A fistful of sky
Title:
A fistful of sky
Author:
ISBN:
| 9780441009756 |
Publication Information:
Ace, 2002.
Publisher:
Ace,
Format:
Regular print
Physical Description:
353 p.
Available:*
Library | Material Type | Shelf Location | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Hazel McCallion Central Library | Adult Book | Adult Science and Fantasy Fiction | FF HOFFM | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Timeframe:
| 2000s |
| 21st century |
Topic:
| Magic |
| Transformations |
| Curses |
| Family relationships |
| Life changes |
| Personal growth |
Genre:
| Fiction |
| Fantasy |
| Coming of age |
| Domestic |
Geographic Location:
| West (U.S.) |
| West (U.S.) - Southern California |
Syndetics ICE Fiction Profile Character:
| LaZelle, Gypsum, 20, Female. College student. Middle child in a family in which members typically suffer a severe illness in adolescence that gives them the ability to make magic; her mother and four siblings all have the gift, but she and her father do not. |
Syndetics ICE Summary:
Gypsum LaZelle had nearly given up. She'd already watched her two older siblings experience the transition--the sudden, debilitating process that turned them from ordinary children into mages, gifted spellcasters like their beautiful mother. Perhaps she was a late bloomer, she thought until her younger siblings came into their powers as well. Now, at twenty, Gypsum fears that she must accept her fate: a mundane life without magic.<br /> <br /> She can live with being ordinary, an outsider. After all, someone in the family had to take after her father...But one day, alone at home wither family away, Gypsum falls terribly ill. And when the symptoms pass, something has changed. Something she's dreamed of for such a long time--and suddenly, isn't ready for at all.<br /> <br /> <b>"One of the most original and important writers of fantasy working in America today."--<i>The New York Review of Science Fiction</i></b> (Publisher 2017-01-26)
Reviews (1)
Syndetics ICE PW Review:
| Stoker winner Hoffman attains a new level of maturity and complexity with this coming-of-age contemporary fantasy. Unlike her charismatic, beautiful mother and her four remarkable siblings, Gypsum, the middle daughter of the magical LaZelle family of Southern California, is a misfit who hasn't "transitioned" during adolescence into her special gifts and powers. Instead, she takes after her perfectly normal father. Intelligent, resourceful and caring, Gyp deals with her lack of magic by growing into a self-effacing, low-profile but still greatly beloved member of the family. Then suddenly at age 20, Gyp attains her gift, the "unkind" power of curses. Gyp's struggles to deal with her newfound dark power are emotional, frightening and hilarious. By the story's end we've had to confront, just as the LaZelles do, that even members of the most wonderful, loving, close-knit families in the world can innocently inflict considerable damage on each other. While making the story both humorous and enlightening, Hoffman never allows the reader to forget this is also a scary situation for her group of exceptionally well-developed characters. The lyrical writing flows at a perfect pace and is as engaging as the characters. With its themes of family, magic, love and healing, the novel may appeal more to women and adolescents than men, while its ending may be a bit too touchy-feely New Age for some. But the sense of wonder, lack of cynicism and sheer craft compare to vintage Ray Bradbury. (Nov. 5) FYI: Hoffman has been a finalist for World Fantasy and Nebula awards. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved (Publishers Weekly 2010-10-01, (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved) |
SD_ILS:158171
9780441009756
Hoffman, Nina Kiriki.
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