Descendant: A Starling Novel

by Lesley Livingston

HarperCollins Canada

978-0062063106

320 pp.

Ages 12+

August, 2013

A year ago, fantasy YA author Lesley Livingston introduced her readers to the first of her new series, Starling, which focuses on the Fennrys Wolf (who first appeared in her award-winning Wondrous Strange series) and Mason Starling, a teen whose family is dedicated to the service of the Norse gods. When Book 1 in the series, Starling, ended, Fenn was attempting to keep Mason from crossing the Hell Gate Bridge (which is Bifrost, the link between the mortal world and Asgard, the realm of the Norse gods).  But through the machinations of her nasty brother, Rory, Mason cannot get off the train crossing the bridge and Fenn is shot by Rory before the bridge explodes.

Entering a barren wasteland, Mason is met by her mother, the hooded figure of Hel, who presides over those who died disgracefully.  Though cautioned by Loki, a trickster god, about Hel's claims, Mason follows her mother's directions to get the Sword of Odin in order to escape from Asgard. Meanwhile, Fenn enlists the help of an Egyptian god, Rafe, and a former Janus Guard colleague, Maddox, to reach Mason before she unwittingly becomes a Valkyrie and sets off Ragnarok.

Concurrently, Mason's Gosforth Academy classmates, whose families are all intricately involved in the service of the gods of Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythology, find themselves embroiled in power struggles that might result in the end of the world.  Cal Aristarchos, who has always been in love with Mason, is rescued after falling from the Hell Gate Bridge, though his mother believes he has died.  Reunited with his father and learning of his own demi-god status, Cal rushes to help Mason prevent his mother, Daria Aristarchos, from lashing out against the Starlings and performing a blood ritual on Mason's older brother Rothgar.  But, with different factions working against each other and without full knowledge of the nature of their heritage, Mason and others lack the clarity to battle evil forces effectively.  After all, who are the bad guys?

Except for the honest love between Fennrys and Mason, everything and everyone are not as they always appear.  Friends, brothers, love interests, fathers, mothers, even swords–they may harbour secrets, fears, magic, and illusions.  Even the dead may appear to have life.  And with the intertwining of ancient mythologies and deities, anything can and does happen.

The nature of Mason's heritage, as well as that of Cal and Fennrys, drives Descendant, with prophecies waiting to be fulfilled or compelled to pass.  Keeping in mind that the ancient mythologies were the basis for religious beliefs, with little opportunity for acceptance of other belief systems, the hierarchy of deities and duties may show few commonalities.  Without common ground, there must be the battles for one to usurp the others.  Be prepared to endure the manipulation of the young students of Gosforth Academy by their elders all in the cause of service to their gods.  Sadly, the young teens, such as Mason, have no understanding of the extent to which they will be controlled.

Descendant is an intense conflict between multiple forces of good and evil, played out on different stages, among the living and the dead, with players who might know the script or who can only improvise.  With Descendant (and in fact with all of Lesley Livingston's books to date), the reader will never, never anticipate the climax or the ending.  As with Lesley Livingston's other books, I finished Descendant muttering to myself, "Are you kidding me?"  That translates into "Never saw that coming" and "Oh. My. Gosh." and "No!!! How am I going to wait until Starling Book 3 comes out?"  Lesley Livingston snagged me again in her literary web of exceptional plotting, characters and atmosphere, and even left me appreciating the captivity.

Starling

by Lesley Livingston

HarperTrophy Canada

978-1-44340-764-9

341 pp.

Ages 12+

2012 

Lesley Livingston takes the fantasy reader back to the New York City of her Wondrous Strange series  but veers off in another direction, now focusing on the Fennrys Wolf, the Janus Guard who'd made an extreme sacrifice at the conclusion of Tempestuous.

The Starling of the title is Mason Starling, a student and avid fencer at the venerable Gosforth Academy.  Well-protected (or over-protected?) by her very wealthy father, Gunnar Starling, and eldest brother Rothgar, Mason suffers from debilitating claustrophobia, courtesy of a childhood prank played on her by her other brother, Rory, during a game of hide-and-seek in which she was locked in a shed for days.  Rory is hardly the caring older brother that Roth is to Mason.  And, sadly, Mason does not have the comfort of a mother, her own dying giving birth.

When Mason, Rory, and their fencing teammates at Gosforth Academy are attacked by horrible, mutable creatures during a violent storm that knocks out all power, a beautiful, naked blond man, who identifies himself as the Fennrys Wolf, comes to their aid.  Beyond using his sword to fight off the creatures he calls draugr,  saving the life of Calum Aristarchos, who is in love with Mason, and reassuring the claustrophobic Mason (when the group shelters itself in a cellar), the Fennrys Wolf has little to offer about himself.  He knows a lot about the draugr and such, but he doesn't know how he knows it.

After Fennrys gathers some clothes from the group he's sedated with magick, he goes off in search of some answers.  He is attacked by centaurs, crosses the East River over a bridge called Hell Gate to Dead Ground, and reconnects with Mason whose dark blue eyes continue to haunt and mesmerize him.  Mason is similarly drawn to Fennrys.  Together they piece together bits of Fennrys' memories, including finding his warehouse apartment and a cache of weapons, and practise fencing, with Mason using a sword which Fennrys gifts to her.  Of course, there seem to be a lot of strange entities coming after them - draugr, fireballs, nixxies - but Fennrys is determined to keep Mason safe.

Meanwhile, through Rory who has secretly availed himself of his father's old diary, the reader learns that the Starlings had dedicated their lives to the service of the Norse gods, by vowing to help bring about Ragnarok, the catastrophic end of the world, and thus the return of the gods to the mortal realm.  There are other clans, however, in service to the gods of Greek and Celtic worlds, for example, who are just as happy to leave the mortal world as is.  But, the appearance of the Fennrys Wolf, who has walked between the mortal world and the Dead, is seen by some as a harbinger of the end or the means by which Ragnarok may begin.  Sadly, unbeknownst to all, Rory who has learned to do magick is determined to follow the Starlings'  destiny.

So, while Fennrys and Mason fall in love, he learns more of his tragic story and the plots to manipulate him, and she questions her choices and tries to resolve discrepancies between what she feels and what she is told.  Ultimately, both Mason and Fennrys become pawns in a larger-than-life plot that could lead to the end of the world.

That synopsis doesn't even come close to the depth and layering of plots and characterizations in Starling.  There's a sharp learning curve about mythological concepts from various civilizations that Lesley Livingston obviously is well versed in.  When they all come together, both in conflict and in harmony, the result is a multi-layered story in which it's almost impossible to know in whom to trust.  That would explain Mason's own confusion: a father who seems to love her; contemptuous and contemptible Rory but her brother just the same; Roth who the readers learn has a few secrets of his own, including an alliance with the servants of the Greek gods; Calum who wants to share with her his fears of the mer-people but blames her for his injuries; and Fennrys, to whom she is drawn and who seems to adore her but whose arrival has resulted in such mayhem.

I'm delighted that Lesley Livingston has chosen to re-introduce the Fennrys Wolf by way of his own series, especially after his heart-breaking ending in Tempestuous.  And her innovative and rich melding of the Faery world with the realms of classic mythology is inspired.  After all, many belief systems, including today's religions, have similar or identical premises upon which they are founded.  With the addition of Mason and Fennrys' romance, sibling rivalries, peer relationships, and a classic good-versus-evil theme, Starling is that first burst of explosion at the onset of Ragnarok - it's startling, it's overwhelming, and it's just the beginning.

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The book trailer of Starling from HarperTeen is available for viewing on CanLit for LittleCanadians Book Trailers page.

An additional video of Lesley Livingston recording the audio version of Starling at the CBC studios in Toronto demonstrates why listening to Lesley Livingston read her story is as much of a treat as reading it.

Lesley Livingston Recording Starling at CBC

Published on Aug 20, 2012 by LesleyLivingston on YouTube.