Book Title: A Hero for WondLa
Author: Tony DiTerlizzi
Series: WondLa #2
Series: WondLa #2
Date Started: November 4th 2013
Date Completed: November 10th 2013
Genres: Adventure, Dystopian, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Rating: Four stars
Review:
The Search for WondLa, a book I read around four years ago, was one of my favourite ever children's books. I admit, I was quite disappointed by its sequel, however - as children's books go - it's an amazing addition to the fantasy range for younger readers.
A Hero for Wondla takes place directly after the prequel, where the first human Eva has ever seen has come to take her home to the human city. But as Eva arrives at the place she's dreamed of all her life, it seems that the utopia isn't as perfect as its leader insists. And then Eva's long-lost sister appears from inside the conspiracy, and everything Eva's ever wanted starts to crumble down.
I loved DiTerlizzi's writing, and it would be a crime not to mention his absolutely breathtaking artwork (it's as much a part of the story as the words are). He's something very different, and writes in a way that's clearly targeted at younger ages, but could just as easily be experienced by older readers.
The biggest problem I had with this book was that the language seemed too complex for the simplistic nature of the plot and characters - I particularly noticed how the dialogue stuck out as very different from the narrative. I felt a little like DiTerlizzi was caught between wanting to write the book for Young Adult or for children.
On the other hand, it was written well, and the story progressed well and beautifully through the text.
I can think of so many books that have a certain scene similar to the ones in this book, yet there's so many that I can't help but feel DiTerlizzi has patched together used ideas so masterfully that he's created an entirely new plot line all by himself.
Although the actual story is a very good asset, the world DiTerlizzi has created has to be where the strength for the whole series lies. It's common for author to design new creatures for their stories to make them more new - especially in fantasies and science fiction - but this is really a new level. The aliens are unlike anything I've ever read before, and you can even see them in the illustrations. Although I don't like being told what the think of in my mind when I'm reading a book, a little helping hand like this is perfect to making the story come alive.
Another thing that's great about the story is the dystopian solution. First of all, the origins for its creation are unique, but the fact that the humans and aliens are all striving to make the world secure and safe (as opposed to take it over etc) is a real breath of fresh air, and somehow more believable. Humans are really messed things up, and they want to set it right - they just aren't going about it the right way. It's really interesting to see how events between the humans and aliens play out, since they both want the same thing essentially: to live in a safe world in peace.
The characters in the book are fairly simplistic in nature, however do have strict morals that come forward in their actions, and also in what they say as the story progresses. I think this is a very important thing to have for a younger age group, and also allows you to understand the characters faster.
Eva Nine is a good protagonist, if a little irritating at the start. She's incredibly naive for a thirteen-year-old girl that's been through everything she's been through - yet that doesn't stop her from behaving in the right way for the right reasons. I do think there's a little bit of confusion around her behavioural-age and then her mental-age, as they seem to conflict quite a lot in the book. However, she still achieves her purpose of standing up for mankind and being the vessel to hold nature and humans from destroying each other.
Rovender didn't have as much of a personality as I remembered him having, although I still love his relationship with Eva. You can tell he genuinely cares about her, and in a way that should be introduced as early as possible: the family bond without blood-ties.
Eva Eight was an interesting concept to have, and I loved her development throughout the story. I think she reacted to the events of the story most realistically, and she portrayed how humankind can corrupt and break people in order to get to their goal. I loved how her story finished and I'm really glad there's an author out there that can construct such clever endings.
I really liked Hailey. He's a bit of an idiot, yet that made him more realistic. There's definitely more to come from him, and I can't wait to read it.
The pace did have it's issues for me: it was a mixture of being too slow, yet far too fast to learn about a certain place before the story moved on. I found myself becoming bored at times, because the story wasn't moving on fast enough for me to stay interested. On the other hand, the location seemed to drastically change every three or four chapters, making it harder to get into the story.
I admit, these features are to fit the younger audience and stay with the adventure genre of the book - I just found it a little irritating that I wasn't able to really immerse myself in the story.
I think DiTerlizzi's series is a wonderful new addition to the world of children's fantasy books, and I think it should become a well-known story. I would definitely recommend A Hero for WondLa for anyone of the younger audience who enjoys dystopian adventures.
Image Source: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/
2012/05/hero-for-wondla.jpg
The Search for WondLa, a book I read around four years ago, was one of my favourite ever children's books. I admit, I was quite disappointed by its sequel, however - as children's books go - it's an amazing addition to the fantasy range for younger readers.
A Hero for Wondla takes place directly after the prequel, where the first human Eva has ever seen has come to take her home to the human city. But as Eva arrives at the place she's dreamed of all her life, it seems that the utopia isn't as perfect as its leader insists. And then Eva's long-lost sister appears from inside the conspiracy, and everything Eva's ever wanted starts to crumble down.
I loved DiTerlizzi's writing, and it would be a crime not to mention his absolutely breathtaking artwork (it's as much a part of the story as the words are). He's something very different, and writes in a way that's clearly targeted at younger ages, but could just as easily be experienced by older readers.
The biggest problem I had with this book was that the language seemed too complex for the simplistic nature of the plot and characters - I particularly noticed how the dialogue stuck out as very different from the narrative. I felt a little like DiTerlizzi was caught between wanting to write the book for Young Adult or for children.
On the other hand, it was written well, and the story progressed well and beautifully through the text.
I can think of so many books that have a certain scene similar to the ones in this book, yet there's so many that I can't help but feel DiTerlizzi has patched together used ideas so masterfully that he's created an entirely new plot line all by himself.
Although the actual story is a very good asset, the world DiTerlizzi has created has to be where the strength for the whole series lies. It's common for author to design new creatures for their stories to make them more new - especially in fantasies and science fiction - but this is really a new level. The aliens are unlike anything I've ever read before, and you can even see them in the illustrations. Although I don't like being told what the think of in my mind when I'm reading a book, a little helping hand like this is perfect to making the story come alive.
Another thing that's great about the story is the dystopian solution. First of all, the origins for its creation are unique, but the fact that the humans and aliens are all striving to make the world secure and safe (as opposed to take it over etc) is a real breath of fresh air, and somehow more believable. Humans are really messed things up, and they want to set it right - they just aren't going about it the right way. It's really interesting to see how events between the humans and aliens play out, since they both want the same thing essentially: to live in a safe world in peace.
The characters in the book are fairly simplistic in nature, however do have strict morals that come forward in their actions, and also in what they say as the story progresses. I think this is a very important thing to have for a younger age group, and also allows you to understand the characters faster.
Eva Nine is a good protagonist, if a little irritating at the start. She's incredibly naive for a thirteen-year-old girl that's been through everything she's been through - yet that doesn't stop her from behaving in the right way for the right reasons. I do think there's a little bit of confusion around her behavioural-age and then her mental-age, as they seem to conflict quite a lot in the book. However, she still achieves her purpose of standing up for mankind and being the vessel to hold nature and humans from destroying each other.
Rovender didn't have as much of a personality as I remembered him having, although I still love his relationship with Eva. You can tell he genuinely cares about her, and in a way that should be introduced as early as possible: the family bond without blood-ties.
Eva Eight was an interesting concept to have, and I loved her development throughout the story. I think she reacted to the events of the story most realistically, and she portrayed how humankind can corrupt and break people in order to get to their goal. I loved how her story finished and I'm really glad there's an author out there that can construct such clever endings.
I really liked Hailey. He's a bit of an idiot, yet that made him more realistic. There's definitely more to come from him, and I can't wait to read it.
The pace did have it's issues for me: it was a mixture of being too slow, yet far too fast to learn about a certain place before the story moved on. I found myself becoming bored at times, because the story wasn't moving on fast enough for me to stay interested. On the other hand, the location seemed to drastically change every three or four chapters, making it harder to get into the story.
I admit, these features are to fit the younger audience and stay with the adventure genre of the book - I just found it a little irritating that I wasn't able to really immerse myself in the story.
I think DiTerlizzi's series is a wonderful new addition to the world of children's fantasy books, and I think it should become a well-known story. I would definitely recommend A Hero for WondLa for anyone of the younger audience who enjoys dystopian adventures.
Image Source: http://www.wired.com/geekdad/wp-content/uploads/
2012/05/hero-for-wondla.jpg
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