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Racing the Dark (Spirit Binders #1)
A brilliant new novel from a 25-year-old debut author, Racing the Dark is set in a land of volcanoes and earthquakes, plagues and typhoons, of island nations bound by fear of the spirits they imprisoned to control their volatile environment. Lana, a teenaged girl on a nameless backwater island, finds an ominous blood-red jewel that marks her as someone with power, setting ...more
Paperback, 370 pages
Published
August 4th 2009
by Agate Publishing
(first published September 28th 2007)
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I picked up this book after really enjoying another book by the same author, called Moonshine. When I first picked up Racing the Dark, I was immediately surprised by the author's somewhat clumsy writing style. I mean, the storyline was engrossing, but I almost put the book down unfinished after the first couple chapters. If I tried to write a fantasy novel, it would be almost exactly like this one. I have some good ideas, sure. But unfortunately not a talent for writing. This book read like some...more
Shauna
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fantasy readers who like complex worldbuilding
This YA novel has a Third-World-like setting in which poverty and disease rife and people must make painful choices to survive.
The worldbuilding is well done (although it could have used a little more explaining), and novel is full of suspense as the heroine, Lailana, must make difficult choice after difficult choice and is often being pursued by something awful.
Two things disappointed me. First, the cover image and back cover copy led me to believe the novel would take plac...more
The worldbuilding is well done (although it could have used a little more explaining), and novel is full of suspense as the heroine, Lailana, must make difficult choice after difficult choice and is often being pursued by something awful.
Two things disappointed me. First, the cover image and back cover copy led me to believe the novel would take plac...more
Over the past few years I have noticed that I pick up fantasy novels with more and more trepidation. For a genre in which an author can literally write whatever he or she can imagine, quite often the plot lines are formulaic and the characters one-dimensional. A number of books feature the powerful and quick-witted female or male lead, the quiet personality that slowly grows into the greatest source of magic ever seen, or the rag-tag band of individuals on a quest of some sort; and in most of ...more
I read this as part of Calico Recation's monthly book club. This was the November selection.
It's actually more of a 4.5 read.
I thoroughly enjoyed the world building and the island culture of the book. I also appreciated that Johnson created a magic system that requires something from it's wielders. The characters are believable and real--they have faults and they often don't listen to their inner voices when they tell them not to do something. Not a single character is flat. ...more
It's actually more of a 4.5 read.
I thoroughly enjoyed the world building and the island culture of the book. I also appreciated that Johnson created a magic system that requires something from it's wielders. The characters are believable and real--they have faults and they often don't listen to their inner voices when they tell them not to do something. Not a single character is flat. ...more
I really expected to love this based on how much I liked Johnson's most recent release, Moonlight. But I had a really hard time with this one.
It started out well enough--sort of a Polynesia-esque setting, a coming-of-age ceremony, and a girl who hides the fact that she's been marked as something more than a diver by a dying mandagah fish. The descriptions were a little clunky, but I was enjoying seeing where the story would go from here.
But then...it scattered. And it en...more
It started out well enough--sort of a Polynesia-esque setting, a coming-of-age ceremony, and a girl who hides the fact that she's been marked as something more than a diver by a dying mandagah fish. The descriptions were a little clunky, but I was enjoying seeing where the story would go from here.
But then...it scattered. And it en...more
Johnson's world is fascinating, and draws on very different influences than I'm accustomed to in fantasy. The way magic works is very disturbing, in a good way. The pacing seemed a little rushed, particularly toward the end of the book. I got the feeling that the characters were all taking their places for the next book. The characterization is quite deep, but the main character (Lana) really avoids making any moral decisions for herself. In future books I'd like to see her take a stand on somet...more
I have a hard time with fiction. Sometimes I wonder why I'm so damn picky, hesitant to try out a new book, and generally spend most of my time rereading things I already know are good. And then I remember. It's because there's so much disappointing, bad, or straight up offensive stuff out there. Now wait, this book wasn't offensive, nor perhaps bad per se, but it sure was disappointing. It had so much awesome potential! 1. Fantasy! 2. Society where women are revered! 3. Mostly characters of colo...more
I really liked this book and can't wait to read the next one. I was a little disappointed in the description of things and it took me some time to grasp the whole island world, spirit bindings, etc. But once I realized it was in fact a fantasy, I was able to really get into it. The end left you hanging and that is why I can't wait to read the next one, to find out what happens next.
Racing the Dark takes its cues from Polynesian and Southeast Asian culture to create an interesting and original world, with a logical system of magic and a nicely complex heroine. While the pace can be a bit slow and foreshadowing for important events or characters can be shaky or nonexistent, it’s still worth a read if you need a break from your average European fantasy.
I think this one is a 3.5; I'm interested in the main character and plan on reading the next one. This one did cause me to go on an internal monologue about the difference between a 3, 3.5 and 4-star book. Really, a 3 means i am relatively ambivalent but leaning in a positive direction, 3.5 means that there were aspects such as characters, setting or story that I liked but something just slightly lacking that would put it over to a four star which means i really, really liked it. The hallowed fi...more
This was an enjoyable book. I gave it 3 1/2 stars because it started very slowly without any clear direction. However, Johnson was able to pull it together towards the end to make you have more questions and entice you to want to read the second part. This was a decent read for an author's first book and I look forward to more from her.
A dark fantasy novel set in a world with bound spirits, the need to make sacrifices to gain power, and human life depending on imprisoning spirits. However, I felt distant from the main character, Lana, who is passive-aggressive; except for her one decision to hide a jewel, she doesn't make choices - she just reacts without considering the consequences.
A fantastic debut; it's been a while since I've read good adult fantasy, so I'm very glad I picked this up. Complex and well-written, and it's nice to have a non-white heroine and get more diversity in the field - I'm particularly pleased that the paperback cover doesn't suffer from the whitewashing of the hardback cover.
This was my first ever fantasy book, so it was difficult to rate as I'm so unfamiliar with the genre. Still, I will be sure to read the sequel! Does anyone know if it's available and have they read it?
Truly ORIGINAL, well-written, engaging fantasy—not your stereotypical Euro-quest-fantasy. Beautiful worldbuilding, captivating characters, and a veeery interesting conflict... can't wait for book 2!
Read this 'cause N.K. Jemisin's review told me to... and I'm not sorry at all! Enjoyable fantasy with convincing cultures and good characterization. I'll be on the lookout for the sequel(s)...
At first I was really interested by this: an Asian / Pacific Islander sort of world, detailed descriptions, everything. But there are pacing issues and a few things that just seemed like Johnson was checking off lists in what was necessary for a bestselling teen fiction novel: first menstruation, unabashed and uncontrollable love at first sight, etc. Still, it's her first published novel, and I think I might check out the second in the series soon, and her other stuff, which has apparently bee...more
Really intricate plot with unexpected twists and turns. Something about it didn't quite work for me - but then I would keep getting sucked back in.
What I read of this was actually really good, but the tone is just so bleak I find myself dreading going back to it... I mean, I've read things with darker subject matter and enjoyed them, but rather than the actual events it's the tone I'm really sensitive to. I have a really hard time dealing with that kind of thing. And you know, so many books, so little time, why force myself to keep reading if I'm not really enjoying it?
From the half I read of it though, I do highly recommend ...more
From the half I read of it though, I do highly recommend ...more
"Book one of the Spirit Binders"
Lana comes of age and joins the other women divers on a remote island. But ecological change is coming on a massive scale as those who were bound thousands of years ago are becoming unbound. After the sweet waters begin to turn salty and the special fish die, Lana and her family journey to the center of their world to face big cities, unkind and kind people and Lana is apprenticed to a witch with one arm who is not what she seems.
...more
Lana comes of age and joins the other women divers on a remote island. But ecological change is coming on a massive scale as those who were bound thousands of years ago are becoming unbound. After the sweet waters begin to turn salty and the special fish die, Lana and her family journey to the center of their world to face big cities, unkind and kind people and Lana is apprenticed to a witch with one arm who is not what she seems.
...more
I liked it but it was kinda hard to follow.
Great fantasy read, can't wait for the last book in the trilogy.
I loved this book. So yes it dragged just a tad in the beginning. But it quickly picked up and I can't wait to get my hands on the next in the trilogy. How does one describe this bok without giving it away. I don't know, but to say it reminds me of life and the option of being chased by your demons, finding courage to face them, finding exhileration in curiousity, and realizing how interconnected all of those bind you to all those before and after you.
A fresh take on fantasy/magic tropes; Johnson takes Hawaiian/Polynesian culture as the basis for her worldbuilding, and it works nicely. The book's pacing felt uneven, and I wasn't completely drawn in until the end, but overall I thought it quite good.
This is a whopping adventure book. The ethnicity of the characters is refreshing, and like the best fantasy books, this world is fully textured. However, the anime/manga influence is really prominent, so that's worth noting.
It's the story of a girl growing up in a world you haven't read about before and her life takes such turns you can't predict them (even given the cover!) and yet it's though you have been in her skin at 13 or at 17.
some beautiful writing but had pacing issues
Alaya Dawn Johnson has been compared to Ursula Le Guin and Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist). Riveting fantasy from an exciting young writer!
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Alaya Johnson graduated from Columbia University in 2004 with a BA in East Asian Languages and Cultures. She lives in New York City.
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