You need confidence that the author would know the answer to any question you lobbed at them about their creation, no matter how oblique. They have to give you the impression that there are more things to be discovered in their world if you just scratch below the surface of the storyline, but they keep everything moving as well. Others zip so quickly through the storyline that you never get a sense of the space. Some authors try to do too much and make up for it with hundreds and hundreds of pages. Read enough fantasies and you begin to find yourself critiquing how effectively an author embeds you in a world entirely of their own conjuring. World building is not for the faint of heart, but when it comes to immersive fantasies like The Lock-Eater it is also wildly important. It seems that these two are more than they first appear. Now girl and robot are on the run from the authorities who seek them both, but for very different reasons. It’s only when Melanie leaves with the automaton that she discovers that not only is it sentient but it's lost its memory and is desperately in need of her help. Not long thereafter a gearling comes to the home, seeking a girl with special abilities. That is, until the night she accidentally destroys all the windows and doors of the orphanage while trying to let out a particularly obnoxious cat. Labeled “lock-eater” by one of the other girls, the talent has never led to much of anything. Yet for whatever reason, foundling Melanie Gate has always had the gift. To be clear, being able to open any lock you encounter is NOT a normal trait at the Merrytrails Orphanage for Girls. It’ll give them something to think about. I’ll tell you this: Hand this work of fantasy over to the child that’s beginning to get bored with the Harry Potter knock-offs of the world. In those awkward little cavities, in its vibrant descriptions and skillfully wrought characters, this strange little book manages to become incredibly memorable. That’s probably why I rather like it as much as I do. It doesn’t follow the same beats as those other books, its storytelling is just a touch wilder, and the ultimate message says a lot about the changes infusing children's literature today. The Lock-Eater is no exception, but unlike those other books it skews the standard formula. So many of them involve a kid finding out their true powers just in time to defeat some dark evil. Look on any bookstore or library shelf of new titles and you’ll see " and the of the " as a standard title. It’s funny, but though the last Harry Potter book was released in 2007, the influence of that series pervades so much of contemporary middle grade fantasy novels. That’s not a perfect description of what you get with The Lock-Eater by Zack Loran Clark, but I also don’t think it’s the worst way to explain what’s going on here. Imagine, if you will, what would have happened in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz if Dorothy had ditched the Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion and traipsed off with the Tin Man to defeat the corrupt Wizard and witches of the world. "Perfect for fans of Ursula LeGuin and Diana Wynne Jones." -Eliot Schrefer, author of The Lost Rainforest series "Will have readers tumbling through the pages.Deeply immersive." -Soman Chainani, author of The School for Good and Evil series So begins an epic adventure sparkling with magic, humor, secret identities, stinky cats, fierce orphan girls, impostor boys, and a foundling and gearling hotly pursued by the most powerful and dangerous wizard in the land.Īction-packed yet layered, The Lock-Eater is a mix of lush world-building, high stakes, humor, and emotional heft-a page-turner and so much more. When Melanie is selected because of her gift, her life changes in a flash, and in more ways than she knows-because Traveler is not at all what he seems. One night, her orphanage is visited by Traveler, a gearling automaton there on behalf of his magical mistress, who needs an apprentice pronto. Melanie Gate is a foundling with a peculiar talent for opening the unopenable-any lock releases at the touch of her hand. For fans of Nevermoor and Howl's Moving Castle comes an epic middle grade fantasy about a girl with the ability to unlock anything-including the empire's darkest secrets.
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