Skylark (The Skylark Trilogy) (edition 2012)

Originally reviews on A Reader of Fictions.

Meagan Spooner's debut novel Skylark creates a fantastical steampunk world where magic has a physical presence, and people are varying degrees of monster. While many dystopias focus on action and drama, Skylark moves along at a slower pace, a bit more contemplative. Thankfully, the personality-filled writing and gorgeous world building kept my interest level high.

Lark feels constant shame. She is the oldest person to not yet have been harvested. People years her juniors have been chosen before her. The other kids call her 'the dud,' 'the freak,' and she can't help but wonder if it's true. Nor can she find comfort at home. Her closest family member, Basil, a brother, left on a mission outside the wall and never returned, presumed dead. We never even see her parents. The only family member who seems to be around is her oldest brother Caesar, whose name is particularly apt, considering that he would do just about anything to advance his career.

Finally, though, Lark's name has been called and she is to be harvested. Excited does not even begin to describe how she feels, anticipating finally being normal and valuable. Despite having very little idea what her harvesting entails, she quickly comes to suspect that something weird may be going on. Why do they keep taking her to be harvested? Isn't that just supposed to happen once? Her answer, of course, lies in the secret room she discovered: she's a Renewable and they're going to plug her into the city until she becomes nothing but a husk.

The City, you see, runs on magic. Cool, right? In this world, magic exists in just about everything, including people. At the Harvest, they're using a machine to drain the magic (or, as they
call it, The Resource, from the children of the population. There used to be Renewables, people who could create more Resource, but there haven't been any born in a long time and the City's magic is depleting. They need Lark's Resource, but she refuses to be a pawn and escapes into the eerie woods.

What's especially neat about Skylark is how many different societies you can explore in this world. At the beginning, we're in the City with Lark, which is full of clockwork and magic. It's got a sort of industrial feel to it. Then, outside the wall, we get to see a bunch of different environments. Basically, the magic out there is all unbalanced, so some areas have to much and others none, which means that pretty much anything can happen. I just loved this world building, especially the changes that the magic bubbles wrought.

If you love reading about creepy monsters, Spooner cooked up some of those for you in her writer's cauldron too. The Dark Ones. I'm not entirely certain what happened to them, whether there was some sort of event or chemical, or if it was just a change out of necessity. Either way, they're cannibals, humans turned dark and twisted and hungry for other humans. This adds some fun spice to an otherwise fairly pleasant journey. I definitely would like to know how they came about, though!

Lark makes a great heroine. Her voice is clear and direct. Her narration kept me totally involved in the story. Despite being a complete newbie to pretty much everying, Lark tries really hard. She's not a complainer, and learns and grows from every experience. Otherwise, though, I would say characterization was probably the weakest point in the book. None of the other humans really manifested strongly to me. There are two possible love interests so far, but, thankfully, Spooner has so far resisted the urge to make this into a melodramatic love triangle.

My very favorite character, though, the one that totally stole the show in my opinion is not human. I freaking loved Nix. He's so adorable and cool and I don't even know. Basically, I want him to come hang out with me. Also, the way the scene where he learned things was just fantastic. He also raises some thought-provoking questions about sentience.

For stellar world building and some serious clockwork awesomeness, go get yourself a copy of Skylark. I really enjoyed it and will be keeping my eye out for the next book! ( )

When I read the synopsis for Skylark I was immediately drawn to this dystopian type fantasy. I am delighted to tell you that it delivered a magical, dark dystopian world with a touch of steampunk. Spooner’s depiction of this world was refreshingly original with fleshed-out characters and a tale that kept me reading through the night.

I will be honest; the beginning however fascinating was a little rough for me. Rather than laying out the world in detail, Spooner has us learning as the protagonist does. This little speed bump was soon over as I dove into the story. We meet Lark Ainsley as she makes her way through the tunnels leading to her school. She is sneaking in to see if her name has been selected for Harvest Day. Does this sound eerily familiar to the very popular Hunger Games? Fear not because that is where the similarity ends. When she is discovered by a pixie-bot, she accidently uses her magic and kills it. Use of magic is forbidden within the city. Shaken she returns home only to discover she has been selected and is quickly taken to the city's institute. Once at the institute she is scheduled for harvesting. Lark soon discovers that things aren't as they seem, and that the institute has horrific plans for her. The tale that unfolds kept me completely spellbound as Spooner took me to a world I will not soon forget.

Lark Ainsley is brave, strong willed and snarky. She faces challenges head on and questions the world before her with such believability that she came to life on the pages. Despite her fears of the unknown she moves forward in her quest. I connected with Lark and felt like I experienced every emotion with her. Oren is raw, wild at times and complex. I eventually fell for this soft spoken, sensitive, quirky young man. We learn bits and pieces of his back-story giving an air of mystery to him. I adored Nix and laughed at her comments and loved her loyalty. She holds her own rightful place in this tale and I thoroughly enjoyed her. Kris is the son of the ambassador to the institute and he helps Lark. We never really know him but this adds to the mystery. Other characters added to the tale, creating suspense. I loved that even the secondary characters felt fleshed out and added to this gripping tale.

The world-building in Skylark is absolutely breathtaking. Spooner brings us a fascinating dystopian world unlike any I have visited. With only the power of her pen she brought this world to life. As I read, I could see this world unfolding before me and instantly connected with Lark as we both met it for the first time. Spooner slowly reveals this world and provides some back history. The Institute and sealed city was interesting and how the city survived fascinated me. The world outside of the city was absolutely amazing and Spooner’s depiction held me captive. The pockets of magic, the house in the woods were brilliant. The creatures Lark encounters were terrifying. One of the things I loved about this book was the way the author took elements of steampunk, fantasy, dystopia and other genres and wove them into such a delightful, believable and original tale. It is clear she has a true understanding of these genres and successfully integrated elements of each.

Skylark completely blew my mind and I cannot wait for the next book in this series. Fans of fantasy, dystopia and magic will love this tale. Shadowlark book two in the trilogy is expected to release in 2013 and I cannot wait.

I want to thank the publisher and netGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

I gave this novel 4.5 coffee cups out of 5.
Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer ( )

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I’ll admit, I’d heard nothing, seen nothing, and had no knowledge of Skylark until someone retweeted Meagan Spooner’s “Sky’s the Limit” contest, in which every entrant would win a prize. I, being a sucker for free stuff, entered and the author herself tweeted me a list of other contests she was running to promote the novel. I entered those too and won a prize pack from thebooksmugglers.com, a signed hardcover, bookmark, postcard, tattoos, pin… I swear the swag multiplied. But it’s not the gift of free stuff that earns Skylark a 5 star review, nor is it its drop-dead gorgeous cover. Skylark is practically engineered to be everything I love about YA fantasy, and it does it very, very well.

Lark Ainsley is 16. In her city, the last city left after the wars, young teens are taken to a rite of passage. Their innate magic is harvested at a banquet before they are given their grown-up job assignments. Lark has never been chosen and is therefore stuck between childhood and adulthood, a dud with no magic. That is, until harvest day when she accidentally uses a large amount of “the Resource,” first to free herself from being stuck in a tunnel and then to destroy a pixie, clockwork creations designed to sense magic use and bring the user to the authorities. For those keeping score at home, that’s an older female teen protagonist in a steampunk/dystopian society discovering the power within her. If we had a “Danielle’s Faves” checklist, we’d be going for the full monty. (Additionally, someone going full monty concludes that checklist, and therefore keeps Skylark from being perfect. Much the pity.)

This display changes The Institute’s plans for the year, abandoning the other harvests and picking Lark as the sole lucky citizen. If you smell a trap, you too have read a book this century. As the book blurb says, Lark can regenerate magic, making her the first Renewable in the city and the greatest source of power ever. The first third of the book, which is so well plotted that it could be its own novel, details Lark’s journey though the Academy: their experiments, her torture, and, finally, her escape. It’s tense and emotional, with imagery that is utterly horrifying.

From there we embark on a journey outside the city. Spooner does a fantastic job of creating realistic emotions in her characters. Lark’s agoraphobia when faced for the first time with the sky is a genius move that most authors would have missed. Her loneliness and isolation seem palpable and explain her headlong rush to join up with the few side characters met. Of the side characters, Oren the wild boy and Nix the reprogrammed pixie, I fell in particular love with Nix. I want whole novellas of Nix flying around, learning new words, commanding armies of other pixies... Nix rocked. (We can now check off the snarky sidekick box.)

Lark is searching for other Renewables like her, crossing forests and plains to find a place she learned of during her time at the Institute. She gets dirty, battered, goes hungry, and fights to survive. What first seems like a blessing, there is no magic outside the city, is a curse that drives non-Renewables mad. Luckily there are pockets of magic to hide from the shadow-creatures in. Unluckily, those are filled with perils of their own. The entire second third of the novel is Lark struggling, and often failing, to adapt to a new life in the wilderness and find where she belongs.

The last section is, of course, the climax. It won’t surprise anyone that Lark does, in fact, find the Renewable’s city. From there surprises and twists came pretty fast and furious. Some I saw. Several, surprised me. (Check.) The final confrontation was exciting, although Lark does mysteriously get a new power in the 11th hour that feels a bit deus ex machina. The end managed to satisfy while still leaving room open for the sequel.

The first 95 pages of Skylark are my favorite, of the novel and of the year to date. I loved the glimpses of the world we got, from the mechanical sun to the lack of strong family units. Lark is incredibly likable. She’s resourceful and brave, but also frightened in a real and appropriate way. She doesn’t make perfect decisions and is entirely too trusting. She’s tenacious, but thinks about taking the easy way out. In short, she’s, again, a realistic heroine with flaws beyond “clumsy”. (Checky check.) And in a refreshing change of pace, I’m not sure she’s ever physically described, except for things like “dirty” or “blood-soaked”. If she was, her looks don’t define her. Lark’s not graceful like a gazelle, with eyes that burn like emeralds. She’s just a girl, which made her struggles at the hands of the Institute so much more affecting. Her rush to escape kept me up well past my bedtime.

I was left with some questions that unfortunately were never answered, mostly with regards to the world and society. I’m a big proponent of show, don’t tell, (check,) but there is a balance required. We really have no insight into daily life in the city, how the class system works, or how roles change after harvest. Questions like “how do the pockets effect time,” or “how are the shadow-people made,” those I can see answered in the next books. I can’t imagine we’ll ever get back to “what DOES happen to duds,” or “wait, is there even a central government?”

In all, I thought Skylark was practically perfect. It’s imaginative and well written. It avoids so many YA tropes, (no insta-love here, folks,) without seeming try-hard. I fell in love with the characters and their struggles. While I have seen negative reviews that it didn’t live up to it’s promise, and I can respect that, I’ll be over here, waiting with bated breath for Shadowlark. ( )

Not my favorite of the dystopia novels althought I did read it all the way thru. ( )

I had heard some industry buzz about Skylark by Meagan Spooner. The concept sounded very interesting and I loved the book cover, so I snagged a copy and I’m really glad I did. Skylark is Book #1 in The Skylark Trilogy. This is a dystopian YA scifi/fantasy novel but, like many YA novels, it’s going to appeal to readers of all ages. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=4684. ( )