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Peter Blue’s father disappeared five years ago; and many believed him to be dead. Until Peter saw a vision of him with a cryptic message for his old partner at the GAIA – The Global Advanced Intelligence Agency, just after Peter was invited to join the special, invitation only school that trains its agents. Spiral Hall is only for the most eco-demically gifted children in the world, and they’re trained to fight the encroaching Anthrogs – demons born of refuse who create wildfires and other extreme weather conditions. The school will teach these gifted children how to tap into technology and their own gifts, in order to save the planet from global warming and climate change. When Peter’s dad shows up, less than a week after Peter has joined the school – not quite everything is as it seems – no matter how much Peter may wish otherwise.
With a cheerful, well paced narrative and short, palatable chapters Eye of the Stormlord was an enjoyable read. The cast of characters was actually quite large and varied, and not all of the narrative concentrated on Peter, even though he was who felt like the main character. There was a relatively equal mix of boys and girls and they formed a multi-cultural and neuro-divergent cast – which was welcoming and refreshing. I particularly enjoyed Roly’s candidness about his dyslexia and how it had caused him to be severely bullied in his previous school; his nervousness that it might cause issues for him in this new setting. Chu was also a stand-out character. His different thinking during the swim part of the first day’s race coupled with his completely relatable, crippling fear of heights made him instantly likeable – not to mention the courage it took to tackle the two wannabe bullies who took every opportunity to goad him. The female characters were also strong, Wanda’s instinctive and natural leadership was particularly refreshing.
Although parts of Eye of the Stormlord does invoke Hogwarts (particulate the castle fortress in the latter stages of the book), this is not a carbon copy of the boy wizard. It’s a book with a conscious, to try to gently nudge pre-teens to take an interest in the planet we call home, and how can we combat the concern that is climate change. Although the demon Anthrog’s may be a figment of Coless’ imagination for this tale – they are a frightening realistic issue. Our own destruction of this planet is causing more and more extreme weather conditions, and the only hope we have left is the younger generation.
S. A.
Originally published on Reedsy Discovery as part of their ARC program. You can read the original review here.
Eye of the Stormlord is available on Amazon,