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Original Essays | December 12, 2009

Alexander McCall Smith: IMG The Courage of Others

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Indigo Springs

by A. M. Dellamonica

Indigo Springs Cover

ISBN13: 9780765319470
ISBN10: 0765319470
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Indigo Springs is a sleepy town where things seem pretty normal...until Astrid's father dies and she moves into his house. She discovers that for many years her father had been accessing the magic that flowed, literally, in a blue stream beneath the earth, leaking into his house. When she starts to use the liquid vitagua to enchant everyday items, the results seem innocent enough: a 'chanted watch becomes a charm that means you're always in the right place at the right time; a 'chanted pendant enables the wearer to convince anyone of anything...

But as events in Indigo Springs unfold and the true potential of vitagua is revealed, Astrid and her friends unwittingly embark on a journey fraught with power, change, and a future too devastating to contemplate. Friends become enemies and enemies become friends as Astrid discovers secrets from her shrouded childhood that will lead her to a destiny stranger than she could have imagined...

Review:

"Dellamonica's debut suburban fantasy opens with Astrid Lethewood in custody, charged with kidnapping and murder and being interrogated by hostage negotiator Will Forest. Astrid and her friends, Sahara Knax and Jackson, are central to a bizarre uprising against the government, but most of the novel is Astrid's narrative of her discovery of a source of magical blue ooze in the house she inherited from her father. The depiction of magic is original and consistent, and Astrid's exploration of her magical ability coincides with growth in her relationships and the unveiling of her town's dark history. Dellamonica never goes into detail about either the ooze or the uprising, perhaps saving those for the promised sequel, but Astrid's somewhat deranged conversations with Will give indications of what happened, and sympathetic characters go a long way toward making up for the vagueness." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"A psychologically astute, highly original debut — complex, eerie and utterly believable. Stay tuned for the projected sequel." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

Dellamonica's first novel displays an original, imaginative talent driven by a style that reflects both passion and lyricism....[A] powerful story of good intentions gone terribly wrong." Library Journal

Review:

"The theme here — the problems of power in irresponsible hands — is archetypal, but Dellamonica realizes it very well...in what becomes an edge-of-the-seat thriller." Booklist
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About the Author

A. M. Dellamonica has had stories published in various fantasy and science fiction magazines and anthologies. She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Bricoleur, December 10, 2009 (view all comments by Bricoleur)
In Indigo Springs, a small town in Oregon, a magical apocalypse is brewing, and three young people are right smack-dab in the middle of it. Astrid, the book’s protagonist, has inherited a lovely old blue house from her ne’er-do-well father. She doesn’t even have all the moving boxes unpacked when her manipulative friend Sierra, fleeing a broken relationship, shows on her doorstep, cat in hand (because hey, nothing says “hey, let’s catch up on old times!” like “hey, let me move in rent free!”) Astrid, however, seems thrilled to see Sierra (because she had a huge crush on her in high school) and is all like, “Hella to the yeah! Mi casa, su casa! Take the nicest bedroom! Can I rub your feet? How about a muffin? Can I get you a muffin?”

The house is also home to sweet and sexy Jacks, son of the local fire chief and Astrid’s step-brother. Jacks doesn’t like Sierra (which made me like him immediately) but he *does* like Astrid (who kinda likes him back, because he’s totally hot in that scruffy Oregon backpacking whitewater rafting guy who lets his chocolate lab ride in the back of his 1990 Toyota pickup with the peeling-off Phish stickers kind of way) … so you can see where the sparks are going to start to fly.

Me, I was rooting for Jacks all the way, not because I’m a flaming hetero partisan, but because I just did NOT like Sierra. I’ve known people like Sierra. They make my teeth ache. But for much of the book, Astrid carries a Lady-Liberty size torch for the girl. I hate it when a character I like goes all silly over a character I don’t like. It makes me want to shake my little fists in rage. Which is probably *exactly* what author A.M. Dellamonica intended. ;-)

It shows just what an expert Dellamonica is at managing reader emotions. Even though I didn’t *like* Astrid’s feelings for Sierra, I *understood* them. I happily stayed to watch the train wreck, even though I felt so powerfully for the characters that I wished it could be avoided.

While I’d say INDIGO SPRINGS is really a character-driven book, it’s also tightly plotted, and kept me reading with its fascinating intersection of the magical with the mundane. In the book, mysteries pile on mysteries, and finding the answer to anything just leads to more questions. By the end of the book, Dellamonica ties everything up quite neatly, but also takes the lid off several bigger mysteries which (one guesses) will be tackled in later books in the trilogy.

While this book has been called an “eco-fantasy,” don’t let that put you off (if, like me, you are completely unable to separate the term “eco-fantasy” from the 1980s movie “Ferngully”). It does, indeed, make subtle connections between the magical apocalypse facing the town of Indigo Springs with the ones we face on a global scale, but not in a preachy or pedantic way.

Overall, I thought INDIGO SPRINGS was a really powerful debut from an author who’s talent I greatly respect and admire. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, BLUE MAGIC!

P.S.

TEAM JACKS!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780765319470
Author:
Dellamonica, A. M.
Publisher:
Tor Books
Subject:
Fantasy - Contemporary
Subject:
Fantasy fiction
Subject:
Magic
Publication Date:
October 2009
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
320
Dimensions:
10.90x3.84x.94 in. .64 lbs.
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