Sun Warrior

September 1, 2017

Gr 10 Up-Mari, Moon Woman to her Earth Clan, and Nik, now the Sun Priest of the Tree Tribes, have joined forces after devastating disease and catastrophic fire decimate Nik's home. Meanwhile, in the city of the Skin Stealers, Dead Eye is possessed and ultimately overthrown by the purely evil God of Death, while Dead Eye's blind lover, Dove, plots her escape. In this massive tome, Cast loses much of the forward momentum of Moon Chosen, while doing little to add to the world-building she started so successfully in the previous volume. The Earth Walkers spend more than 250 pages deciding if they're willing to accept members of the Tribes into their new Pack, and that they like dogs (in fact, all the dog kissing gets to be just a bit cloying); the only action-aside from Nik and Mari's-is on the side of the bad guys, and even that is thin. However, fans of the first book will probably be willing to forgive all that just to see how the romance turns out. Not a stand-alone, the novel's sexual content, graphic language, and scenes of rape render it more appropriate for and older audience. VERDICT Buy only where the first volume is popular.-Elizabeth Friend, Wester Middle School, TX

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2017
The second in the Tales of a New World series picks up only hours after Moon Chosen (2016) left off.With fire still ravaging the City in the Trees, 23-year-old Nik and 18-year-old Mari, along with a band of wounded canine and human companions, reluctantly agree to flee to the home of Mari's Earth Walker clan to heal and regroup. What they didn't expect was that more than their superficial cuts and burns would be mended. Despite centuries of prejudice, hatred, and fear that make it difficult for the two clans to trust one another, they quickly find strength in their differences and vow to unite and build a better, new world together, with Nik and Mari as their guides. Unfortunately, others, namely the leader of the Skin Stealers, have a much darker and more dangerous vision for the future. Though at times a bit heavy-handed, Nik and Mari's aspiration to build a community founded on the principle of inclusion is both noble and refreshing. The members of this new clan explore their differences and feelings gently and respectfully, and readers will likely enjoy the hints of new romances budding between characters. This bears an unsettling and disturbingly sharp contrast to the Skin Stealer world, which some may find difficult to stomach, particularly with regard to the sexual violence visited on the eyeless, 16-year-old Dove. Though Nik and Mari are pale-skinned, racial categories do not seem to exist in this world.Another hefty tome for Cast's fans. (Fiction. 14-adult)

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July 1, 2017
Grades 8-11 Once sworn enemies, Nik and Mari are now bonded, which would be trouble enough given their different origins. Nik belongs to the Tribe of the Trees and must assume the role of Sun Priest after his father is murdered trying to protect Mari, whose father was a member of the Tribe but whose mother, Leda, was Moon Woman (leader and healer) of the Earth Walkers. For years, Tribe members have enslaved Earth Walkers, but Mari, now Moon Woman herself, has freed them. A raging fire decimates the Tribe, illness strikes the Earth Walkers, and both clans are threatened by the Skin Stealers. The human-animal link of Tribe members with their canines gets a feline counterpart in kindly Antreas and his lynx, Bast. While it won't stand alone in the Tales of a New World seriescomplex backstories for all three clans will limit readershipCast knows how to snag readers of Moon Chosen (2016) in with plenty of action, gore, and romance. Broadly drawn archetypal characters and clearly stated divisions of good and evil create a comfortingly predictable plot, pulled forward by nonstop action.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A trumpeted six-figure marketing campaign should help turn that 250,000 first printing into a second printing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
Sun Warrior Mari and Companion Nik (�cf2]Moon Chosen�cf1]) continue the battle to unite their tribes and defeat the power-mad Thaddeus. However, once the tribes unite, the majority of the narrative focuses on creating relationships and learning to live together. Cast always creates fully realized characters, but it makes for slow-paced reading.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)