FOXCRAFT: The Taken, by Inbali Iserles; reviewed by Gillian Philip (plus giveaway!)

“It was always hardest for Fox.” Siffrin, emissary of the fox Elders, tells us so in this enchanting, gripping animal fantasy by Inbali Iserles, the first of a series. “To live free among the furless?” he goes on. “To hunt our prey without being seen? To elude our enemies as they circled us? It is Foxcraft that saved us.”  

Inbali Iserles (one of the Erin Hunter team who writes Survivors) has created a stunning animal world that ranges from the Snowlands to the Wildlands to the Greylands and beyond; it’s one that we see in all its beauty, grimness and terror through the eyes of young Isla, a not-quite-full-grown cub who is torn from her family as the story begins. Or rather, her family – Fa, Ma, Greatma and brother Pirie - is wrenched from her, in an act of terrible violence. By chance, Isla herself escapes, but she sees enough to know that the vicious attackers who destroy her world are foxes, too. The mystery is why they would do such a thing; and Iserles is skilful in giving Isla (and the reader) sinister glimpses of the answer. The hints at a dark-hearted Mage and a secret society of Elder foxes made me hungry to know more.

Of course Isla sets out to find her lost family; and her quest through the dirty, menacing streets of the Greylands – the ‘Great Snarl’, the city of the furless – is one that will call on all her courage, cunning and determination.

Luckily for a young and inexperienced fox, those are not all she has going for her. Siffrin is an enigmatic young stranger who claims to be a friend – but has he come to help her or betray her? Perhaps he simply doesn’t care, because Isla is no more than a means to an end… But what Siffrin does give the frightened youngster is a lesson in foxcraft: an ancient magic that feels profoundly real, and rooted deep in the natural world. If you’ve ever caught a glimpse of a fox, urban or rural, only to blink as it apparently vanishes in shadow, you’ll find foxcraft an all-too-believable kind of magic. 

Iserles has mined a rich vein of folklore to bring us foxes that can blend into thin air, that can mimic the calls of other creatures, that can even shapeshift. There may be other sons and daughters of Canista – dogs that are slaves to the furless humans, and savage wolves that howl and hunt in packs – but foxes are the most enigmatic: wise in foxlore, answering to no creature, standing alone, yet fiercely loyal to family.

The close fox’s-eye view of the narrative brings the reader right into Isla’s skin, feeling her joys as well as her fears. She’s an instantly engaging narrator, and her terror in the city is lightened by her flashbacks to a more innocent, happy cubhood. The supporting cast, from loving brother to vicious assassin, from empty-eyed hench-fox to a terrifyingly cynical and cold-eyed wolf, are drawn with the keen and perceptive eye of a true animal lover. The eponymous Taken – foxes who have had their will stolen by the mysterious Mage – are an enemy to chill the spine, but they can still prick your sympathy gland. Handsome Siffrin became an instant favourite of mine: he’s a combination of arrogance, charisma and clouded motivations who reminded me of Haku in the Hayao Miyazaki movie Spirited Away.

Clearly Inbali Iserles is absurdly talented, because the delightful drawings at each chapter head are her own. She has created haunting characters, a thoroughly exciting quest story and an enticing mystery. And she has combined those with descriptive writing that can raise the hairs on the back of your neck – whether you’re walking with Isla through the fresh wildness of parks, slinking down the city’s gritty, stinking alleys, or dashing with her, panicked, across its mangler-infested deathways.

“Dreams are the beginning,” Isla reminds us, as this part of the story ends. I am delighted that’s as far as they take us. I’m looking forward very much to whatever those dreams are going to bring us next. 

Thanks to the generosity of Scholastic, Awfully Big Reviews has three advance proof copies to give away! Just comment below, and three winners will be chosen at random. Results to be announced here on 1st September.

FOXCRAFT: The Taken by Inbali Iserles 

To be published by Scholastic on 1st October 2015; £5.99

www.gillianphilip.com

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Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick - review by Dawn Finch

The spiral has existed as long as time has existed.
It's there when a girl walks through the forest, the moist green air clinging to her skin. There centuries later in a pleasant greendale, hiding the treacherous waters of Golden Beck that take Anna, who they call a witch. There on the other side of the world as a mad poet watches the waves and knows the horrors the hide, and far into the future as Keir Bowman realises his destiny.
Each takes their next step in life. None will ever go back to the same place. And so, their journeys begin...

I should declare a bias before you read the rest of this review - I'm a massive fan of Sedgwick's work and have read all of his books and so I was looking forward to reading Ghosts very much. I was aware that it was a different format to his other books and I was looking forward to something new. I was not disappointed.

Ghosts of Heaven is split into four parts; four different stories interconnected by various key elements and a theme inspired by the occurrence of the spiral form. The remarkable thing about these stories is that we are encouraged by the author to read them in any order we like. I read them in the order 4, 1, 3, 2 - and was thrilled to find that the seeds of other stories are sewn in each chapter. It really is extraordinarily accomplished to make all of these stories connect in such a subtle and fluid fashion. I've certainly never read anything like it.

But it's not just clever, it's beautiful too. Each section has its own tone and voice, and is written with Sedgwick's usual deft hand. To be honest I could have read a novel based on each and every story and been wholly satisfied. Each chapter represents a very fine piece of writing alone, and the fact that they curve and spiral around each other is utterly fascinating.

However, it did raise an issue with me that I have often been baffled with. This book is listed as a YA title and yet almost all of the central characters are adults facing adult situations. The two younger characters are based in a time period when there are no "young adults" and so they behave as adults to adult situations. I am often puzzled as to why a book is marketed as YA when it is clearly an adult book. Don't get me wrong - I do think that young adults will love this book, but the type of young adult who will enjoy it will also be the type of reader who is already reading adult books. I feel that by listing it as YA there will be a lot of adults who will remain completely unaware of the existence of this book, and they will miss out. I strongly feel that Sedgwick deserves a much wider audience, and this is perfect example of a wonderful book that might not get into mainstream adult reviews and magazines simply because it's marketed as YA. I genuinely don't understand adults who lock themselves into a place where they don't read YA books. That is a great shame because in this case people are missing out on a remarkable reading experience.

Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick is published by Orion - isbn 9781780621982 - £10.99
On Sedgwick's website you can view the atmospheric trailer.

As of December 2014, Ghosts of Heaven has been  shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards as well as the Bookseller YA Fiction Prize
It has also been listed as a Peters Book of the Year and a Lovereading Book of the Year 2014

review written by Dawn Finch - author of Brotherhood of Shades

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