Description
Don’t go out onto the lake. Wyann trees search the shallows to spear passing prey with their roots.
Giant water-ants hunt anything that moves on the water-skin. Sala’s village survives hidden behind a wall of poisonous ivy, because everyone agrees: don’t go out onto the lake.
But when her village refuses to listen to sense, and continues squeezing beautiful pond-bred ‘keeiling’ fish to death for their precious saliva oils, Sala has no choice. She will risk it all to prove herself one last time, else leave everything behind for the dark shaded swamps beneath the towering hillfarms of Palude.
At least that’s the plan before a strange comet crosses the night sky, throwing her and her pet pointer into a race through wyann-infested swampland to unearth long-hidden truths and stir rivalries into a terrifying conflict set to change the world of Palude forever. Sala must do whatever it takes to face the truth of who she is: to save her village, to save her family, to save herself.
If only they had listened.
Review
Sala and her family live in a village hidden behind a wall of poisonous ivy, which shields them from the lake and other villages. The lake is a dangerous place to be - with giant Wyann trees that spear to death anything that comes too close to their roots, and giant water-ants that will eat everything.
Sala is determined to prove to her village that you can milk the adult keeiling fish for their saliva oils by diving in the lake. The precious oil is used to trade with the other villages near them.
All is going well until a comet streaks across the sky, and a strange girl from another village steals her oil. It turns out that the comet is a space ship - and now the race is on for all the villages to be the first to find the ship, and get access to the ship’s technology.
The rivalry between the villages is horrifying and terrible, and Sala must decide fast who she can trust and who she really wants to become once all the fighting is over.
This is a completely captivating fantasy world, that is full of action with intriguing characters and a great story line. Sala is a complicated character who will have you screaming at her one minute and cheering her on the next. Her feelings for the mysterious alien Kib only complicate matters more, and definitely enhance the storyline.
A perfect story for fantasy and sci-fi lovers in Year 8 and above.
Reviewed by Michelle
