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Zenith

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Mara Bell is leading a boat of Treenesters, urchins, and freed slaves in search of Greenland. But as they head toward what they think is land, their boat crashes into a floating city of barges and bridges.

Whilst definitely intriguing and with fascinating settings, ZENITH is not quite as grabbing as its predecessor, EXODUS. Maybe it's due to the lack of technology, or that I just didn't connect with the characters. Mara was awesome in Book 1, but here...she's less fabulous. However, the imagery is simply splendid, making me wish I could see aurora borealis (I don't think it's visible here in the Southern Hemisphere). The writing is lush, almost poetic at times, and I can't wait to read what'll happen in Book 3, AURORA. However, its publication is at least a year away, I'm guessing, but it leaves newcomers with plenty of time to acquire and devour Books 1 and 2. Futuristic YA is all the richer with Julie Bertagna's innovative contributions.

This picks up right where the book Exodus leaves off. Mara is on a ship headed toward the top of the world after escaping New Mungo, the futuristic city in the sky. Mara isn't completely happy with this escape because she had to leave behind her beloved boyfriend (Fox). Fox decides to stay behind and cyber-fight the new city while Mara chooses to stay with her people and travel north--one of the only areas left in the world that has not been flooded by the oceans. When Mara and her people hit land, they are overjoyed...until they realize that people already living there plan to capture them and sell them as slaves.

Meanwhile, Tuck is on board a ship that is chasing Mara's ship north because he and his people want revenge for an accident Mara's ship caused. When they see Mara's ship being attacked, Tuck and his people use their weapons to fight the land-dwellers. When the battle is over, they head away but Tuck decides to stay on the land. Eventually, he joins Mara's group as they all search for a livable space on this strange new land at the top of the world.

This is a good story describing what Mara and the others go through as they fight for survival in a world that is nearly completely covered in water. Although they endure many hardships and lives are lost, they don't give up. We'll see what becomes of them in the upcoming final book in this series.

Once again, Mara is setting sail, fleeing from one unstable place to the promise of others. Again she is headed north and again she is bringing bedraggled and hopeful survivors with her. Everyone is searching for the same thing. A safe place. A home. Land.

In a world where global warming has melted all of the polar ice caps and the world has been flooded, there doesn't seem to be much to hope for anymore. Mara led her family and friends north only to find that the New World city of New Mungo wasn't the salvation they had hoped for. Mara's cyberworld friend, Fox, has stayed behind to battle the corruption, while she sails north with Rowan, the Treenesters, the Urchins, and other escapees from New Mungo in search of the land Mara is sure exists.

Along the way, Mara will meet Tuck, a boy who has only ever lived on the sea. He lives on a floating "city" of connected boats, barges, and bridges, among people with a history of piracy. The navigational course that Fox programmed for Mara's ship didn't include such a civilization - and the ship causes damage to Tuck's people. He joins his people in pursuing the great ship with vengeance in his mind.

But, Tuck's people aren't the biggest threat facing Mara and the refugees of New Mungo. The safety of a distant land may also offer more danger than they ever imagined. And the very act of living is a hard-earned accomplishment as lives are won and lost in this inhospitable new world.

ZENITH is an exciting sequel to EXODUS; I found it to be even more intense and thrilling than the first novel. Julie Bertagna continues to describe a world that could be all too real if threats of global warming aren't taken to heart.

Reviewed by: JodiG.