Like a River Glorious (Gold Seer Trilogy Series #2)

by Rae Carson, John Hendrix (Illustrator)

Overview

The sequel to the New York Times–bestselling and National Book Award longlisted Walk on Earth a Stranger. 

After her harrowing journey west to California, Lee Westfall has finally found a new home—one rich in gold, thanks to her magical power, a power that seems to be changing every day. But this home is rich in other ways, too: with friends who are searching for a place to be themselves, just as she is, and with love. Jefferson—her longtime best friend—hasn’t stopped trying to win her heart. And Lee is more and more tempted to say yes.

But her uncle Hiram hasn’t given up his quest to get Lee and her power under his control. When she’s kidnapped and taken to him, Lee sees firsthand the depths of her uncle’s villainy. Yet Lee’s magic is growing. Gold no longer simply sings to her, it listens. It obeys her call. Is it enough to destroy her uncle once and for all?

Rae Carson, acclaimed author of the Girl of Fire and Thorns series, takes us deep into the gold fields as she continues this sweeping saga of magic and history, and an unforgettable heroine who must come into her own. Like a River Glorious is the second book in the Gold Seer trilogy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062242952
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Series:	Gold Seer Trilogy Series , #2
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	354,691
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Rae Carson is the author of two bestselling and award-winning trilogies, as well as the acclaimed stand-alone novels Any Sign of Life and The Empire of Dreams. Her debut, The Girl of Fire and Thorns, was named a William C. Morris Award finalist and an Andre Norton Award finalist. Walk on Earth a Stranger was longlisted for the 2015 National Book Award and won the Western Writers of America Spur Award. Her books tend to contain adventure, magic, and smart girls who make (mostly) smart choices. Originally from California, Rae Carson now lives in Ohio with her husband. www.raecarson.com

Editorial Reviews

A celebration of great courage, the ability of people to come together as family, and the healing power of love. The exciting, sweet, and satisfying ending is probably only temporary, however, as the final book in the trilogy is forthcoming.” — Booklist

“Carson’s alternate Gold Rush-era setting is fierce and brutal...The socio-politics, too, are complicated.” — Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

A celebration of great courage, the ability of people to come together as family, and the healing power of love. The exciting, sweet, and satisfying ending is probably only temporary, however, as the final book in the trilogy is forthcoming.

Booklist

Carson’s alternate Gold Rush-era setting is fierce and brutal...The socio-politics, too, are complicated.

Horn Book Magazine

A celebration of great courage, the ability of people to come together as family, and the healing power of love. The exciting, sweet, and satisfying ending is probably only temporary, however, as the final book in the trilogy is forthcoming.

Booklist

12/01/2016
Gr 9 Up-Not as strong or as enchanting as Walk on Earth a Stranger, the first book in the trilogy, this follow-up has plenty of action but falls short on substantive plot. Leah Westfall, 16, has the ability to sense gold and has made it from Georgia to California seeking both safety and her fortune at the start of the Gold Rush. Her talent has also drawn the interest of her purely nefarious uncle, Hiram, who is hot on her trail. After divulging her secret to her close group of trail mates and staking claims in a prosperous spot, Leah and her half-Native American best friend (and love interest) Jefferson are kidnapped and imprisoned by Hiram and his henchman. Every character is an archetype worthy of the soap opera-style drama that ensues, including offbeat old miners, lovestruck and ever-hopeful Jefferson, a reluctant but helpful prostitute housekeeper, a stoic "bodyguard" for Leah, and the lecherous uncle who will stop at nothing, including murder and brutal Indian enslavement, to get what he wants. As Leah and her compatriots hatch a plan to escape, an Indian uprising is planned, and the stakes grow deadly for many. VERDICT Fans of the first book may enjoy the nonstop histrionics, but others can pass this by.-Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

2016-08-02
The middle volume of Carson’s Gold Seer trilogy. Young, white Leah Westfall’s mystical ability to sense when gold is near is both a beneficial and a dangerous trait during this era of the forty-niners. She is traveling through California with a band of friends who are looking to prospect and settle. Knowing her uncle Hiram—her only living relative, who knows of her power—is on her trail, Leah is forced to reveal her secret to her friends so that they know the risk of accompanying her. Utilizing Leah’s gold sense, this small group begins to stake their claims along the American River when uncle Hiram's men find her. The construct of this historical narrative fails by creating a female protagonist with absurd mystical powers that make her a cash cow (literally). The relationships are muddled, as she has a half-white, half-Cherokee sweetheart, Jefferson Kingfisher, a fact that is hard to reconcile with their prospecting on Indian land. Aside from Jefferson, the Native Americans mostly act as the stereotypical backdrop of decimated Indians. By keeping them largely naked and hidden, Carson diminishes the historical Native American resistance against Western expansion in the Sacramento area, and she adds insult to injury by ultimately making them collaborators in Leah’s theft of their land. An author’s note describes Carson’s research but cannot account for this portrayal. Another indulgence in a Western narrative that undermines both history and its female protagonist instead of enlightening. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

Kirkus Review