The Burning City (Spirit Binders) [Paperback]

Alaya Dawn Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2010 | Series: Spirit Binders (Book 2)

In The Burning City, Alaya Dawn Johnson continues the trilogy begun with her debut, Racing the Dark, delving deeper into the world of magic wielded by women who understand the dark trade-offs of power and sacrifice. Lana, the heroine, has become the black ange l —a harbinger of destruction unheard of in the islands for 500 years. Nui'ahi, the sleeping volcano of the great city Essel, has erupted. In the chaos, the city is reshaping itself and violence threatens from all corners. A rebel movement has formed in the destroyed heart of the city, determined to oust Kohaku, the mad Mo'i of Essel. Lana wants no part of the rebels' cause — the death spirit still chases her, and the great witch Akua has kidnapped Lana's mother. But the more Lana looks for her mother, the more she is drawn into the city's political conflicts. As Kohaku descends deeper into madness, determined to subdue the city by any means necessary, his wife has run away to the fire temple, where she too is slowly converted to the rebel's cause. When long-running tensions spill over into civil war, Lana must make her hardest decision yet: her mother's life, or a city's freedom?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Johnson returns to the fascinating island world of 2007's Racing the Dark, where blood sacrifice can gain the favor of powerful spirits. Lana is no longer a simple island girl but a Black Angel, marked with black wings by the wind spirit. Now living amid the refugees and ruins of capital city Essel, devastated by volcanic eruption, Lana seeks her mother, who has been kidnapped by the witch Akua. Her only clue is a strange black book given to her by one of Akua's spirits. Meanwhile, Essel roils with rebellion led by a religious fringe movement that wants to bring down the ruler, the Mo'i. Many think the Mo'i has lost control of Nui'ahi's fire spirit, but Lana fears the Mo'i caused the eruption himself. Events in Essel are interwoven with those recorded long ago in Akua's black book, creating an absorbing, complex plot.
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Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: Agate Bolden (June 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932841458
• ISBN-13: 978-1932841459
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,657,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alaya (pronounced ah-lie-ah) lives, writes, cooks and (perhaps most importantly) eats in New York City. Her literary loves are all forms of speculative fiction, historical fiction, and the occasional highbrow novel. Her culinary loves are all kinds of ethnic food, particularly South Indian, which she feels must be close to ambrosia. She graduated from Columbia University in 2004 with a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures, and has lived and traveled extensively in Japan.

(And you can email me, too: alaya [a t] alayadawnjohnson [d o t] com)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my new favorite authors., August 5, 2011

By 

Jess M. (GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Burning City (Spirit Binders) (Paperback)

When I read Johnson's first novel, "Racing the Dark", I appreciated her original characters and divergence from standard fantasy tropes. I ordered "The Burning City" hoping it would be a continuation of the originality in her previous novel. Wow, I was blown away by the complexity/struggles of the characters and the effortless way she world builds. There is a lot going on in this story and Johnson manages to convey the temporal shifting (regarding the Black Book) smoothly and without confusion. Also, I found myself really loving her construction of the female protagonists in the story. Enough cannot be said about the way she writes her ladies! I wish I could speak more eloquently about how good this book is, but really, you should pick it up for yourself and experience the wonder of being immersed in this haunting, fascinating, and beautiful world.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Continuing in a Complex Vein - Conflict, Courage, and Loss, July 6, 2010

By 

Anne K. Gray "Netmouse" (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Burning City (Spirit Binders) (Paperback)

This is a strong follow-on to Racing the Dark, though the reader should be prepared to let some of the core conflicts remain unresolved as Lana, the main character, learns more about the magic of spirit binding and sacrifice through both her own experience and an anonymous history contained in a little black book given to her by the water sprite Ino. The feel of the narration shifts compared to Racing the Dark, since chapters of the little black book take up a lot of the text, and Lana does not travel so much in this second book of the trilogy. The Quest format does not completely go away, but here Lana enters the world of some of the characters who were introduced in the first books - the island where her parents had settled, home of the new fire spirit M'oi, whose people (and possibly his wife) are now in rebellion against him. Someone, possibly the M'oi himself, is loosening the binding of the fire spirit; volcanic eruption and tsunami kill thousands, and the Water and Fire spirit guardians themselves get involved in the question of what should happen next. Lana, as the black angel, also becomes an influential figure in the conflict on the island, despite her overall focus on figuring out how to save her mother's life and save her, if that's what needs doing, from Lana's former teacher.

I've found myself appreciating the depth of the characters in this series, the way loss and dificulty have profound impacts on people and shape their lives and decisions. The cast is diverse and creative. The magic system is also exceedingly interesting, if sometimes the cause of exposition that can be repetitious if you've read the first book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Those Desperately Seeking Quality Fantasy, July 3, 2010

By 

Mariko - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Burning City (Spirit Binders) (Paperback)

Three years after the release of the first volume, "Racing the Dark," Alaya Dawn Johnson's Spirit Binder trilogy remains a welcome relief from the cookie-cutter novels that dominate the shelves of YA fantasy. "The Burning City" builds on the promise of "Racing the Dark," drawing readers deeper into Lana's wild and rapidly destabilizing world. Johnson paints characters of such heartrending complexity that you find yourself constantly pondering the "right" course, just as Lana is forced time and again to question her own choices and the path she must take to rescue her mother, a city, and perhaps even all of humanity. The black book and the past it reveals is masterfully interwoven with the present, greatly enriching the already intricate plot and adding unforeseen depth to Lana's plight and the woman who betrayed her. The novel's true strength lies in the cast's dimension: No character is wholly "good" nor "evil"--all are painfully human, struggling to do what must be done, what they believe is right, in a situation that seems increasingly hopeless. No one is irredeemable nor wholly unsympathetic. Readers who enjoyed "Racing the Dark" will find even greater riches in "The Burning City" and Lana's startling epiphanies coupled with the enticing cliff-hanger finale will have you begging for the final volume. Here's hoping it won't be a long wait.