Above (Broken Sky Chronicles Series #2)

by Jason Chabot

Overview

The epic adventure continues. . .

Elia has been separated from Hokk for many weeks as she struggles to live with the Torkin marauders. Viewed as a dangerous outsider, she works tirelessly to gain their acceptance, though all the while, she has resigned herself to never being able to return to her home above the clouds.

Yet Hokk has found a way to leave Below for good, and once he crosses forbidden boundaries to track Elia down in the mountains, they finally escape and fly away to Above.

Together, they embark on a perilous quest that takes them across the scorched sand dunes of a desolate floating island, where the sun’s deadly rays endanger Hokk’s life. Their only hope of survival is to be saved by a family with important ties to the privileged classes which Elia has been trying to infiltrate. As she digs deeper, scandalous secrets are revealed, threatening to destroy everything Elia has been trying to do to save Hokk, herself, and her own family from the forces that would see them eliminated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681626062
Publisher:	Turner
Publication date:	02/07/2017
Series:	Broken Sky Chronicles Series , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jason Chabot grew up in the rural outskirts of Chilliwack, B.C., and now, with his CA designation, works as a financial controller in Vancouver.

Visit Jason at www.jasonchabot.com

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Book 1

"In this first book in the Broken Sky Chronicles, originally published in Canada, Chabot should catch readers’ imagination with his keen eye for characterizations and flow. Elia is from Above, living and working on one of several majestic floating islands, though she and her family are little more than servants. When her island begins to crumble away, and the Imperial Guard stalk her as a traitor, she falls over the edge of her world into Below. Hokk is an exile cursed to a solitary existence on the prairies of Below for a crime committed in his youth. When he sees the islands of Above coming closer, all he can think of is to warn the same people who sentenced him. Along the way he finds Elia and takes her with him—as proof that their worlds may be literally colliding. Shifting attention between Elia and Hokk, the third-person narrative draws readers along briskly, the worldbuilding tinged with details sampled from indigenous and fantasy cultures. This installment’s open-ended mysteries should leave readers eager to see where it turns next."—Publisher's Weekly

From the Publisher

12/01/2016
Gr 8 Up—This book picks up exactly where Below left off, with Hokk and Elia separated Below. Elia is living among the Torkin marauders, attempting to blend in as one of the male workers. Hokk is a wanted man in Torkin and must go to great lengths to reunite with Elia and free her so that they can continue their quest to Above. Along the way, they are being pursued by a Torkin warrior who has been acting as Elia's protector and wants to see Hokk dead. They are also trying to find another woman who fell from Above many years earlier, and they hope that she will provide insight into their journey and possibly join them. Meanwhile, a new set of characters are introduced, and they become instrumental in the protagonists' quest to locate Elia's family and solve the mystery of the box she carries with her from her days as a palace laundress. The author moves the plot along more quickly than in the first installment, filling in holes regarding the history of the invented world. He also brings in many more characters, most of whom are disappointingly one-dimensional. The box that Elia carries with her from Above is the motivation for her desperation to return home, but it is not discussed much until the end of the story, and the delay in making these connections may frustrate some readers. The tale concludes with a cliff-hanger, setting up what will hopefully be a decisive third installment of the series. VERDICT Purchase where the first volume is popular.—Carli Sauer, Carmel Middle School, IN

School Library Journal

2016-11-16
In this sequel to Below (2016), 16-year-old Elia longs to return to her home in the clouds, but she is stuck trying to survive in a harsh world where her dark skin and strange eyes mark her as an outsider.Hokk, a citizen of Below, braves the badlands to rescue her from the marauders she's been trapped with for weeks. Together they use the rescued winged donkey and flying horse to return to the floating islands of Above. However, the sun-scorched and desolate island where they land proves to be too much for the fair-skinned Hokk. And while Elia possesses the extra set of eyelids of Above, Hokk lacks this protection. Their only hope for rescue is a family of privileged explorers. Elia quickly finds herself enmeshed in the royal court of Above, but instead of the answers she seeks, she finds only more secrets and lies. Mostly smoothing out the worldbuilding snags that characterized the series opener, this seamless blend of fantasy, dystopia, and myth yields an absorbing tale. The growing bond between Elia and Hokk will enchant true romantics, while the surprising plot twists and ongoing mystery will satisfy readers looking for a dose of danger and action. The pacing is still a bit uneven as the narration shifts among Elia, Hokk, and Tash, a noble girl of Above, and there's a regrettable reliance on tropes of exoticism. A cliffhanger ending promises another addition. Unusual and largely engaging. (Fantasy. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews