Publishers Weekly
08/19/2019
Generations of Aeon’s twin goddesses have appeased the Great Mother with a ritual that sacrifices one sister and enthrones the other. None has failed to complete the rite—until 17 years ago, when both Latona and Asteria survived. An abyss opened, dividing them, and planetary rotation ceased. Now, Latona’s hemisphere bakes in perpetual sunshine, while Asteria’s freezes in eternal darkness. The site of the Breaking reportedly also holds the magic to repair it, so Latona’s daughter, Haidee, and Asteria’s daughter, Odessa, embark on perilous treks toward the breach, as forces seem determined to unite them. The first in a planned duology, this rich fantasy from Chupeco (the Bone Witch trilogy) spotlights power’s corruptive influence, love’s redemptive nature, and the urgent concerns of climate change. Although complex worldbuilding occasionally eclipses character and plot, the tale’s scope and creativity astound. Gay and straight romances add additional intrigue, while four intertwining first-person narratives confer immediacy and depth. Ages 14–up. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
The Never Tilting World is what happens when Garth Nix meets Mad Max: Fury Road. It’s a dark, lovely, and even timely look at a world that’s fallen apart, with just the right blend of epic action and twisted magic.” — Tara Sim, author of Timekeeper
“Visually vivid, magical, and exhilarating.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Dark and richly drawn, The Never Tilting World is a lavish fantasy about sisterhood, sacrifice, and finding strength in a treacherous world. Chupeco’s writing is lushly descriptive, transporting me to the brink of the abyss; while reading it, I could swear the world stood still.” — Heidi Heilig, author of For a Muse of Fire
“Multiple plot twists and a breathlessly cinematic tone will attract fantasy and romance fans alike.” — Booklist
“Complex, brutal, romantic, and terrifying. With a phenomenal cast of characters who stick to your bones and vivid worldbuilding that shows up in your dreams, this is a book that demands to be experienced.” — Dahlia Adler, author of Under the Lights and editor of His Hideous Heart
“This rich fantasy spotlights power’s corruptive influence, love’s redemptive nature, and the urgent concerns of climate change. The tale’s scope and creativity astound.” — Publishers Weekly
"A vivid, exquisitely realized, and compellingly unique YA fantasy." — Tor.com
“A great choice for fantasy shelves.” — School Library Journal
Tara Sim
The Never Tilting World is what happens when Garth Nix meets Mad Max: Fury Road. It’s a dark, lovely, and even timely look at a world that’s fallen apart, with just the right blend of epic action and twisted magic.
Booklist
Multiple plot twists and a breathlessly cinematic tone will attract fantasy and romance fans alike.
Heidi Heilig
Dark and richly drawn, The Never Tilting World is a lavish fantasy about sisterhood, sacrifice, and finding strength in a treacherous world. Chupeco’s writing is lushly descriptive, transporting me to the brink of the abyss; while reading it, I could swear the world stood still.
Tor.com
"A vivid, exquisitely realized, and compellingly unique YA fantasy."
Dahlia Adler
Complex, brutal, romantic, and terrifying. With a phenomenal cast of characters who stick to your bones and vivid worldbuilding that shows up in your dreams, this is a book that demands to be experienced.
Booklist
Multiple plot twists and a breathlessly cinematic tone will attract fantasy and romance fans alike.
School Library Journal
09/01/2019
Gr 9 Up—After a sister's betrayal splits the world in two, our characters embark on a dangerous journey in this adventurous fantasy tale. For generations, twin goddesses have ruled Aeon but when this betrayal, called "the Breaking" takes place, two realms have been created, one in constant night and one entrenched in heat and light. One sister rules the dark city called Aranth and the other rules the Golden City. Each goddess has a daughter by her side to help her rule, and both keep secrets. The story is told in four interwoven perspectives. In the Golden City the daughter goddess Haidee desires to be free to make choices of her own and wants to lead her people to a better life. Arjun lives outside the city, struggling to survive but is compelled to help Haidee. In Aranth, the other daughter and goddess Odessa, sickly and bookish, longs to leave her tower and Tianlan, a catseye healer and bodyguard to the goddess, who works to find the balance between her duty to the goddess and her desire for her. The four are drawn through shadows and otherworldly beings to the place of the Breaking, where night meets day. The characters are nicely developed and readers will discover much about them as they go on their journey. VERDICT An engaging adventure that will leave readers anxious for the next book in this duology. A great choice for fantasy shelves.—Megan Huenemann, Norris High School, Firth, NE
Kirkus Reviews
2019-07-24
Can 17-year-old goddesses fix the world?
Ever since the Breaking, the world of Aeon has stopped turning. One hemisphere exists in perpetual night plagued by ceaseless tsunamis while the other half is scorched by constant oppressive sunlight. Aeon is a dystopian world where critical resources are scarce and monsters and spectres lurk dangerously. Living in opposite hemispheres and unaware of the other's existence, twin goddesses Odessa and Haidee embark on treacherous parallel journeys to the Great Abyss to revisit the site of the Breaking and try to heal the world that their mothers made so wrong. These are teens aching to understand the broken world they've inherited and figure out how to set it to rights. What are they willing to fight for and defend? In a book narrated by four alternating voices, Chupeco (contributor: His Hideous Heart, 2019, etc.) offers up an exciting page-turner that is so visually vivid that reading it feels like watching a movie. It's chock full of narrow escapes, plot twists, and great characters—even a queer romance—that work in concert. Give this to fans of Holly Black's The Cruel Prince (2018) and Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone (2018); they will devour this story that is part epic adventure, part political thriller and eagerly await its sequel. Most characters are presumed white; two major and several secondary characters are coded as East or South Asian.
Magical and exhilarating. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)
