Book Review - The Taken
Author: Inbali Iserles
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: September 29, 2015
Version I Read: Ebook
Rating: 3.5/5
So, I, uh, guess I have a thing for animal fantasy stories and am really happy they're selling right now? Even if they're children's and middle grade books?
Anyway, here's the next one I found. It's called the Foxcraft series, of which only the first book, The Taken, is out. Like the Wings of Fire series, it's written by one of the Erin Hunter team.
Foxcraft stars a young fox named Isla, who lives in the city with her parents, grandmother, and brother. One day, Isla returns to find strange foxes around their den and her family nowhere in sight. Frightened, she runs away, finding herself alone and trying to survive in the city while searching for her family. After running into a strange fox from the Wildlands named Siffrin, learning about the magical powers of Foxcraft, and staying on the run from a malicious fox that might kill Isla if she gets in her way, Isla's life is sure to never be the same.
Spoilers!
Overall, I found the book quite good. The foxcraft itself is probably what the book does best - it's a really clever magic system grounded in reality and the various mythologies about foxes. The mythology of this world is also shaping up to be interesting, with one of the most different takes I've ever seen on wolves in particular. Though I do have to wonder, since there are obviously more canids than just wolves, dogs, and foxes, about what the place of other species, such as African wild dogs or even the mythologically somewhat-similar tanuki of Japan, would be in this world's mythology. The author is British, so I assume she's just going with European species, though us Americans would probably be interested to see where our coyote would fit in among Canista's children.
The book does a very good job of showing readers the human world through the eyes of animals, which is not always easy to do but extremely effective when executed correctly. It made me think and try and figure out what Isla was talking about, seeing, and experiencing, which is great for kids.
While the side characters are just fine, I found some issues with the major ones. Isla herself works well as the protagonist of a middle grade novel, but there's not really anything different about her. Siffrin doesn't appear to have much of a reason for keeping the fact that Isla's family is already dead from her - in fact, it probably would have been to his advantage to tell her, because then she would have trusted him and been really serious about helping him find Pirie. Him being such a jerk for no apparent reason also put me off - I'm kind of getting sick of seeing characters like that. Perhaps he has good reasons for not being forthright with her about a lot of things, but for the reader it just gets annoying after a while and any reasons are never presented, in this book anyway. And Karka isn't given the chance to be a good villain because she has minimal interaction with the main characters before being killed off.
For being the namesake of the book, the Taken don't play much of a major role and we don't know anything more about them other than their eyes glow red and they've had their will taken away by someone called the Mage. How the Taken are made is left a mystery, as well as exactly how it affects foxes. The concept of the Taken is also a little strange, as all the other magic in the book has some basis in reality or folklore, with the magic ability to remove a fox's free will kind of sticking out. This was probably intentional, however, because it adds a wrong, unnatural power, and thematically it works against a mythology that claims foxes chose and will always choose freedom.
The book does a very good job of showing readers the human world through the eyes of animals, which is not always easy to do but extremely effective when executed correctly. It made me think and try and figure out what Isla was talking about, seeing, and experiencing, which is great for kids.
While the side characters are just fine, I found some issues with the major ones. Isla herself works well as the protagonist of a middle grade novel, but there's not really anything different about her. Siffrin doesn't appear to have much of a reason for keeping the fact that Isla's family is already dead from her - in fact, it probably would have been to his advantage to tell her, because then she would have trusted him and been really serious about helping him find Pirie. Him being such a jerk for no apparent reason also put me off - I'm kind of getting sick of seeing characters like that. Perhaps he has good reasons for not being forthright with her about a lot of things, but for the reader it just gets annoying after a while and any reasons are never presented, in this book anyway. And Karka isn't given the chance to be a good villain because she has minimal interaction with the main characters before being killed off.
For being the namesake of the book, the Taken don't play much of a major role and we don't know anything more about them other than their eyes glow red and they've had their will taken away by someone called the Mage. How the Taken are made is left a mystery, as well as exactly how it affects foxes. The concept of the Taken is also a little strange, as all the other magic in the book has some basis in reality or folklore, with the magic ability to remove a fox's free will kind of sticking out. This was probably intentional, however, because it adds a wrong, unnatural power, and thematically it works against a mythology that claims foxes chose and will always choose freedom.
I also had a hard time in numerous places throughout the book being clear on what was going on. Something about the manner in which it's written, which makes it hard for readers to visualize the action some of the time.
While the scene with the snatchers (animal control) is pretty nerve-wracking and well-told from the perspective of a fox, as a human, I'm still trying to puzzle it out. I can tell the author did lots of research, so I'd be a little surprised if it was incorrect, but if they are really killing the foxes, several things don't make sense. First off, I did a little poking myself, and it turns out pretty much all pest control organizations recommend nothing be done with foxes, because they pose a negligible threat to people, pets, and property. If they are killing the foxes, why do they only take them behind the door one at a time (I can't imagine they'd be able to give them a lethal shot, so perhaps they're using gas, but I wouldn't think they'd do that one at a time)? Also, if the humans are killing the foxes, why are they going through the trouble of rounding them up (you'd think they'd just use poison or traps), feeding them (water I get, they don't want to be inhumane, but that's a waste of food if you're going to kill the animal right away). If they aren't killing the foxes, then we're sure to see some of the captured characters again. But if that's it and it's not brought up again, it seems a little weird to me.
Perhaps the biggest problem with this book is the sheer lack of any kind of resolution. Sure, there need to be things hanging for the next book, but basically the only resolution in book one is that we know for sure Isla's parents and grandmother are dead. Karka gets killed off without having barely any interaction with Isla through which to reveal anything about herself and her motivations, and Siffrin constantly refuses to tell Isla much of anything. Siffrin and Isla get separated before the climax and he doesn't make a reappearance to give any closure either. The one thread that does come full circle is the wolf Isla encounters in the zoo early in the book (another hole: I don't know of ANY reputable zoo that would keep a wolf alone except under extreme circumstances).
The Verdict: A promising beginning, with some misfires, to another animal fantasy series.
Neither Karen Lofgren nor Loyalty Press has any affiliation with the author or publisher. This review constitutes Fair Use.
While the scene with the snatchers (animal control) is pretty nerve-wracking and well-told from the perspective of a fox, as a human, I'm still trying to puzzle it out. I can tell the author did lots of research, so I'd be a little surprised if it was incorrect, but if they are really killing the foxes, several things don't make sense. First off, I did a little poking myself, and it turns out pretty much all pest control organizations recommend nothing be done with foxes, because they pose a negligible threat to people, pets, and property. If they are killing the foxes, why do they only take them behind the door one at a time (I can't imagine they'd be able to give them a lethal shot, so perhaps they're using gas, but I wouldn't think they'd do that one at a time)? Also, if the humans are killing the foxes, why are they going through the trouble of rounding them up (you'd think they'd just use poison or traps), feeding them (water I get, they don't want to be inhumane, but that's a waste of food if you're going to kill the animal right away). If they aren't killing the foxes, then we're sure to see some of the captured characters again. But if that's it and it's not brought up again, it seems a little weird to me.
Perhaps the biggest problem with this book is the sheer lack of any kind of resolution. Sure, there need to be things hanging for the next book, but basically the only resolution in book one is that we know for sure Isla's parents and grandmother are dead. Karka gets killed off without having barely any interaction with Isla through which to reveal anything about herself and her motivations, and Siffrin constantly refuses to tell Isla much of anything. Siffrin and Isla get separated before the climax and he doesn't make a reappearance to give any closure either. The one thread that does come full circle is the wolf Isla encounters in the zoo early in the book (another hole: I don't know of ANY reputable zoo that would keep a wolf alone except under extreme circumstances).
The Verdict: A promising beginning, with some misfires, to another animal fantasy series.
Neither Karen Lofgren nor Loyalty Press has any affiliation with the author or publisher. This review constitutes Fair Use.
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