Ruby Key (Moon and Sun)

by Holly Lisle

[Briana @ Pages Unbound]

This review is also posted at Pages Unbound Book Reviews.

Minor spoilers

Holly Lisle’s The Ruby Key is the type of fun middle grade adventure that would have just hit the spot for me as a younger reader.  Genna and her brother Dan must set off on a perilous quest to save their home from the deadly bargain the village chief has made with the king of the nightlings.  All the hope for the future is in their hands.  Yet so is the power to save their people.  Their quest is demanding, yet the reader knows that Genna and Dan are smart and strong enough to handle it.

When I was a child, I would have thought no story could be better.  I loved watching characters my age accomplish extraordinary things despite the odds.  Seeing that children have talents and control over the insanity of life was inspirational in any circumstance.  Adults readers may be happy to know, however, that children take the lead in The Ruby Key not because no one older is qualified or interested, but because no one besides Genna and Dan even know the village is in danger.  They admirably take charge of the situation that is handed to them.

As an older reader, I find myself slightly more critical of novels, and I did find a few flaws with The Ruby Key.  The story starts strong, fast-paced and immersing readers into Lisle’s fantasy world where humans and nightlings lead a tenuous coexistence.  Genna and Dan are dropped straight into a problem, and they take proactive steps to solve it.  Their adventures begin lagging in the middle of the book, however, as the plot becomes episodic.  The character bounce around from location to location, encountering oddities but accomplishing nothing that furthers the plot.  I was itching for more action.

About the same time, the characters, too, began losing some of my sympathy.  Perhaps being on a dangerous journey simply makes people grumpy.  Whatever the explanation, they become unusually illogical and belligerent.  At one point, Genna’s companions berate her for tripping as they were running from a predator.  Apparently she was being a selfish brat, almost getting eaten and putting their mission in jeopardy like that:  “‘You should have kept with us,’ Dan told me.  ‘If you die, how are we going to help Mama?  I can’t see the roads yet!  The kai-lord made his agreement with you.  If you died, we would be left with nothing.’”  Really?  Do they think she was trying to die?

Once The Ruby Key gets past the bumpy middle, however, the plot becomes as exciting and complex as it is at the start.  The climax features an epic facedown between Genna and her companions and the evil kai-lord, and everyone learns a lot of new things about their pasts and their own special powers.  The story ends on a satisfactory note, wrapping up most of the loose ends but leaving just enough promise for an even more intense sequel.  A good pick for lovers of fantasy and adventures.