Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 04/01/2014 Gr 9 Up—In the final installment of Hautman's "Klaatu Diskos" trilogy (Candlewick), questions are finally answered and puzzle pieces are put in place. The book's events cover the rise and fall of the Romelas and Hopewell civilizations, alternating among different dates, including 1997, 2012, and a thousand years in the distant future. Tucker Feye and Lah Lia are finally together after being chased in and out of various time periods. The plot focuses on the life of 17-year-old Kosh, who is also Tucker Feye's uncle. Kosh's struggles are divided between the physical challenges needed to keep members of the Boggsian sect and the Cult of the Lamb at bay and trying to control the emotions that have developed between him and his brother Adrian's fiance, Emily. Adrian is also author of the final book in the Cult of the Lamb's Bible, and Emily, besides being Tucker Feye's mother, is identical to a woman whom Kosh rescues from the Lambs. The action is fast-paced with settings alternating between the small rural towns of the close past, and the postapocalyptic jungle of the distant future. This is one conclusion that is best read in sequence for better clarity. Ending in a somewhat Twilight Zone eeriness of happily-ever-after, readers will not feel cheated out of the creep factor.—Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Bulletin for the Center... - 05/01/2014 Readers who have followed Tucker Feye and Lah Lia in their bounces across time and space (The Obsidian Blade, BCCB 4/12, and The Cydonian Pyramid, BCCB 9/13) will be glad to see them return in this series finale, bringing the possibility of some answers about who is responsible for the time travel portals through which they’ve been traveling. Tucker’s uncle Kosh makes a strong reappearance as well, with much of this book devoted to the bittersweet story of his unrequited love for his brother’s fiancé, Emily. Other characters who have been important in the first two books are brought into the mix, and Hautman deftly manages to bring their stories together amidst more harrowing danger and intricately timed escapes. Readers will need to pay close attention to understand just when the individual scenes are taking place as the characters enter and exit portals and move between by-now-familiar parts of Wisconsin’s present, past, and future. Hautman closes the series the way a middle-grade sci-fi series should be closed: all questions are answered, and the good guys survive, prosper, and eventually get married to the right people, while the bad guys get their throats ripped out by jaguars or suffocate in the unbreathable air on Mars. Those who have braved the inherent yet well-handled confusion of time travel in the first two books may want to refresh their memories before picking this up so that they can more fully experience the satisfying snick as the last portal closes. KC - Copyright 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

Booklist - 04/01/2014 Tucker is trapped atop a Romulan pyramid in the year 3,000 CE with no interdimensional disko. What, you’re lost already? In this final book of the Klaatu Diskos trilogy, the multitalented Hautman—a paragon of prose clarity—concludes this most unclear of literary experiments. As before, it’s a head-scratcher nearly impossible to follow at times, and yet—and yet!—so rich with fascinating ideas and unusual themes that bold readers will keep turning pages. The action this time is mostly divided between Tucker’s futuristic search for ex–Pure Girl Lia and two different time planes involving Tucker’s uncle, Kosh, whose relationship with Emily/Emma progresses in both 1997 and 2012. Characters echo throughout the ages, giving the book, and the series, the feel of a less linear take (if you can believe that) on Marcus Sedgwick’s Midwinterblood (2013). What sticks out the most are Hautman’s always deft hand at believable romance and his ability to use a sci-fi plot to generate Chariots of the Gods–style legends. Though not always fully cooked, this is one hell of a stew. - Copyright 2014 Booklist.

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