Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 06/01/2013 Gr 7 Up—This title covers the same time period as The Obsidian Blade (Candlewick, 2012), but from Lah Lia's point of view. She explains her origins as a Pure Girl, raised and groomed for eventual sacrifice to atone for the sins of society's past. At her sacrificial ceremony, an interruption occurs with the sudden appearance of Tucker, introduced in the first book, who has been time-traveling between historical events of the future and distant past through portals called diskos. Tucker's presence creates a one-in-a-million chance for Lah Lia to escape her pending doom by jumping through one of the diskos. When she lands in the new world, she sustains multiple life-threathening injuries, but is healed by an advance core of medical specialists termed Medicants. Throughout the story, references are made as to how the technology of the past caused an apocalyptic end to humanity via the Digital Plague. In Lah Lia's world, the use of any type of digital technology is against the law. It is even illegal to refer to or verbally mention numbers. Interspersed with short chapters from Tucker's viewpoint, the story creates a kind of twilight zone surreal atmosphere. The author gives readers a chance to review events from the previous book, eventually allowing the two separate story lines of Lah Lia and Tucker to merge. Tinged with elements of ancient Mayan sacrifices and political intrigue, the book will have fans of historical fiction and science fiction thinking through the motives and concepts of this smoothly layered adventure.—Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 05/15/2013 And you thought The Obsidian Blade (2012) was weird? Then gird your loins for Hautman’s increasingly difficult to follow but—and here’s the trick—nevertheless fascinating sequel. Tucker Feye, our initial guide through the time-tripping “diskos,” this time recedes to the background to make room for Lah Lia, brought up in the future world of Romelas as a pampered “Pure Girl” whose womanhood is celebrated by sacrificing her to the disko atop the city’s holy pyramid. Got it so far? Good, because then it goes off the rails. Lia is shuttled back and forth through time and circumstance, from the relatively simple (working on a farm and learning to protect herself from a leering drunkard) to the mind-bogglingly complex (a future war alongside those emerging from what was known as “the Digital Plague”). Hautman does newbies no favors by refusing to provide much establishing information. But he understands it, and it’s hard not to be both disoriented and intrigued as he leads you through the frequently murky but occasionally spectacular developments. Stay tuned for the (even weirder?) finale, folks. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hautman doesn’t know how to write a bad book. His name recognition should continue to make this unorthodox sf series a high-visibility one. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2013 In the first volume of the Klaatu Diskos trilogy (The Obsidian Blade, BCCB 4/12), Tucker Feye met Lah Lia, an intriguing girl who came through a of the shimmering diskos, or time-travel portal, and their fates became intertwined. This second volume reveals Lah Lia’s origins as a Pure Girl, one of the few selected by the priests in her time to be sacrificed and thrown into the diskos as a spectacle to keep the people in line. Some Pure Girls return, however, having been sent to a time where the medical technology is advanced enough to repair the damage done by the priests; these girls become Yars, who train the Pure Girls with skills that may enable them to survive their ordeal. Lah Lia survives because of Tucker’s timely appearance through a portal, and her adventures as she travels through time include interactions with the various factions that have gained and lost power over the half-millennium separating her time from Tucker’s. Her goal is to find and save Tucker from his own fate as a sacrificial victim, but to do so she must engage the very priests who tried to kill her, as well as risk her life by hurling herself through portals that may lead to unsafe places and times. Lah Lia, though she appears meek and demure on the outside, is more than up to the task, making her another likable, strong-willed, resilient YA heroine with admirable fighting skills set against formidable odds. As in the first volume, interstitial passages provide history and context for the peoples that Lah Lia encounters and intrigue readers with thought-provoking glimpses of the changes that technology can bring about (and may yet in the human world as well). Lah Lia is a compelling character that readers will be glad to see developed and given equal time with Tucker Feye; their meeting at the end sets the stage for a conclusion that is sure to be as harrowing and action-packed as the first two books. KC - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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