Steelstriker

September 1, 2021
Grades 7-12 "That's the thing about evil. You don't need to be it to do it." So begins this follow--up to Skyhunter (2020). At the end of that book, former Striker Talin had agreed to become the evil Premier Constantine's personal Skyhunter, essentially an enhanced military attack dog. Talin struggles to stay cold through the psychic bond she now shares with the premier, while trying not to think of Red, the very first Skyhunter, whom she saved from sacrifice and now has feelings for. Red, meanwhile, is on the run from the same people who control Talin, who seek to return him to the Karensan Empire and his original murderous orders. Neither of them is evil, but both have contributed evil to the world through the things they've been forced to do. Whether they can recapture the Federation-conquered cities in a revolution is the big question of this duology closer; whether they can live with themselves in the aftermath of war roils right underneath. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Lu has legions of fans, and Skyhunter was a bestseller. This sequel won't stay on shelves long.

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September 15, 2021
A group of young rebels struggle against tyrannical forces in this sequel to Skyhunter (2020). Resuming the tale shortly after the fall of Mara, the last nation that had been holding out against the murderous Karensa Federation, the story is vividly told in the first person alternating between Talin's and Red's perspectives. Talin, who uses sign language to communicate, has now been forced by the deeply evil Premier Constantine, as Red was, to become a Skyhunter, with huge metal wings grafted onto her body, steel armor implanted under her skin, and her emotions accessible to him. Constantine uses the threat of ending her mother's life--he holds her captive--to control Talin, thus ending her ability to work with her friends against Karensa. The menacing Constantine is an effective villain whom readers will rail against as Talin and Red slowly discover the complicated web of burgeoning resistance and betrayal that exists in the bleak new world they inhabit. Detailed sabotage plots, action-laden fights, and even some romance are interspersed, but Talin's psychologically taut internal battle against Constantine's suffocating control is front and center throughout. The novel wraps up with a satisfying conclusion. The first novel noted characters' differing skin tones; there are several secondary characters who are queer. A slow-burning, introspective end to an emotionally powerful duology. (map) (Fantasy. 13-18)

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October 1, 2021

Gr 9 Up-Six months after the fall of Mara, the Karensa Federation works mercilessly to absorb the formerly free nation into its sprawling empire. Mara's artifacts are carted to Federation museums and sculpture gardens, their heritage erased. Prisoners await execution or transformation into Ghosts-the hideous monsters the Federation uses against its enemies and subjects. Talin, hostage to the Premier, watches helplessly. Once an elite Striker, Talin tried to stop the Federation's invasion but she and her friends were too late. Now she stands at the Premier's side as a Skyhunter-a human turned war machine with lethal strength and steel wings. Red escaped the Federation once, but now, his wings damaged, the first Skyhunter knows he will need more than rage and regret to help his new friends. Chapters alternate between Talin and Red's first-person narrations as they try to find their way back to each other and continue fighting the Federation. Seeds of rebellion and resistance spark action in this story which expands on the sophisticated and nuanced worldbuilding from the first installment. Questions of who is fit to run a nation and how power is bestowed add further depth to the book's political landscape. As the Premier tries to harness (presumably nuclear) technology from the Early Ones, it becomes clear that sometimes mistakes are doomed to repeat. Lu once again delves into the brutality of war and invasion as Talin, whose vocal chords were damaged in the invasion of her birthplace, and Red, who was recruited by the Federation as a child soldier, reflect on what brought them to this point. VERDICT A brutal but satisfying conclusion to a strong dystopian duology.-Emma Carbone, Brooklyn P.L.

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