January 7, 2008
Precocious twin selkies Ronan and Muriel set out for their heroic third mission (after 2007’s Maelstrom
): rescuing an old friend who’s been wrongfully imprisoned. Petaybee has been invaded by troops intending to arrest the twins’ parents and others for aiding Marmion de Revers Algemeine’s evacuation of the endangered inhabitants of Kanaka. Marmion herself is languishing in the Gwinnet Incarceration Colony. Ronan and Muriel dodge the soldiers and hitch a ride with space-faring deep-sea otters to reach Versailles Station, Marmion’s home base, where they hope to beg influential Federation friends for help. Instead they wind up incarcerated with other youngsters at Gwinnet’s Camp Neverland and cruelly tortured until their special skills and friends (including Zuzu, a telepathic cat) help them survive a tsunami and volcanic eruption and complete their mission. This concluding volume of the twins’ trilogy will primarily appeal to young, animal-loving SF fans.
February 15, 2008
The selkie twins, Ronan and Murel, leave their home on the sentient planet Petaybee to rescue a friend only to find themselves imprisoned, with both the Company and an ambitious scientist fighting over custody of them. At the same time, the Company attempts another takeover of Petaybee, drawn by the planet's rich resources, and the twins' parents must join battle to save their world. The final volume of the second trilogy set on a world where everything has sentience brings the fate of Petaybee into sharp relief and focuses on the symbiotic relationships of its characters. The collaborative effort by veterans McCaffrey (the Pern series) and Scarborough ("The Healer's War") brings together two consummate storytellers in an adventure suitable for both YA and adult audiences.
Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
February 1, 2008
Most of the action in The Twins of Petaybee trilogys conclusion occurs off planet as the Selkie twins persuade the deep-sea otters, who have their own water-filled spaceship, to help rescue a dear family and Petaybee friend charged with criminal activity by the nefarious Company. Unfortunately, the twins are captured and imprisoned so that their shape-changing ability can be studied and perhaps duplicated. The Company again invades sentient Petaybee, and the twins parents lead the struggle to stop the invaders and achieve independence. As in Changelings (2005) and Maelstrom (2006), the suspense is palpable, the pace is breathtaking, and the interspecies interactions are engaging.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)