The Glass Republic by Tom Pollock
Apr. 22nd, 2014 11:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Pen’s life revolves around secrets: the secrets behind her three-month disappearance from school last winter, the secret cause of the scars that mar her face, and, most secret of all, her twin sister Parva: her doppelganger in London-Under-Glass, the city behind the mirrors.
Pen’s trying to forget Reach, Filius Viae and the Wire Mistress and get back to a normal life, but when Parva vanishes, she has no choice but to seek out London’s stranger side. And when Pen journeys through the mirror, she finds a world where scars make you beautiful and criminals will klll you for your face – a world in which Pen’s sister was keeping secrets of her own …
It’s several months after THE CITY’S SON. Beth has given herself over to the streets and her growing powers but Pen doesn’t want anything to do with Beth’s new world. Despite months of reconstructive surgery, she still bears the scars from the Wire Mistress and although she’s gone back to school and the police are prosecuting Salt for what he did to her, she can’t leave it all behind her. The only person who understands is Parva, her mirror twin who lives in London-Under-Glass and when she goes missing, Pen knows that she has to find her, even if it means making a deal with the Chemical Synod …
The second in Tom Pollock’s SKYSCRAPER THRONE TRILOGY is a stunning YA fantasy novel with strong themes of beauty, oppression and fear. The plot centres on Pen and her attempts to come to terms with what happened to her and my favourite scenes are those between Pen and Parva and how they feel normal around each other. Beth isn’t forgotten, however, and I enjoyed the way her plot moves on the overall arc while also dovetails in with Pen’s plot. The star of the novel though is undoubtedly London-Under-Glass, with its reflection of London’s geography, twisted notion of beauty and sinister hints at a totalitarian state. Pollock deserves praise for the scope, inventiveness and cleverness of imagination on display here and I’m on tenterhooks for the final book in this trilogy.
I’d really enjoyed Pen’s scenes in THE CITY’S SON, so was delighted that she’s front and centre of the sequel. I love the fact that she’s a Muslim character whose faith is important to her (and particularly her struggle with it here) but doesn’t define her and I totally believed in her attempts to reintegrate with her schoolmates. Her relationship with Parva is neatly drawn, as is the hesitant friendship that develops between her and steeplejill Espill who’s all too conscious about the symmetry of her face and how that makes her unattractive in her world. Indeed, Pollock intelligently subverts notions of beauty and self-worth and I particularly enjoyed how it’s Pen’s scars that make her seen as being beautiful in London-Under-Glass and the notion of a lottery to transform one lucky citizen’s life forever.
Ultimately, I think this is a great YA fantasy novel in what’s so far been an excellent trilogy and I can’t wait for the conclusion.
The Verdict:
The second in Tom Pollock’s SKYSCRAPER THRONE TRILOGY is a stunning YA fantasy novel with strong themes of beauty, oppression and fear. The plot centres on Pen and her attempts to come to terms with what happened to her and my favourite scenes are those between Pen and Parva and how they feel normal around each other. Beth isn’t forgotten, however, and I enjoyed the way her plot moves on the overall arc while also dovetails in with Pen’s plot. The star of the novel though is undoubtedly London-Under-Glass, with its reflection of London’s geography, twisted notion of beauty and sinister hints at a totalitarian state. Pollock deserves praise for the scope, inventiveness and cleverness of imagination on display here and I’m on tenterhooks for the final book in this trilogy.
Pen’s life revolves around secrets: the secrets behind her three-month disappearance from school last winter, the secret cause of the scars that mar her face, and, most secret of all, her twin sister Parva: her doppelganger in London-Under-Glass, the city behind the mirrors.
Pen’s trying to forget Reach, Filius Viae and the Wire Mistress and get back to a normal life, but when Parva vanishes, she has no choice but to seek out London’s stranger side. And when Pen journeys through the mirror, she finds a world where scars make you beautiful and criminals will klll you for your face – a world in which Pen’s sister was keeping secrets of her own …
It’s several months after THE CITY’S SON. Beth has given herself over to the streets and her growing powers but Pen doesn’t want anything to do with Beth’s new world. Despite months of reconstructive surgery, she still bears the scars from the Wire Mistress and although she’s gone back to school and the police are prosecuting Salt for what he did to her, she can’t leave it all behind her. The only person who understands is Parva, her mirror twin who lives in London-Under-Glass and when she goes missing, Pen knows that she has to find her, even if it means making a deal with the Chemical Synod …
The second in Tom Pollock’s SKYSCRAPER THRONE TRILOGY is a stunning YA fantasy novel with strong themes of beauty, oppression and fear. The plot centres on Pen and her attempts to come to terms with what happened to her and my favourite scenes are those between Pen and Parva and how they feel normal around each other. Beth isn’t forgotten, however, and I enjoyed the way her plot moves on the overall arc while also dovetails in with Pen’s plot. The star of the novel though is undoubtedly London-Under-Glass, with its reflection of London’s geography, twisted notion of beauty and sinister hints at a totalitarian state. Pollock deserves praise for the scope, inventiveness and cleverness of imagination on display here and I’m on tenterhooks for the final book in this trilogy.
I’d really enjoyed Pen’s scenes in THE CITY’S SON, so was delighted that she’s front and centre of the sequel. I love the fact that she’s a Muslim character whose faith is important to her (and particularly her struggle with it here) but doesn’t define her and I totally believed in her attempts to reintegrate with her schoolmates. Her relationship with Parva is neatly drawn, as is the hesitant friendship that develops between her and steeplejill Espill who’s all too conscious about the symmetry of her face and how that makes her unattractive in her world. Indeed, Pollock intelligently subverts notions of beauty and self-worth and I particularly enjoyed how it’s Pen’s scars that make her seen as being beautiful in London-Under-Glass and the notion of a lottery to transform one lucky citizen’s life forever.
Ultimately, I think this is a great YA fantasy novel in what’s so far been an excellent trilogy and I can’t wait for the conclusion.
The Verdict:
The second in Tom Pollock’s SKYSCRAPER THRONE TRILOGY is a stunning YA fantasy novel with strong themes of beauty, oppression and fear. The plot centres on Pen and her attempts to come to terms with what happened to her and my favourite scenes are those between Pen and Parva and how they feel normal around each other. Beth isn’t forgotten, however, and I enjoyed the way her plot moves on the overall arc while also dovetails in with Pen’s plot. The star of the novel though is undoubtedly London-Under-Glass, with its reflection of London’s geography, twisted notion of beauty and sinister hints at a totalitarian state. Pollock deserves praise for the scope, inventiveness and cleverness of imagination on display here and I’m on tenterhooks for the final book in this trilogy.
