Customer Reviews

1 reviews

• James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief

  Teens and young adults who choose The God Squad: Thunder and Pomp for its promise of fantasy and action will find the story replete with monsters, adventure, and schemes that introduce new confrontations and choices to the Clarke brothers. From the start, Devan B. Deyerin and Kara Rubinstein Deyerin create intrigue over a castle visit and the meeting of two adversarial gods who reluctantly join together for a common cause: He'd conveniently neglected to tell her she'd permanently damaged his treasured Tablets of Destiny. The two continued to work together because they shared a mutual goal - the destruction of humans. Once he and the other gods were restored to their rightful place, he would never have to see her again, much less stoop to working with her. Their plan to cause chaos and havoc in the humans' world is working. Their plot to pair Zeus with a Vessel and their interest in making Matthew (or Miles John Clarke) such a Vessel introduces intriguing dilemmas to the story before Matthew's perspective even begins in Chapter Two. Matthew's special gift of seeing monsters gives him a perspective about the underlying impact of his ability on struggles which evolve from his life: Something about seeing fantastical creatures nobody else can tends to make you ready to expect anything, and willing to take all but the craziest things in stride. It occurred to Matthew that one of the cruel ironies of life as two runaways was that the creatures were the least of his problems. Given the choice between dealing with a person or a creature, Matthew would pick the latter nine times out of ten, even if they were trying to eat you. At least creatures were simple, you immediately knew where you stood with them. As interactions evolve between humans, monsters, and gods emerge, a host of characters, from the lovely Freya (who is "useful for managing gods") to Nick/Quiang, whose human/god pairing results in a beneficial symbiosis that introduces further complexity into conflicts, the drama and action. These are nicely supported by unexpected alliances and dilemmas that rise from humans, gods, and monsters that often reside in the gray space between good and evil. Underlying all these encounters is a drive for purpose, a sense of place and belonging, and connections between siblings and shifting events that introduce new worldviews and promises, as well as problems, to their lives. Libraries and young adults that venture into the world created in The God Squad: Thunder and Pomp will find its action fast-paced, its characters well developed, and its interactions between parents, kids, and higher-level thinking to be thoroughly absorbing. All these elements result in a fantasy that is more than a cut above the usual action-packed adventure, offering insights on relationships and choices that will provoke thought and discussion among teen readers.

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