Mirage Review

368 pages
Release date: March 12th, 2013

The desert is no place for ocean-dwelling Kampii like Aluna and Hoku, especially now that Aluna has secretly started growing her tail. But the maniacal Karl Strand is out to conquer the Above World, and the horselike Equians are next on his list. Aluna, Hoku, and their friends — winged Calli and Equian exile Dash — race to the desert city of Mirage, intent on warning the Equians. When they arrive, Strand’s clone, Scorch, has gotten there first. Now the Equian leader has vowed to take all his people to war as part of Strand’s army. Any herd that refuses to join him by the time of the desert-wide competition known as the Thunder Trials will be destroyed. To have any chance of defeating Scorch and convincing the Equians to switch sides, the four friends must find a way to win the Trials. The challenge seems impossible. But if they fail, the desert — and possibly all of the Above World — will be lost to Karl Strand forever.

Review (ARC):
This is an exciting second novel in this series, that continues to weave a fresh dystopian story. Aluna and her friends are back, still trying to save the world from Karl Strand and his clones. I admired Aluna's strength in this novel, despite hiding the fact that she is growing a tail from her friends. Dash is still as intriguing as ever, and we get to learn so much more about his past and exactly what happened to cause his exile. I saw a surprising amount of determination from Hoku, while he isn't a fighter, his intelligence and willingness to learn makes him a valuable asset to his friends. There are quite a few surprises along the way, some unexpected friends, and not so unexpected enemies. Finally, we get to experience the world of the Equians, which is quite different from what you may expect. I really enjoyed the detail of the world-building and the adventure of learning about two of the different Above World species. This novel is packed with action, adventure, and a little romance, which make it an absolutely exciting read. I definitely recommend this book if you like exciting dystopian fiction but make sure to read Above World first.