Into Battle (The Seventh Tower) by Garth Nix
| Into Battle (The Seventh Tower) by Garth Nix | |
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| Category: Confident Readers | |
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Reviewer: Jill Murphy
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| Summary: Into Battle is book five in the Seventh Tower series and perhaps it's the least successful so far, feeling less of a whole and more of a joiner/filler. It's still great reading though and fans of the series won't want to miss it. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 232 | Date: January 2010 |
| Publisher: Harper Collins | |
| ISBN: 0007261233 | |
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We've made it to book five in Garth Nix's Seventh Tower series, so a quick recap:
The Dark World is blocked from the Sun by an enchanted Veil created by Tal's forebears to protect it from the creatures who inhabit Aenir - a spirit land full of magic and magical beasts.Aenir is lit and warmed by the Sun, but the Dark World uses sunstones - crystals grown and charged with light and heat in Aenir. Some inhabitants of the Dark World - the Chosen - also bind some of Aenir's creatures to themselves as spiritshadows or spiritguards.
The Darkworld has other inhabitants - the Icecarls, a fierce and warlike race used to living without light and in the harshest conditions. Milla is an Icecarl and as previous events have unfurled, she's been made their war leader - which is just as well, since the Veil is under threat and the shadows of Aenir may soon be unleashed from their Chosen masters.
Tal and Milla have been through much together, but they are currently separated. While Milla and her Icecarls plan an attack on the Castle, Tal is stuck in Aenir, trying to find the Empress and warn her of Sushin's treachery.
Into Battle is perhaps the least successful book in the series so far. It's less of a whole - nothing much is resolved by the end of it, and it feels rather like some marking of time is going on while Nix sets us up for the battles to come. This isn't to say it's a disappointment though - the writing is as pacy as ever and there is some progression of events, including a big reveal about the Empress which was great fun. Fans in the series will enjoy it as much as ever, even if it's unlikely to be anybody's favourite volume from the series. Non-fans, of course, should simply start from book one.
My thanks to the good people at Harper Collins for sending the book.
Fans of The Seventh Tower will also like Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series. I think they might also enjoy Quicksilver by Sam Osman.
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