Rachel King, manager of Little Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, N.Y., is looking forward to the November release of Liar’s Moon by Elizabeth C. Bunce, due in November from Scholastic’s Arthur A. Levine Books.
I come from a family that suffers greatly from the nose-in-book syndrome. It's partly because we are all myopic, partly because we all are addicted to reading. My grandmother is the one who imparted a love of mysteries to me—the thrill of trying to figure out the plot twists before the author chooses to reveal them, whereas my mother introduced me to the wonder and imagination of fantasy and classic science fiction. It’s not often that I get to enjoy both genres in one book, but that's exactly what attracted me to Liar’s Moon.
The author has drawn on some classic archetypes—the clever girl thief with hidden talents, the innocent (oris he?) man accused of murder, people fleeing oppression, a kingdom torn apart by civil war—but she uses them well. I do adore a book with adventurous and complex female characters! Digger, the main character, is intelligent, courageous, devious, and loyal—despite herself. Liar’s Moon has friendship, danger, injustice, betrayal. Like a master chef with the finest ingredients, Bunce has created a thrilling and entertaining adventure that will tantalize readers’ literary taste buds.
Although I started with Liar’s Moon, it is a sequel to StarCrossed, yet it was easy to pick up the storyline quickly. Like Catherine Fisher, author of Incarceron, Bunce has the ability to create a multi-faceted and multi-layered world that ensnares you and makes you want to peer around the corners to see what other treasures you can discover. I was intrigued as much by the structure of the society Bunce creates as I was by her characters.
It's a very versatile story—perfect for a display of mysteries, fantasy, adventure, or novels with powerful heroines. Liar’s Moon will definitely be one of my very favorite handsells for the fall and holiday seasons, particularly for my fans of Patricia Wrede, Kristin Cashore, Tamora Pierce, and Megan Whalen Turner.
