The Floating Islands

Opening: "Trei was fourteen the first time he saw the Floating Islands. He had made the whole long voyage south from Rounn in a haze of loss and misery, not really noticing the harbors in which the ship sometimes anchored or the sea between. But here, where both sea and sky lay pearl-gray in the dawn, the wonder of the Floating Islands broke at last into that haze."

In general, I'm a fan of fantasies with some sort of political component--the Queen's Thief series (obviously), Leah Cypress's Mistwood. This is another one of those, except that it's much subtler. The political aspect is there if you look for it, but it doesn't ever take over the story.

Instead, the focus is on two cousins, Trei, a half-Island, half-Tolounnese boy who has lost his family, and Araenè, who has never left the Islands but longs for the freedom to study what she wants. Throughout the book, they both struggle to find their place in a world that seems all too likely to deny them their hearts' desires.

Neumeier has a gift for clear, vivid descriptions, and for creating worlds that seem both plausible and interesting. Here, the Islands have a particular flavor which sets it apart. I loved the fact that Araenè is so focused on the tastes of things, which means that is how she senses magic. It's a lovely way to think about it and one I haven't encountered before. The kajuraihi, winged men, who Trei longs to join also add a particular dimension to the story which I enjoyed a lot.

In general, this feels less like a traditional fantasy than City in the Lake did. Which is not to fault City in the Lake--I enjoyed it very much and would heartily recommend it. But I liked seeing what Neumeier did with a different kind of setting. She certainly delivered.

So, I liked story, characters, and setting very much indeed. It felt very solid to me--solid in a way that means the whole thing held together. I was never thrown out of the story by a jarring moment. There was one relationship that I thought developed a little quickly, but I then I felt like this was also a story about people growing up quickly and so it was all right with me.

One of my favorite quotes: "Araenè wondered, caught again between laughter and tears, whether any apprentice before her had ever broken all four of the mages' rules less than a day after arriving at the school."

Book source: public library
Book information: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011; YA/upper mg (there's some mostly off-screen death, but I think upper mg could very easily enjoy this one)

Rachel Neumeier, previously ( )

Jessie's List of Reasons Why *You* Should Read The Floating Islands:

~ magic!
(Of the two novels by this author that I have read so far, she takes pains to create unique, if somewhat similar, systems of magic for her fantasy worlds.)

~ magic dragons - some of wind and some of fire!
(And both kinds are key to the plot of the story AND the backstory of both the main characters Trei and Araenè. Their respective connections to my favorite mythical beast added to the story.)

~ girls masquerading as boys for the freedom that gender provides
(Araenè is one of the prickliest and grouchiest protagonists I've come across in some time. However the restrictions on her life, due to gender and her society's repression of woman makes it understandable and her sympathetic in her flaws.)

~ dragon-given ability for people to fly with man-made wigs
(They're called kajuraihi - and this one aspect of unique worldbuilding and magic does a lot set this YA fantasy apart. The techniques and history of the society aren't as explained as they could have been - but the mystery of how the sky-mad do what they do works for them.)

~an intriguing setting unlike others I've ever read
(I've read fantasy novels about islands, about avaricious empires, about complex societies and castes, but none that combined all of those in a story about floating islands fighting against a land-bound empire. I love when authors do something new in their genre, and that is exactly the case here.)

~ complex, interesting characters
(And I'm not just talking about Trei and Araenè, either. The novice master, Cerfei, Genrai, Trei's family, etc.; All are reasonably fleshed out - both good and bad aspects. It's a vast improvement over the Karah Mary Sue nature of Neumeier's House of Shadows main characters.)

~ a creative plot
(involving warring cultures, themes of loss and home, battles of steam technology versus nature, etc. Captivating and just plain fun from start to finish.)

The Floating Islands had a lot going for it. Compulsively readable, intensely unique, and well-written, it's going to easily stand out for fans of fantasy. Fans of Neumeier's previous novels will enjoy it and new fans will find it a promising entrance into the vivid imagination of a prolific and talented author. ( )

Trei’s entire family was killed in the volcanic eruption that smothered the town of Rounn. His father’s brother has refused to take him in, so now Trei has traveled to his mother’s brother in the far off, exotic Floating Islands in hopes of finding a home. While still aboard ship, and not even sure if this uncle will take him in, Trei sees the kajuraihi, the flying men of the Islands, and decides he wants to be one of them.

Trei’s cousin Araene longs to be a chef, but that is a path open only to boys. Island girls are expected to get married and run a household, nothing more. So Areane disguises herself as a boy in order to attend cooking lectures at the university. At first, she is jealous of her cousin’s freedom but soon comes to like him.

Trei auditions for kajurai training and is accepted as an apprentice. Meanwhile, on one of her trips into the city, Araene stumbles upon a magic door that leads to the Hidden School, where a mage offers to take her on as an apprentice, thinking she is a boy.

When the Toulounn empire attacks the Islands, Araene and Trei think they might know a way to stop the mages who are blocking the dragon magic that keeps the Islands floating in the sky. But can they pull it off?

This is a good fantasy, with many original elements, like the flying kajuraihi and Araene’s ability to sense magic as flavors. The traditional elements are here as well: the girl chafing against the restrictions placed on her gender, the boy caught between two cultures, dragons, mages and a touch of romance. Araene’s education at the Hidden School is reminscent of Hogwarts, but the Hidden School is a unique place, not a knock-off.

If you like fantasy and exotic locations, I think you will enjoy this book. ( )

Trei’s entire family was killed in the volcanic eruption that smothered the town of Rounn. His father’s brother has refused to take him in, so now Trei has traveled to his mother’s brother in the far off, exotic Floating Islands in hopes of finding a home. While still aboard ship, and not even sure if this uncle will take him in, Trei sees the kajuraihi, the flying men of the Islands, and decides he wants to be one of them.

Trei’s cousin Araene longs to be a chef, but that is a path open only to boys. Island girls are expected to get married and run a household, nothing more. So Areane disguises herself as a boy in order to attend cooking lectures at the university. At first, she is jealous of her cousin’s freedom but soon comes to like him.

Trei auditions for kajurai training and is accepted as an apprentice. Meanwhile, on one of her trips into the city, Araene stumbles upon a magic door that leads to the Hidden School, where a mage offers to take her on as an apprentice, thinking she is a boy.

When the Toulounn empire attacks the Islands, Araene and Trei think they might know a way to stop the mages who are blocking the dragon magic that keeps the Islands floating in the sky. But can they pull it off?

This is a good fantasy, with many original elements, like the flying kajuraihi and Araene’s ability to sense magic as flavors. The traditional elements are here as well: the girl chafing against the restrictions placed on her gender, the boy caught between two cultures, dragons, mages and a touch of romance. Araene’s education at the Hidden School is reminscent of Hogwarts, but the Hidden School is a unique place, not a knock-off.

If you like fantasy and exotic locations, I think you will enjoy this book.
Review by Ms. DuVall

An imaginative and engrossing book with pretty much everything you could ask for in a fantasy novel - dragons, mages, secret schools, vivid food descriptions, royalty, orphans... It's a little bit like the Tamora Pierce's Lioness books and a little bit like Megan Whaley Turner's Gen books and I'd recommend it for fans of either. ( )