Witch & Wizard: The Gift

James Patterson’s Witch and Wizard: The Gift takes younger audiences on a thrill ride as he portrays the problems of corruption, autocracy, and censorship in a unique fashion. He takes elements from other bestselling books such as Nineteen Eighty-Four and Fahrenheit 451 and then combines it with characteristics from today’s fantasy novels.

The novel depicts a world closed off by the “Shadowland” and therefore has limited boundaries. Most of this “over-world” has fallen at the hands of the New Order, that seeks to create a chaos-free society. At first, that idea sounds pretty good. But the N.O. (as it’s commonly referred to by the main characters) does this at the expense of several of the things we take for granted: books, movies, art, music, and even people’s imaginations. Creativity is now frowned upon in the society. The controlled areas begin to run on an extremely systematic schedule, and the populace starts to become more machine-like and monotone.

The story is told through the points of view of two people (alternating between characters every few chapters): Whitford (Whit) and Wisteria (Wisty) Allgood, who are on the run for supposedly possessing magical powers (only Wisty really possesses said powers, which would prove useful in several parts of the story). Both are members of “The Resistance”, a rebel group based in Freeland (the area of the over-world that has not yet been conquered by the New Order) mostly made up of young adults. The two narrowly escaped execution and were able to make it back to the base unharmed.

They and the other members then attempt to plan out their next operations against the New Order, one of which includes a concert at the Stockwood Festival in order to obtain new recruits for the Resistance. But they face major problems: a spy may be inside the Resistance and another may be posing as a musician in an unrelated act. Things instantly take a turn for the worse as aforementioned band member sets a trap to fool Wisty. In the process, Whit attempts to save her, but the two other band members take him down.

Both of them are now at a special facility back in New Order territory. The spy inside the Resistance served as their guide through the facility, which turns out to be a futuristic college. It is designed to produce the next generation of workers through a special, rigorous program. Whit and Wisty instantly become used to their new environment, all the while formulating an escape plan. They were almost successful until someone spots them, and they are sent into a cold, Death Row-style room. But the spy from earlier ends up helping them! Wisty turns Whit and herself into fish through a spell, as the spy ends up flushing them down a toilet.

The two end up in a river somewhere near the Freeland border. They manage to avoid detection, even as the spell wore off and they were back to their former selves. But they were aghast as they saw what happened to the Resistance. Some members were missing, gains from earlier operations were lost, and there were little hiding places. It seemed as if all hope was lost. But they end up receiving a tip from a friend back in New Order territory. Only Whit and Wisty advance to the ally’s location while the rest agree to stay behind.

The two make it to their friend’s house and stay there for a while. However, they were unable to completely avoid detection. The One, the supreme leader of the New Order, finds them. Now it is revealed that he has magical powers as well! He controls air, earth, and water, but Wisty controls fire. There’s only one problem: Wisty hasn’t grasped full control of her “gift”, but The One uses his mastery of the other three elements in order to prevent the two from escaping. Wisty is forced to “give up” her gift to The One, and they are taken to the public execution.

But instead of a gruesome execution description, Whit and Wisty are instantly whisked off to the Shadowland, in which the spirits of the deceased roam. There, they are reunited with the spirits of their previously executed parents, and they eventually find solace there.

I found this story to be one of the few truly amazing sci-fi stories. It contains aspects from both real life and fantasy, but there’s really no over-thought sections, and there is a good balance between the two, unlike some other stories. Sure, the plot becomes hard to follow at times, but overall, this book was one of the best I’ve read so far.

- 4/24/2011 -

Leviathan

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if the events of the past were carried out with seemingly strange concepts from the future? Scott Westerfeld does just that in his novel Leviathan, putting a whole new twist to World War I. In his book, the Great War is played out by the Allies (known as the "Darwinists", who use "fabricated" animals as their transportation), and the Central Powers (the "Clankers", who utilize futuristic machinery far more complex than today's technology). The book tells a story from two perspectives: Deryn Sharp's, a teenage girl disguised as a midshipman for the British; and Alek Ferdinand's, the runaway heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.

Deryn Sharp, who recently suffered through her father’s death, ends up studying the Darwinists’ fabricated animals in extreme detail and pursues a career as an airman, despite being barred from serving due to her gender. She then decides to join anyway, but in disguise and under a false name, Dylan Sharp. As part of being recently admitted into the army, she was able to receive the opportunity to ride one of the fabricated animals, a “Huxley” (a giant jellyfish-like transport similar to a hot-air balloon). However, a thunderstorm brews and the wind blows her off course toward France, but the gargantuan whale airship Leviathan and its crew rescue her and take her on board.

Meanwhile, Alek Ferdinand, the son of the deceased archduke of Austria-Hungary, is on the run from his own people, who have now turned against him. With only a few crew members and a run-down "Stormwalker" (one of the Clankers ingenuous creations, controlled by body movements), he manages to slip past several German machines and scouts, including the monstrous Herkules, an 8-legged contraption the size of a military base loaded with several turrets and weapons. He uses the advice of his small but smart crew to keep low when traveling, whether he is inside the Stormwalker or outside surrounded by civilization.

The two eventually meet as the Leviathan is bombarded with enemy bombs and falls to an extremely remote location in the Swiss Alps. With absolutely no food to keep the Leviathan and its crew running, the crew members have no choice but to ride out the conditions until rescue transportation arrives. However, Deryn, while looking for civilization past the crash zone, ends up meeting Alek, who happens to be passing through that section of the Alps. At first, the two have a conflict that nearly ended up with everyone in the crash zone perishing. However, they eventually find a way to cooperate and agree to aid the Leviathan for the time being.

Alek, under the guise of a local from a village not far from the crash site, was soon interrogated by the captain of the Leviathan as well as several high-ranking crew members, and they found that despite being from one of the Clanker nations, he did not pose any threat to the Leviathan. A few days later, both Deryn and Alek were heading towards the rescue ship to bring back necessities when enemy airplanes spot the Stormwalker and open fire on it. Alek uses his quick wits to avoid being hit while taking down all of the airplanes.

After returning to the Leviathan with all of the needed supplies, the two help with the repair job, along with the rest of the crew members, and soon, the airship is fully functional and ready to go. Alek says his final goodbyes as he flees further from his enemies as Deryn and the rest of the Leviathan's crew head toward Constantinople for reasons unknown (for now).

What I enjoy the most about this book is the obscure but unique genre of steampunk. Its key characteristic is the combination of past and future. These types of novels often change the era that the event took place, the atmosphere of the event, or both. They also take place in the very world that we live in, except with fantasized elements, as demonstrated in Leviathan. As a reader formerly unfamiliar to the exact characteristics of the steampunk genre, I am very impressed with the style of this novel, as it mixes fantasy and history into the equation. Had this same storyline been used without the elements of steampunk, it would not have the power it originally delivered.