Gilded Cage by Vic James
Nov. 28th, 2016 12:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Not all are equal.
In a modern Britain, everyone must endure ten years of slavery for a magically-skilled aristocracy.
Here, a teenage boy dreams of rebellion.
His sister thirsts for knowledge and will find love.
And a dangerous young aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.
Not all will be saved.
One glorious summer, Luke’s family is torn apart. He’s expecting nothing more sinister than exams, while his sister Abi anticipates university. But they’ll be separated to do their slavedays – a decade of labour demanded by law, enforced by a magically-skilled aristocracy.
Luke will dream of rebellion in a barbaric factory town. Abi will navigate the malice of a high-born estate, and find an unlikely love. But the siblings must choose sides as Britain moves from anger to defiance. They’ll become entangled in acts of savagery and magic, as nobles vie for power. No one is safe and none will emerge unscathed. Is there a better way – or will a dangerous young aristocrat remake the world with his dark gifts?
Following the overthrow of Charles I by Cadmus Parva-Jardine, Britain has been ruled by magically-gifted aristocrats. Those who lack Skill (magic) must surrender 10 years of their lives working as slave labour. During these slavedays, they have no legal rights and earn no payment. Their only choice is when to serve.
When 18-year-old Abi discovers that she and her family (17-year-old Luke, 10-year-old Daisy and their parents) can serve their slavedays working on Lord Jardine’s estate, her parents agree on the basis that it’s better than going to Millmoor (a notorious slavetown with a high fatality rate). But something goes wrong. Luke is separated from the family and assigned to Millmoor where he falls in with a group of rebels determined to overthrow the slavetown system while Abi finds herself navigating the power games of Lord Jardine, his Heir (the brutish Gavar) and his younger son Silyen who has his own agenda. Worse, she’s falling in love with the middle son, Jenner who was born Unskilled.
It isn’t long before the siblings find themselves politically at odds in a world where the Unskilled are used as pawns in the vicious games of the elite …
Vic James’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) combines fantasy with dystopia in a smartly conceived, well-executed world where everyone’s motives are open to interpretation, bad people do good things and the stakes are impressively high. I loved the world-building – James creates a credible world of magic and aristocracy and I really enjoyed the Millmoor scenes (a Dickensian hell with a 1984 vibe). The political system is well developed and James does well at explaining how it works without info-dumping – particularly clever is her use of multiple points of view to flesh out the various factions and their agendas. The downside of the multiple viewpoints is that it left some characters underdeveloped – notably Abi whose intelligence and naivety didn’t quite work for me (I could have done without her insta-love for the bland Jenner as it lacks the page time to justify it) – but the apparent antagonists (particularly Gavar and Silyen) are subtly shaded (sinister and cruel but also capable of good) and promise much in future books. Although some of the plot twists are a little too telegraphed, James doesn’t pull her punches with brutal scenes and the ending promises much in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading.
The Verdict:
Vic James’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) combines fantasy with dystopia in a smartly conceived, well-executed world where everyone’s motives are open to interpretation, bad people do good things and the stakes are impressively high. I loved the world-building – James creates a credible world of magic and aristocracy and I really enjoyed the Millmoor scenes (a Dickensian hell with a 1984 vibe). The political system is well developed and James does well at explaining how it works without info-dumping – particularly clever is her use of multiple points of view to flesh out the various factions and their agendas. The downside of the multiple viewpoints is that it left some characters underdeveloped – notably Abi whose intelligence and naivety didn’t quite work for me (I could have done without her insta-love for the bland Jenner as it lacks the page time to justify it) – but the apparent antagonists (particularly Gavar and Silyen) are subtly shaded (sinister and cruel but also capable of good) and promise much in future books. Although some of the plot twists are a little too telegraphed, James doesn’t pull her punches with brutal scenes and the ending promises much in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading.
GILDED CAGE will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
In a modern Britain, everyone must endure ten years of slavery for a magically-skilled aristocracy.
Here, a teenage boy dreams of rebellion.
His sister thirsts for knowledge and will find love.
And a dangerous young aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.
Not all will be saved.
One glorious summer, Luke’s family is torn apart. He’s expecting nothing more sinister than exams, while his sister Abi anticipates university. But they’ll be separated to do their slavedays – a decade of labour demanded by law, enforced by a magically-skilled aristocracy.
Luke will dream of rebellion in a barbaric factory town. Abi will navigate the malice of a high-born estate, and find an unlikely love. But the siblings must choose sides as Britain moves from anger to defiance. They’ll become entangled in acts of savagery and magic, as nobles vie for power. No one is safe and none will emerge unscathed. Is there a better way – or will a dangerous young aristocrat remake the world with his dark gifts?
Following the overthrow of Charles I by Cadmus Parva-Jardine, Britain has been ruled by magically-gifted aristocrats. Those who lack Skill (magic) must surrender 10 years of their lives working as slave labour. During these slavedays, they have no legal rights and earn no payment. Their only choice is when to serve.
When 18-year-old Abi discovers that she and her family (17-year-old Luke, 10-year-old Daisy and their parents) can serve their slavedays working on Lord Jardine’s estate, her parents agree on the basis that it’s better than going to Millmoor (a notorious slavetown with a high fatality rate). But something goes wrong. Luke is separated from the family and assigned to Millmoor where he falls in with a group of rebels determined to overthrow the slavetown system while Abi finds herself navigating the power games of Lord Jardine, his Heir (the brutish Gavar) and his younger son Silyen who has his own agenda. Worse, she’s falling in love with the middle son, Jenner who was born Unskilled.
It isn’t long before the siblings find themselves politically at odds in a world where the Unskilled are used as pawns in the vicious games of the elite …
Vic James’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) combines fantasy with dystopia in a smartly conceived, well-executed world where everyone’s motives are open to interpretation, bad people do good things and the stakes are impressively high. I loved the world-building – James creates a credible world of magic and aristocracy and I really enjoyed the Millmoor scenes (a Dickensian hell with a 1984 vibe). The political system is well developed and James does well at explaining how it works without info-dumping – particularly clever is her use of multiple points of view to flesh out the various factions and their agendas. The downside of the multiple viewpoints is that it left some characters underdeveloped – notably Abi whose intelligence and naivety didn’t quite work for me (I could have done without her insta-love for the bland Jenner as it lacks the page time to justify it) – but the apparent antagonists (particularly Gavar and Silyen) are subtly shaded (sinister and cruel but also capable of good) and promise much in future books. Although some of the plot twists are a little too telegraphed, James doesn’t pull her punches with brutal scenes and the ending promises much in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading.
The Verdict:
Vic James’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) combines fantasy with dystopia in a smartly conceived, well-executed world where everyone’s motives are open to interpretation, bad people do good things and the stakes are impressively high. I loved the world-building – James creates a credible world of magic and aristocracy and I really enjoyed the Millmoor scenes (a Dickensian hell with a 1984 vibe). The political system is well developed and James does well at explaining how it works without info-dumping – particularly clever is her use of multiple points of view to flesh out the various factions and their agendas. The downside of the multiple viewpoints is that it left some characters underdeveloped – notably Abi whose intelligence and naivety didn’t quite work for me (I could have done without her insta-love for the bland Jenner as it lacks the page time to justify it) – but the apparent antagonists (particularly Gavar and Silyen) are subtly shaded (sinister and cruel but also capable of good) and promise much in future books. Although some of the plot twists are a little too telegraphed, James doesn’t pull her punches with brutal scenes and the ending promises much in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading.
GILDED CAGE will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
