Swift the Storm, Fierce the Flame

November 1, 2022
This follow-up to Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves (2022) changes the focus to a different character--and a different planet. Remy Castell is a genopath, genetically engineered by the powerful Nova organization to be the perfect spy and to follow orders, but a mission two years before put her on the path to meeting a girl who became a friend and helped her cut ties with Nova. When that mission went awry, her newfound friend, Alora, disappeared, and the only person who knows her whereabouts is Kiran, the fellow genopath and ex-squad mate who betrayed Remy. After tracking Kiran to the planet Maraas, Remy and her companions, Sena and the wolf Iska, find a world changed for the worse and a dangerous rebellion brewing. Then Kiran makes an offer: help with the revolution and he will tell her where Alora is. Remy finds it hard to believe that this self-serving, agenda-driven boy will not betray her again. Top-notch worldbuilding that delves into the complex dynamic between different factions, an interesting jungle setting, and fast-paced action sequences form the foundation upon which Remy's strong character development occurs in this story about agency and self-determination, friendship and keeping promises. The previous book's protagonists, Sena and Iska, play secondary but important roles. Main characters are assumed White; some secondary characters have brown skin. A riveting sequel that promises more to come. (Science fiction. 14-18)

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November 21, 2022
Teenage genopath Remy Castell, who has been genetically engineered to become the perfect spy, seeks revenge against her ex-partner in this thrilling adventure by Long, set in the same universe as Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves. Accompanied by her new friend Sena and Sena’s wolf companion Iska, Remy follows her ex-partner Kiran’s trail across multiple planets before tracking him back to the storm-wracked jungle world where he once left her for dead. Remy is finally able to exact her punishment, but vengeance becomes the least of her worries when she’s drawn into an ongoing power struggle between a ruthless corporation and myriad criminal syndicates. Hoping to turn the tides in his favor, Kiran promises to divulge the location of her captive best friend in exchange for Remy’s help in securing power. Told via Remy’s ardent first-person narration and brimming with action, shifting alliances, and intrigue, this bustling continuation to Long’s broader literary canon follows charismatic protagonists navigating internal turmoil and emotionally turbulent relationships while rapidly bounding from one adventure to another. Characters are described as having varying skin tones. Ages 12–up. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM Partners.

February 1, 2023

Gr 9 Up-In this companion novel to Long's debut Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves, Remy Castell has dragged her new friend Sena and Iska the wolf to the world of Maraas to find Remy's ex-partner, Kiran. Remy hopes to reunite with her old friend, Alora, whom she abandoned years ago because of a choice that Kiran made for her. Kiran agrees to help his former partner, but she must take part in the fight to overthrow the ruling corpos of Maraas before he will give her any information. The action heats up as Remy makes her choice to join the coup to help the many over continuing a selfish search for the friend that she lost. Remy and Kiran are genopaths who were engineered by Nova to have superhuman strength. The Assembly worlds consist of various combatting groups including Nova, corpos like TerraCo, syndicates, and scavvers. Readers will have to navigate a vocabulary that is singular to the world that Long creates. It is not necessary to read Long's first novel before this one, though following the politics of this world is not always an easy task because so many factions and their leaders are introduced. The main characters are one note, and their individual idiosyncrasies are repeated endlessly. VERDICT Purchase only where the first novel has fans; readers will be more enthralled with the characters in dystopian titles like The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey or Legend by Marie Lu.-Elizabeth Kahn

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