Melissa Hardy

I was beginning to put two and two together - curse, disgruntled ancestor, missing bones. "Let me get this straight; your theory is that Qianfu's ghost is hounding us from an unmarked grave somewhere on the Prairies? That he's the one responsible for all our problems?"
"It isn't a theory," she replied. "It's a fact... Clearly he is buried in a place with very bad feng shui," A-Ma replied. "And he doesn't like it one bit."
Science fiction with roots! A family curse that has decimated the Liu show more family for over 100 years can only be lifted through the cooperation of brainy teenage tech guru Miranda, her bottomless pit of a severely dyslexic cousin, Brian, and the avatar of their revered grandfather's ghost who needs the 17th century geomancer's compass which was given to Miranda on the night that their grandmother A-Ma died. The Grandfather is depending upon his living grandchildren to discover the long-lost grave of his twin brother, Qianfu, who was murdered in 1908, and whose bones were stolen in 1915. Qianfu's ghost has been causing the family illness, bad luck and misfortune for years, and the only way to save the family is to dig up the bones and rebury them in a place with good feng shui -- right next to The Grandfather's grave in Vancouver. The cousins have to employ every database and online trick in the book to figure out what happened in 1908 and 1915, and where the bones of Qianfu might be located outside of Moose Jaw, Canada. For this, they make use of Miranda's recent internship at a tech company, and the military-level i-spex, or the eyeglass-sized virtual reality headsets that were a gift to all of the interns. While searching, the cousins have to deal with Miranda's near-obsession with avoiding germs and needing to find the restroom in any given location, and Brian's constant need to eat due to his hyperactivity. Their differences seem to be stumbling blocks at first, but nothing is quite what is seems in this adventurous tale. The Grandfather has warned them about how violent Qianfu's unhappy ghost has become... and that information just makes Miranda run for the nearest bathroom (with her disinfecting handi-wipes at the ready) while Brian inhales more junk food. Lots of humor in this utterly original multicultural scifi/fantasy mystery! 6th grade and up. show less

The Geomancer's Compass is a decent book with an intriguing premise that it just doesn't quite live up to in its execution. The Chinese elements--Daoism, tai chi, hungry ghosts--make a nice change from the typical western swords and faeries fantasy fare, and Hardy's melding of the former with modern cyberpunk elements was certainly novel. Hardy also nails the voice of the novel's main character: Miranda is spot-on as a snarky, irreverent teen. That said, I've read too many YA novels in which show more the female "leads" spend their time in various permutations of shrinking violet-hood while the male characters take charge of moving the action forward, and this book is no exception. There are far too many scenes in which Miranda's sole role is to discuss how scary/stupid/dirty/unappealing some situation is while her male relatives get on with the important stuff--be it chatting up minor characters to discover pivotal clues or fighting the baddies. In addition, the (pun reluctantly intended) toilet humor at the story's climax was both clumsily handled and visible a mile away. Combined with a few very clunky deus ex machina, what you end up with is a book that's fun for its narrator's voice but far less clever plotwise than it could, and should, have been. Which isn't to say that The Geomancer's Compass is a bad book--it's an entertaining, fast read. But with a little extra work, it could have been more than that as well. show less

The Geomancer's Compass is a light young adult science fiction/fantasy tale set in the near future. After the death of her great-great-grandfather (known simply as The Grandfather) at the unlikely age of 134 years, math and science whiz Miranda Liu discovers that her Chinese-Canadian family is cursed by the ghost of The Grandfather's twin brother, Qianfu, who was murdered over a hundred years ago in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan - and whose remains later disappeared. Reluctantly, and armed with show more the geomancer's compass that once belonged to her great-great-grandfather, Miranda sets off to Moose Jaw, accompanied by her cousin, Brian, who is dyslexic and has ADHD and who Miranda finds more than a little annoying. Miranda herself has a phobia of germs and is worried about the rest of her family, all of whom suffer from illnesses of some sort. The Liu family is doomed if Miranda and Brian don't act quickly.

The Geomancer's Compass is a quick, entertaining read. The interactions between the cousins add some humour to the story, as does Miranda's germ phobia (and her constant need to point out that she's just being careful). I also appreciate the way this story sheds some more light on the way Chinese-Canadians were once treated in this country. I am Canadian myself, and while I was aware of some aspects, such as the head tax, I had no idea just how severe the treatment really was. That said, some parts of this book simply fell flat for me. Miranda herself was not a very sympathetic character, and although that probably was intentional on the part of the author, it did make it a bit harder to really get into the story. And I also found that the whole mystery of where the remains of Qianfu were was solved a bit too easily. Before she left for Saskatchewan, Miranda was full of worries about how they would ever manage to find missing bones that were over a hundred years old. On their arrival, however, the pieces to the puzzle seemed to just fall into their laps. I love the combination of traditional Chinese magic and feng shui with modern technology, but it felt a bit awkward at times (how exactly can a physical compass in the real world switch to an object in virtual reality?) and I would have also liked to have seen certain areas fleshed out a bit more (for example, the connection between cyberspace and the place between realms where The Grandfather's ghost is).

Overall, The Geomancer's Compass is not a bad read. The characters of Miranda and Brian were well drawn, and the interactions between all characters in the book were both believable and full of humour. They definitely felt like real sixteen-year-olds (for example, Miranda feeling bored as her grandmother explained the concepts of feng shui). The subject matter of the book, set in our world in the near future and exploring an area of the past that receives little recognition, also strikes me as being different from many young adult fantasies being published today. Although it's far from perfect, The Geomancer's Compass still makes for an entertaining read and I'm sure it would appeal to many younger teens. show less

This book is a YA blend of ghost story, fantasy, Oriental mysticism and science fiction. While there are a few events that stretch credulity, even for fantasy (a geomancer's compass that jumps between real and VR -- or is that real and the ghost realm -- or both?), overall the story line was excellent and well-written. The two main characters are charmingly imperfect, with one being a germophobe and one being severely dyslexic, which adds to the overall charm of the book. I would highly show more recommend this story for tweens and teens that like a good mix of fantasy and sci-fi -- especially those interested in different cultures. show less