THE ALCHEMIST, Paola Bacigalupi; THE DROWNED CITIES, Paola Bacigalupi

I’m in this groove of reading young adult fiction my granddaughter is reading or might read so these are two by an acclaimed author.

The Alchemist, a very short book, is about magic, magicians, bramble and balanthast.  The place is fictional; the characters are recognizably human but not easily placed any more than the place they live.  It’s all magical, of course. Subterranean Press, 2011 95 p.

 

 

 

 

 

The Drowned Cities is much longer and the genre is science fiction of another sort.  The place is a post-apocalyptic United States where small groups of humans have come together in a semblance of organized society; knowledge of the greater world has all but disappeared.  Two pre-adolescent friends, Mahlia and Mouse (aka Ghost) encounter Tool, an engineered-superhuman; this is the story of their journey through the greater world.  This a series and I’m eagerly waiting for the next installment. Little, Brown, 2012 437 p.