's hiding. I can do it." This leads Ruby to act out of mercy, rather than how she knows Clancy would have behaved towards her.
 
Despite Clancy's desire to control others around him, his ideas about the Psi children and how the world will treat them end up being accurate. During one of their encounters at the Ranch, Clancy told Ruby that the cure will destroy who they are and that it is an invasive procedure. He told her that "Now isn't the time to change yourself to fit into the world...You should be changing the world to accept you. To let you exist as you are, without being cut open and damaged." 

When the camps are disbanded and the country begins its recovery, Senator Cruz announces that Dr. Lillian Gray will perform the live-saving operation to neutralize the Psi abilities, free of charge. However, those Psi-afflicted citizens who do not have it will have to live apart from society in special communities. This infuriates Chubbs, who is an advisor to Cruz, and he stands up for their rights as citizens and in light of what was done to them.

The novel is very long and sometimes tedious with its detail, but readers will be rewarded with a great story that has plenty of tragedy, a touch of romance, and some deeply touching moments. The novel explores the themes of identity, forgiveness and acceptance. The Darkest Minds series is one of the best dystopian young adult series since The Hunger Games.

In The After Light will likely be made into a movie, likely by 2016. If the movie adaptations are done in a manner similar to The Hunger Games series, faithful to the novels with good casting, they will be excellent.

Book Details:
In The After Light by Amanda Bracken
Los Angeles: Hyperion          2014
535 pp.

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken

The first part of this post will be a detailed summary of the entire novel so that when the third book is published readers will be able to refer back to this post and pick up the story where it left off. A short review will follow. Those who do not wish to read the detailed synopsis can skip down to the end of the spoiler section.

The second installment in the Darkest Minds trilogy picks up where the first novel left off. Ruby has been taken by Cate Conner to the headquarters of the outlaw Children's League headed by John Alban. Alban was part of President Gray's cabinet as an adviser. His own daughter, Alyssa, had died from IAAN. When Alban saw what Gray was doing with the country he left the government and went underground. The first group of children who were found to have special abilities were rounded up and placed in camps because IAAN was thought to be infectious. However as more and more children died, those who survived were tracked down and sent to the camps where their parents were promised they would be cared for and treated. Instead, research and testing was done by Leda Corporation. President Gray ordered mandatory conscription for everyone under the age of forty, some serving as security at the camps.

The League was founded to expose the truth about the children's camps - that many children were being murdered and that they were being used in research by Leda. The League also is determined to disband the camps. A secretive organization, the League takes no walk-ins. Everyone is vetted and you must be asked to join. Headquarters is buried two stories beneath a working plastic bottle factory in Los Angeles. The League has more than 300 agents, some are ex-military, some are civilians. There are six special Ops teams consisting of four kids, headed by an agent or "Minder". Cate tells Ruby that she will be team leader to the only group with kids of mixed colors; Vida who is Blue, Jude who is Yellow and Nico who is Green.

Never Fade opens with Ruby, Vida, Nico and Jude on a special Op led by "Minder" Rob Meadows to free a top League agent being held in a bunker. These bunkers were built by President Gray after what he claimed was the destruction of Washington, DC by a group of warped PSI kids. The special Op almost goes bad when a concussion grenade goes off near Vida and Ruby. They are not hurt and in a twist that angers Rob, they manage to rescue Prisoner 27" who turns out to be Cole Stewart, Liam's brother.

Alban wants to see Ruby's ability to read minds and has her go into the mind of a captured woman. Later on Alban also asks her to read the memories of Cole Stewart, who is a deep-cover agent for the League and who looks very much like his brother, Liam. When Ruby enters Cole's memories, she makes a disturbing discovery about Liam. She learns that Cole had a brief encounter with Liam. Cole was embedded in Leda Corp. and was able to steal the results of the research on the PSI children, placing the information on a USB drive. He sewed the drive into his jacket which Liam grabbed by mistake. However, in order to protect Liam from the League, Ruby does not pass this information on to Alban. Instead, she makes up a fictitious informant. Later, in a secret meeting between the two, Cole tells Ruby that he wants her to find Liam and the drive so they can show Alban the research and refocus the Children's League back to its original mandate of exposing the children's camps for what they truly are.

Jude and Ruby are sent to Boston as part of a special Op along with Rob Meadows and Beta Team to retrieve a professor who runs a lab at Harvard and disable his lab. But their real mission to to abandon the special Op and strike out on their own to locate Liam Stewart and more importantly find his jacket and the flash drive that contains the results of Leda Corp's research on the PSI children.

**spoilers**
Ruby does not like or trust Rob whom she knows has killed children he was sent to rescue from the camps. Ruby has learned from Cole that Rob wants to use the Green kids as suicide bombers to unleash a terror attack on the children's camps to make President Gray give up the conscription. Ruby has no plans to finish this special Op though. Instead, she and Jude escape during the Op so that they can make their way to Liam and Cole's family home in North Carolina where they suspect Liam would have returned. Using Ruby's ability to mind control, they force a woman to drive them to a train station and purchase tickets to Fayette, North Carolina. Beta Team tracks them along with Vida who manages to corner Ruby. Jude and Ruby escape and are driven to Wilmington by a sympathetic bus driver who lost his grandson to the camps.

When they arrive at Liam's home they are shocked to run into Chubs, who is now disguised as a skip-tracer and Vida who has followed them to Wilmington. They learn that Vida was sent by Cole to help Ruby find Liam and the missing flash drive and that Beta Team has been recalled. The four travel in Chubs' Ford Explorer to a camp ground near Ashville, North Carolina.

During the night Ruby, who doesn't trust Vida, discovers that she has a Chatter device and is in contact with Cate. Vida tells Ruby and Chubs that Cate and Cole chose Ruby to try to locate the missing flash drive. They are aware of Rob and Jarvin's intent to use the Children's League for an attack on the camps. Cate has been guiding Vida but cannot provide the locations for sightings of Liam who has a $200,000 bounty for his capture. However Chubs can with his tablet and connection to the skip-tracer network.

From Chubs tablet they learn that Liam was recently sighted outside Nashville, near a hostile Blue tribe. In Chubs truck, Chubs, Vida, Ruby and Jude travel to Nashville, a city that has been closed for some time. Outside of Nashville, the four are captured by the Blue tribe run by a cruel boy named Knox. Knox is posing as Slip Kid, claiming his camp is the fabled East River. However, Chubs, Vida and Ruby know that this is not the case. Conditions in the camp are brutal with many of the kids suffering from exposure and hunger. Knox has an iron grip, ruling by terror. Most of the kids at the camp did not join voluntarily and cannot escape.

At Knox's camp they meet Olivia from the real Slip Kid's East River camp. Olivia has been badly scarred and they notice that many of the other kids also have burn scars. From Olivia they learn that Knox has been trading PSI kids for supplies and food. Olivia tells her that many kids who are sick are being kept in the White Tent. When Ruby goes to the White Tent she makes the shocking discovery of an emaciated, very ill Liam.

In an attempt to get Liam help, Ruby tries to bargain with Knox. This mostly fails and he forces Vida and Ruby to fight a Red named Twitch, who had been captured in Nashville. This fight is brutal and in a desperate attempt to save Vida's life, Ruby makes the discovery that she does not have to be in physical contact with a person to get into their mind. Reading Red's mind allows her to see him as he once was, a young boy, named Mason, who had a mother and loved to ride his bike. When Knox realizes what she is doing he kills Red. But Ruby also manages to attack Knox's mind and makes him walk out of the camp, his memory wiped. This action frees the kids in the Blue camp, although Knox's second, Michael is infuriated. Before they leave the the Blue tribe, Jude is able to locate Liam's jacket and the missing flash drive.

After defeating Knox, Ruby organizes a raid on a nearby warehouse to obtain supplies, especially medicine and food. However, they are attacked by Michael who turns Ruby over to a skip-tracer and ultimately to Rob Meadows who is intent upon bringing her back to the camp in West Virginia. Muzzled and restrained Ruby again uses her ability to get into Rob's head, causing him to crash his vehicle. She is rescued by Vida and Chubs, but is badly injured. They get the medicine back to the Blue tribe and Liam gradually recuperates. But as he heals, he becomes increasingly confused about who Ruby is and why he has such strong feelings for her. It is gradually revealed that Ruby's wiping of his memory was not what she thought.

Ruby tells Liam that she is part of the Children's League which angers him. The group now begins to head back to Los Angeles. On the way Liam and Ruby find time alone to discuss the confusion Liam feels over her. Liam tells her that he knows something about her and tells Ruby that he loves her. "I love you every second of every day, and I don't understand why, or how to make it stop --" Liam begins to realize what Ruby did to him that day in the safe house and he's angry because she did not give him a choice. She tries to explain that she did not want to see him suffer and to lose himself.

Meanwhile, Vida has been trying to get a message through to Cate and eventually she does. Strangely, she is told that they are to meet Cate in Pueblo, Colorado. Ruby and Vida are worried but decide that something must have happened to make it unsafe to enter California. When they arrive in Pueblo, it is not Cate waiting for them, but Clancy Gray. Clancy has underestimated Ruby's abilities and he can no longer control her mind. He is overpowered by Ruby and they ask him what is going on. Clancy tells them that he has been answering as Cate with the help of Nico and that the rogue agents in the League are going ahead with using the Green kids to make a terror strike. Clancy also reveals that Alban was murdered two days ago and that several rogue agents have now taken control of the Children's League. The plan is to move the Green kids out of Los Angeles by 6 am Christmas morning - tomorrow.

The group uses the charter jet that Clancy took to Colorado, to fly back to Los Angeles to try to stop the agents going through with their attack. The sneak into the League headquarters through a tunnel and find twenty children hidden and waiting in one of the sleeping rooms. Nico tells them that they were not supposed to come until tomorrow.

Quizzing Nico, Ruby learns that Clancy was after information about an agent called Professor who was doing research at the Georgia base. Ruby begins to realize that Clancy used her to get him into the League headquarters. She tracks Clancy down to Alban's office where she finds him destroying a file. Clancy tries to flee and Ruby tries to take him down, but before she can she is incapacitated by Jarvin, who realizes that something is now going down.

Ruby is saved by Cole who reveals himself as a Red. He places her back in Alban's office to recover and it is there that she reads the files and pieces together Clancy's involvement and purpose. Clancy's mother, Lillian Gray was a Harvard educated neurologist. When she realized her son's ability to manipulate people's minds, she fled to the Children's League base in Georgia to work on a cure. She wanted to fix her son first, as proof of a cure. But she knew he would never give up his powers.

When the fighting is over, Ruby meets up with Cate and Cole. Cole wants to leave and reorganize the League near Sacramento. However, when a PSI kid attempts to kill President Gray at the Unity Summit talks between the Government and the Federal Coalition based in California, new events are unleashed - the bombing of Los Angeles by the American Government. The Children's League headquarters is destroyed and Ruby, Cole, Vida, and Liam along with others barely make it out alive. Eventually Clancy Gray also emerges from the rubble and reveals that his mother found a cure for the IAAN. Alban knew of the cure but was waiting to present it to Gray. Clancy found his mother and erased her memory of the research and then he was able to get into Alban's office and destroy the only other evidence of the cure - the files in the office. Or did he?
**end of novel summary**

Discussion

Never Fade is much darker and more brutal than the first novel in the series, with many violent bloody scenes of mayhem and destruction. Bracken weaves a complicated storyline effectively, creating tension between characters, adding witty dialogue, maintaining suspense with endless plot twists and reviving an old romance. Told from Ruby's perspective, we see that she spends some time in this novel coming to terms with her developing PSI abilities and how they are to be used.

There are plenty of villains in Never Fade, among them the murderous agent Rob Meadows, the cruel Wes Truman known as Knox, and of course, the silky smooth Clancy Gray who will do anything to protect the ability that allows him to control those around him.

Despite all the heart-pounding action in this novel, some of the best and most enjoyable parts of the novel are the dialogue sequences between Vida and many of the other characters, especially between her, Chubs and Ruby. All three characters grow substantially in this novel; Chubs has matured and found his place in this brave new world, Ruby is beginning to develop her abilities more fully but is still trying to come to terms with the consequences of that development, and Vida is beginning to be a team player. Bracken makes her characters realistic, each with their own unique dialogue (Vida is a perfect example with her sarcasm and f-bombs), behaviours and issues.

Bracken introduces a new character, Jude, a fourteen year old Yellow whose naivety concerns Ruby so much that she decides to take him out of the League for fear that he will be murdered by Rob Meadows. What follows is a older sister-younger brother type of relationship between the two that is endearing and much different from all the other relationships in the novel. He affectionately refers to her as "Roo" and is constantly seeking her reassurance and affirmation. Ruby gradually becomes a mentor and is very protective towards him.

The novel's title is a reference to the memories Ruby tried to remove from Liam's mind. Those memories of  what he felt for Ruby never fade. At 507 pages, this novel is a hefty read but most won't mind because Bracken keeps her readers fully engaged. Never Fade is a thrilling, gripping, very strong second installment in what has proven to be a surprisingly good dystopian series.

Book Details:
Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken
New York: Disney Hyperion      2013
507 pp.

The Darkest MInds by Alexandra Bracken

The Darkest Minds is a fascinating science fiction novel, with a very unique premise. After the prologue set in the present, the novel opens by backtracking to when Ruby was ten years old. All around her, her classmates and friends are sickening and dying with what was first called Everhart's Disease but which eventually came to be known as IAAN - Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration. Children first began getting sick when Ruby was in Grade 4 and her first experience of it was seeing her classmate, Grace, drop dead in class.

But Ruby soon discovers that the adults, including her parents are terrified of the children who have not sickened and died. So terrified in fact, that the surviving children have been sent to special "rehabilitation" camps like Thurmond, located somewhere in Virginia. These camps are guarded by special armed forces known as PSI Forces but they do not rehabilitate.

Once there, the children are examined and undergo a CT scan to check their brains. They are then classified according to their special abilities into various categories; Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, and Red. Blues have telekenetic abilities, while Oranges can manipulate other peoples minds. Ruby sees this for herself when she arrives at the camp and a 13-year-old Orange causes an army officer to kill herself. When she sees how the yellow, oranges and reds are treated, she knows she cannot be classified as an Orange, so she manipulates the doctor who examines her and she is classified as a Green.

Eventually however, the scientists discover that some Yellows, Oranges and Reds have managed to escape detection. At Thurmond, the Calm Control, a special auditory signal designed to control the children, is changed to expose those children who have hidden their abilities. Ruby is one of these children and she is discovered through her serious adverse reaction to the CC signal. However, to her disbelief and great fear, a doctor, Cate Begbie surreptitiously slips her a note telling her to do exactly what she asks so as to save her life.

Ruby does what Cate asks and she is rescued from Thurmond. But when she meets Cate's boyfriend/partner Rob and she inadvertently touches him, she learns that he is not what he seems to be. Ruby decides that she needs to part ways with Cate and Rob and that happens sooner than she expects. While in the convenience store, she catches a young girl scavenging in the ruins and gives chase. When Ruby hears Cate and Rob searching for her she makes the decision to follow the girl into the van being driven by two other young people; eighteen-year-old Liam and his partner Chubs, who are both Blue,  while the little girl Suzume (Zu) is a Yellow who wears yellow gloves to protect others from her touch. Fear of being abandoned, once again leads Ruby into lying and she tells Liam and Chubs that she is a Green.

Shortly after picking up Ruby, the group finds themselves being pursued by Cate and later on by PSI Forces, as well as a skip tracer named Lady Jane whom Liam had a run-in with earlier. Driving in a battered black van Liam calls Black Betty, they flee from one town to the next in a game of cat and mouse. Their overall goal is to find a mysterious, hidden community of children and young people called East River. East River is run by a young person named Skip Kid who supposedly has repeatedly escaped the authorities, and offers children with special abilities a safe haven. The three of them, along with Zu want to find East River, contact their parents and hopefully go home. Ruby also wants to learn how to control her abilities so that she can live without the fear of harming people. As things are now, she must avoid all human contact.

However, when the four stumble across a group from East River and are taken there, Ruby is shocked to learn who Slip Kid is. The identity of Slip Kid is foreshadowed earlier in the novel, when Ruby was still an inmate at Thurmond. Very quickly she, Liam, and Chubs come to realize that East River is nothing like what they hoped. And Slip Kid even more so. Chubs even suggests that they have left behind one type of camp for another. Eventually, their confrontation with Slip Kid turns deadly leading Ruby to make some very difficult choices.

Discussion

In The Darkest Minds, Alexandra Bracken has crafted a remarkable tale, managing to create realistic characters and place them in heart-pounding situations that keep the reader craving more. The story is told in Ruby's voice which is authentic, making the reader feel every one of Ruby's fears and emotions. Ruby is a caring girl, who fully believes she is a monster. She knows what she is capable of, something readers don't know until more than halfway through the novel. As Ruby matures, she wants to understand how to control her unique abilities, rather than using them to harm people. She doesn't understand why other Oranges have done terrible things, whether they were this way before or  became what they are because of how they were treated. One of the great strengths of this novel is how Ruby begins to quickly mature throughout the story. Slip Kid, although a cruel and manipulative person, manages to teach Ruby something about her abilities and she begins to understand how she might survive in her "brave new world" without losing who she is.

In addition to the suspense, Bracken has added a developing romance between Liam and Ruby. This romantic element is filled with a great deal of angst however, because Ruby is afraid that her touch might hurt Liam. Nevertheless, the two manage to develop a deep friendship and it is this friendship that results in Ruby making the shocking decision she does at the end of the novel.

Perhaps more significant is the wonderful, pure friendship that eventually develops between Ruby and Chubs who is skeptical of Ruby the moment he encounters her. This leads to an element of conflict between the two, because Chubs intuitively knows she's hiding something and thinks she's a danger to their group. This conflict continues throughout most of the novel but is resolved near the end.

One of the interesting features of this novel is the author's use of the novel, Watership Down by Richard Adams. In this novel, a small group of rabbits living in southern England have their own culture. One of the rabbits, Fiver, has a vision in which he sees their home destroyed. Unable to convince the other rabbits to seek safety, Fiver, along with a group of rabbits leaves their warren to find a new home. When their warren is destroyed, they look for a new home and settle in Watership Down. But Watership Down is not ideal and problems ensue. They have no does and send representatives to another warren called Efrafa. However, they soon learn that Efrafa is a rigidly controlled warren where there are few freedoms. Some of the does however, do wish to leave the tyranny of Efrafa and they are helped by Hazel, Fiver's brother and the other rabbits. This results in a great conflict between the two warrens and an epic battle.

Ruby has read Watership Down and Chubs is reading it when they are traveling around in Black Betty. What happened in Watership Down is similar to what is happening in Ruby's life and she can relate to the rabbit's situation in the novel. Like Efrafa, East River was supposed to be a haven for the Psi children. Instead, it is ruled by the cruel Clancy Gray, who considers Oranges to be above everyone else. But Ruby knows that "by cunning and full of tricks" she can preserve a part of who she is and she can survive.

The Darkest Minds has a great cover that readers won't understand until they get a little ways into the novel. And the title is a reference to the mind of those labelled as Oranges, as it becomes evident that these young people have the superior capability to manipulate others - leading to the possibility of great abuse and tyranny. In other words, they have the darkest minds. The symbol on the cover is not a trident but is in fact the Greek letter Psi (φ) done in orange and yellow.

There's no other way to describe this book than awesome. It is in the same league as The Hunger Games, well written, good plot development and a kicker of an ending. The next book, Never Fade, will be published Fall 2013.

Book Details:
The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
New York: Hyperion 2013
488 pp.