Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Oakdale Library | TEEN FICTION CLA | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Park Grove Library (Cottage Grove) | TEEN FICTION CLA | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury) | TEEN FICTION CLA | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Wildwood Library (Mahtomedi) | TEEN FICTION CLA | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
In debut author Gwendolyn Clare's thrilling Ink, Iron, and Glass , worlds collide as Elsa unveils a deep political conspiracy seeking to unlock the most dangerous weapon ever created--and only she can stop it.
Can she write a world gone wrong?
A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother--a noted scriptologist--constantly alters and expands their reality.
But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology--and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and tragic past. She recruits the help of these fellow geniuses just as an assassin arrives on their doorstep.
An Imprint Book
"The novel samples historical figures the way a hip-hop album might sample a classic riff: it opens a window to European history, lets in fresh air, and sends facts flying... This novel is a source of serious fun ." -- School Library Journal (starred review)
"This debut novel is fully realized steampunk-fantasy, offering an alternate history that deftly and creatively adopts the politics of 19th-century Italy to create a compellingly unique world.... Exciting and original ." -- Kirkus (starred review)
"Clare's debut is built upon an intriguing premise... A solid series starter featuring a competent, flawed heroine that's built for sf fans." -- Booklist
"There's much more to uncover in the political machinations of each world, and a gasp-worthy ending ensures a sequel." -- BCCB
Author Notes
Gwendolyn Clare earned her BA in ecology, BS in geophysics, and a PhD in mycology. She is a New Englander transplanted to North Carolina where she cultivates a vegetable garden, tends a flock of backyard ducks, and practices martial arts. Ink, Iron, and Glass is her debut novel.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Elsa is a scripted being. She was called into existence as subtext by a scriptologist, a maker of worlds who made Veldana, the place where she lives. Elsa's mother is a scripted being who was trained to be a scriptologist herself. She continues the work of creating Veldana, and she has trained Elsa to do the same. When her mother gets kidnapped, however, Elsa's life is thrown into chaos. She follows the trail of the kidnapping back to Earth, where she finds refuge with a secret society of pazzaerallone-people with gifts in scriptology, mechanics, alchemy, or all three. With their help, she eludes assassins, tracks down her mother, and stages a rescue that is successful in every way except for one. This entry is clearly the first in a series about a team of teenagers who have to save the world from greedy, wrongheaded adults. Set at the end of the 19th century, the novel samples historical figures the way a hip-hop album might sample a classic riff: it opens a window to European history, lets in fresh air, and sends facts flying. An author's note sets the historical record straight. In the meantime, Clare spins an entertaining adventure tale that also addresses colonialism, inclusion, and musings on the nature of being. VERDICT This novel is a source of serious fun; a must-have choice for YA collections.-Sheri Reda, Wilmette Public Library, IL © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Elsa leaves Veldana--a world written into existence through "scriptology"--to find her abducted mother; she ends up in an alternate nineteenth-century Italy, where scriptologists, mechanists, and alchemists wield great power. Elsa's own polymath powers make her a political target, but a society of young scientists, including charming mechanist Leo, may be able to help. Lush steampunk world-building and plenty of action characterize this alternate-history fantasy. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Elsa's homeland can't be located on a map: Veldana and its people exist as a result of scriptology, a craft whose practitioners can scribe new lands into existence. Veldana is the creation of a white Frenchman, but Elsa's mother, a Veldanese master scriptologist, advocated for her people's autonomy and is now the fabricated world's caretaker. (Among other colonialist acts, the creator scribed pregnancies against the brown-skinned Veldanese women's will.) The dark-skinned, green-eyed, 16-year-old Elsa, also a brilliant scriptologist, will one day proudly inherit the responsibility. When her mother is abducted, Elsa leaves Veldana for Earththe real worldto find help. Events lead her to a yet-to-be-unified Italy, where she finds herself a resident of the Casa della Pazzia ("House of the Madness"), a sentient residence for orphan pazzerellone, or "mad scientists." Each student possesses one of three "madnesses": alchemy, mechanics, or scriptology. There, the fiercely independent Elsa reluctantly finds allies: olive-skinned Italians Leo and Porzia and brown-skinned Tunisian Faraz. As the four get closer to finding Elsa's mother and learning the reason for her capture, they discover an enemy who will stop at nothing to use scriptology as a weapon to "edit" the Earth. This debut novel is fully realized steampunk-fantasy, offering an alternate history that deftly and creatively adopts the politics of 19th-century Italy to create a compellingly unique world. Although the book uses the language of mental illness to describe its characters' specific magical talents, in this world "mad" seems to carry none of the baggage it does in ours.Exciting and original. (Fantasy. 12-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Elsa's home world of Veldana was written into existence by her mother, Jumi. Jumi is a scriptologist, capable of creating new worlds through words alone. When Jumi is kidnapped, Elsa must put her own scriptology skills to work, traveling to a steampunk-style version of Victorian Italy, where she meets a group of pazzerellone, young people with an aptitude for one of three disciplines: mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology. Elsa, a rare polymath skilled in all three, tries to keep a low profile as she searches for her mother. Despite herself, however, she's drawn into friendship with three pazzerellones, including Leo, a mechanic who has a tragic family past of his own. Elsa and Leo are linked in more ways than they know, and the mystery of Jumi's disappearance is more tangled than Elsa ever would have guessed. Clare's debut is built upon an intriguing premise, and a measured beginning soon gives way to a more action-packed second half. A solid series starter featuring a competent, flawed heroine that's built for sf fans.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2018 Booklist
