Relic

August 15, 2013
Standard-issue dystopia set in a post-global-warming future: plucky heroine, lying leaders, ridiculous endurance tests and, yes, two hot guys. Eva is a Maiden of New North, the last remaining civilization after oceans rose and the world flooded. The Lex, or law, of her world is filled with references to the evil of the "false god Apple" and strict hierarchical and gendered rules for living. After her twin brother's death, Eva takes his place as a Testor seeking Relics from the pre-Healing time. If she can find a worthy Relic and craft a suitably moral cautionary tale (but not a Lex-prohibited "fiction"), she can succeed her father as Chief Archon. The plethora of details include Inuit and Latin terms and slightly entertaining but preachy uses of real-world items (Prozac, MasterCards) listed as evils of the past, all of which set this slightly apart from similar books but might overwhelm readers. Moreover, the plot lacks plausibility, some of which is revealed to be intentional but much of which seems designed to propel action. Flat first-person narration and weak characterization detract from the good bits, and in the end, it's really all setup for the next volume anyway. While not egregiously terrible, this is yet another also-ran in the hordes of books vying to be the next Hunger Games or Divergent. (map, illustrations) (Science fiction. 12 & up)

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October 1, 2013

Gr 7 Up-Fans of The Hunger Games will devour this book. The world suffered a cataclysmic flood a century earlier that the survivors believe occurred as punishment by their gods for the evils of that civilization. Now living in the Arctic North, bound by ice and water on all sides, the rulers of the Aerie are rigid and demanding to ensure that they not repeat the evil of their ancestors and bring about another flood. After the death of her twin brother, Eamon, 18-year-old Eva, the daughter of an Aerie ruler, decides to take his place in The Testing, which involves traveling by dogsled over snow and ice to an area where artifacts from the past corrupt civilization must be excavated from a crevasse in the ice. Proper and popular Jasper of the ruling class and outsider Lukas of the Boundary People, servants to the ruling class, are both vying for Eva's attention. Until her twin's death, Eva was a dutiful daughter to her status-conscious parents and not averse to their plans of marrying her to Jasper. Lukas, who had been training Eamon, now works with Eva to prepare her for The Testing. On the eve of the event, he gives her Eamon's journal, which makes her realize that her brother was about to embark on a mission that would change her world forever, but the journal isn't clear about how. The relic that Eva finds during The Testing, and her interpretation of its meaning, alters her worldview and will ultimately lead her to challenge all she believes and holds dear. Although Relic's story line is familiar, Terrell has created an interesting setting and memorable characters. Teens will be looking forward to the next installment in the series.-Kathy Kirchoefer, Henderson County Public Library, NC

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2013
Grades 7-10 When Eva's twin, Eamon, dies as he prepares for the Testing, she decides she must face the ice world of the Boundary Lands in his place. It has been 250 years since the gods, furious at the way the people of earth worshipped at the altar of Apple, sent a flood that covered most of the land except the New North. These survivors live in a medieval style, and though no Maiden has tested in more than a century, Eva has the help of Lukas, a native of the Boundary Lands who schools her in the ways of snow, ice, and survival. Her main task is to find a relic that will reinforce the government's thesis that technology destroyed the old society. With threads taken from The Hunger Games, The Giver, and other dystopian novels, Terrell spins her own story, which has plenty of adventure, some unanswered questions, and a dash of romance that will certainly be explored in the next installments. The way relicsiPhones, guns, even makeupaffect the story adds an ironic touch.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2014
After Eva's brother dies in an accident, she takes his place in the potentially deadly Testing--a dogsled race and archaeological ice dig for a twenty-first-century Relic that reinforces the lessons of her community. While the dangerous competition and naive heroine are reminiscent of The Hunger Games, this introspective and intricately crafted quest tale will appeal to fans of high fantasy.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)