And you thought The Obsidian Blade (2012) was weird? Then gird your loins for Hautman's increasingly difficult to follow but d here's the trick vertheless fascinating sequel. Tucker Feye, our initial guide through the time-tripping "diskos," this time recedes to the background to make room for Lah Lia, brought up in the future world of Romelas as a pampered "Pure Girl" whose womanhood is celebrated by sacrificing her to the disko atop the city's holy pyramid. Got it so far? Good, because then it goes off the rails. Lia is shuttled back and forth through time and circumstance, from the relatively simple (working on a farm and learning to protect herself from a leering drunkard) to the mind-bogglingly complex (a future war alongside those emerging from what was known as "the Digital Plague"). Hautman does newbies no favors by refusing to provide much establishing information. But he understands it, and it's hard not to be both disoriented and intrigued as he leads you through the frequently murky but occasionally spectacular developments. Stay tuned for the (even weirder?) finale, folks. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hautman doesn't know how to write a bad book. His name recognition should continue to make this unorthodox sf series a high-visibility one.

This second book in a sophisticated science-fiction series (The Obsidian Blade) focuses on Lah Lia, a mysterious girl from the distant future who, raised for ritual sacrifice, escapes her death when minister's son Tucker's sudden appearance through a time gate disrupts the ceremony. Book two further develops Hautman's complex constructs of scientific innovation as well as the evolution of humanity and religion.

Gr 7 Up-This title covers the same time period as The Obsidian Blade (Candlewick, 2012), but from Lah Lia's point of view. She explains her origins as a Pure Girl, raised and groomed for eventual sacrifice to atone for the sins of society's past. At her sacrificial ceremony, an interruption occurs with the sudden appearance of Tucker, introduced in the first book, who has been time-traveling between historical events of the future and distant past through portals called diskos. Tucker's presence creates a one-in-a-million chance for Lah Lia to escape her pending doom by jumping through one of the diskos. When she lands in the new world, she sustains multiple life-threathening injuries, but is healed by an advance core of medical specialists termed Medicants. Throughout the story, references are made as to how the technology of the past caused an apocalyptic end to humanity via the Digital Plague. In Lah Lia's world, the use of any type of digital technology is against the law. It is even illegal to refer to or verbally mention numbers. Interspersed with short chapters from Tucker's viewpoint, the story creates a kind of twilight zone surreal atmosphere. The author gives readers a chance to review events from the previous book, eventually allowing the two separate story lines of Lah Lia and Tucker to merge. Tinged with elements of ancient Mayan sacrifices and political intrigue, the book will have fans of historical fiction and science fiction thinking through the motives and concepts of this smoothly layered adventure. Sabrina Carnesi, Crittenden Middle School, Newport News, VA