A fraction of a second. That's all it took for Jill to lose a shot at the Junior World Fencing Championships. Though her parents are supportive and
her coach still thinks she's Olympic material, she can't stop thinking about that match, and how she should've won. Even in the Bahamas, where the
family has come for a vacation, Jill broods. Then she finds a rusted piece of metal on the beach: the tip of a rapier, possibly centuries old. And
everything changes.
Falling overboard during a sightseeing tour, Jill wakes to find herself hauled out of the water - not onto a fiberglass motorboat, but a wooden schooner
straight out of apirate movie, complete with ragged, unwashed extras brandishing blades and muskets. This is the Diana, run by the pirate queen
Majorie Cooper. That rusted old blade tip came from a cursed sword brandished by Captain Cooper's sworn enemy, Edmund Blane. In order to survive long
enough to figure out how it pulled Jill back in time, she has to stay alive in a lawless, unforgiving world.
Being too slow by a fraction of a second cost her a match. That same mistake here could cost her her life.
Review
A young adult tale of pirates, fencing, obsession, and just a light touch of romance and magic, Steel starts fairly fast and rarely slackens.
Jill obsesses over fencing: it's more than just a sport, it's her life, and that lost match is a festering open sore. Naturally, during her adventure,
she learns some important lessons that make fretting over a mere tournament seem childish, but Vaughn manages to make Jill sympathetic even when she's a
brooding teen... no mean feat for a writer. The world of piracy is no Errol Flynn movie (or even Johnny Depp), shown as a savage place in a time when
humans are commodities, though at least among the pirates there exists a hint of democracy - among themselves, at any rate. Jill meets a variety of
characters, most of whom are more than mere wayposts on her journey of growth and self-discovery, though ultimately she must stand alone against both the
foul Blane and the magic that brought her here. That magic, frankly, almost could've been cut from the story without affecting it overmuch; it really is
something of an afterthought on Vaughn's part, a white rabbit to drop her down the hole of time. As a fantasy fan, I would've liked to see a little
more of it, as its presence and powers seemed more like conveniences of the plot than a mystical, if nebulous, force. Overall, though, I can't really
complain. Given my iffy reading luck lately, I forgave it a few minor irritations and went with a Good rating.
The Voices of Dragons series, Book 1 Carrie Vaughn HarperTeen Fiction, YA Fantasy Themes: Alternate Earths, Dragons, Girl Power ***+
Description
Kay knew she was pushing the rules when she went rock climbing alone so close to the border, but she didn't really expect much trouble. After
all, dragons rarely ventured within sight of the human lands, and though the military patrolled to keep thrill-seekers away, she had grown up in
these woods and knew where the gaps in security were. And it wasn't like she was actually going to cross the creek that marked the boundary. She
just wanted to get away from the pressures of being a teen, not to mention being the daughter of the town sheriff and probably the only junior in
high school not to have a boyfriend.
When she takes an unanticipated tumble, Kay finds herself on the wrong side of the border - rescued by a dragon. Artegal is just as curious about
humans as Kay is about dragons. Though neither species have talked to each other in sixty years, ever since the boundaries between human lands and
the dragon domains were set, Kay and Artegal strike up a tenuous friendship. But humans haven't forgotten the terror that dwells in the north, the
horrors of the dragons' re-emergence after World War II, the fiery battles, not to mention their own instinctive fear of the giant beasts. All too
soon, decades of stalemate and tension erupt into violence, and Kay and Artegal find themselves caught in the middle. Can a teen girl and a young
dragon stop a genocidal war, or is the hatred too strong on both sides?
Review
A fairly fast read, this story feels a bit obvious from the start. Vaughn's tale is set in a modern-day world where dragons are real. Once in a
while, the integration feels unnatural. Vaughn's dragons are disturbingly vague. Through the entire book, we readers learn next to nothing of their
species and culture; the dracophile in me kept asking for more. The speed with which Kay and Artegal bond also feels forced, especially as much of
their early friendship is glossed over in page count; they don't seem to have that much in common, really, until Kay figures out how to rig a flying
harness from her rock climbing gear. We readers don't see Artegal's struggles, so we have little idea of what the dragon goes through when the
relationship is discovered - a shame, as it would've made the dragons into a better-rounded species - but Kay endures all manner of problems, from
family tragedies and threatened friendships to manipulation by the military. She has a believably hard time, trying to balance the fears of her
friends and family with her own belief that there is a better way for everyone. Some moral ambiguity comes into play as the re-ignited violence
claims loved ones of both Kay and Artegal; Kay must reconcile her feelings of interspecies friendship with horror at what dragons are capable of, but
for the most part the "good" characters are reasonable and the "bad" ones are prideful hotheads, making the battle lines pretty clear. Without dealing
in spoilers, I can't get too specific, but the ending feels unsatisfactory, a trailing thread that ought to be tied up, or at least lead into another
story.
In the end, I could only work up enough interest to add an extra half-mark to an Okay rating. Better fleshing-out of the dragons and the integrated
world, plus a more conclusive ending, would've probably bumped it up a notch, but I've definitely read worse.
