A strong heroine carves her mark
Two-tome space adventure is heavy with plot devices
Remember how The Hunger Games kicked off the young-adult dystopia boom? Veronica Roth’s Carve the Mark (Katherine Tegen Books, 468 pp.,
eeeE) may do the same thing for Star
Wars- y, teen-friendly intergalactic mythologies.
The popular Divergent author heads to space to kick off not a trilogy but a duology, one that offers shades of George Lucas sprawl and influence, Game of Thrones clan intrigue and a little
Romeo & Juliet- style romance. There is an overwhelming amount of exposition to unpack at first, but Carve excels when settling into the core relationship between its two embattled leads.
The ice planet Thuvhe is at the heart of the conflict between a peaceful nation that bears its name and a warring faction of former cosmic nomads called the Shotet. Both groups and others in the universe are bonded by an unseen “current” that gives them unique abilities — think the Force from Star Wars giving folks various superpowers instead of fueling lightsabers — and enigmatic oracles hand down fates to children in certain families.
When fates are unfortunately broadcast galaxy-wide, teen brothers Akos and Eijeh Kereseth are kidnapped from their Thuvhe homes on orders of Ryzek Noavek, the young, insecure Shotet dictator who wants to rule their entire world.
Even more fearsome on the surface is Ryzek’s sister, Cyra, whose current gift has been weaponized by her brother. She’s used as a Darth Vader-like enforcer: The ability giving her an exotic beauty delivers immense pain to her and her victims.
Akos, on the other hand, has an ability that negates hers, so he is made her servant to quell her agony when she’s not torturing someone. Their relationship is rocky at first — mainly because she’s a nightmare only spoken of in hushed tones and he just wants to escape with his sibling. But Akos and Cyra end up helping each other as Ryzek’s plans for domination grow increasingly violent and desperate, as it’s been foretold that he one day will fall to his enemies.
Overachiever Roth dives right into fates, multifamily intrigue and the wondrous power of flowers, not to mention the geopolitical situation of other planets and the Shotet ritual of creating scars (or “carving the mark”) to denote a body count. (Whew!) But her focus on Akos and Cyra in the middle chapters allows readers to catch up and be suitably impressed by her world-building.
Religious and political messages deepen the narrative, which is filled with both stock supporting players ( the umpteenth overthe-top, bullying head henchman) as well as more nuanced personalities. Akos and Cyra have especially strong character arcs, and she easily proves to be one of the genre’s more absorbing female characters. It’s hard not to root for a young woman who’s a walking metaphor for hurt.
There are cliffhangers aplenty and dangling plot lines to lure us to the next book. Roth carves her mark as she continues her ascent in a universe of young-adult stars.