Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Flora's Fury
Fiction Series
For ages 12 and up
Harcourt Children's Books, 2012 ISBN: 978-0152054090
Flora Fyrdraaca’s life has always been complicated, but until a few months ago she has always felt secure about who she is and where she comes from. She was told - and believed - that she was the daughter of Buck and Hotspur Fyrdraaca, and she always knew that she would serve as a soldier in the Califa military when she was of age, following in her parent’s footsteps.
However, now Flora knows that she is not Buck’s daughter at all. Instead, she is the daughter of Tiny Doom Hadraada, a hero of Califa who was killed by the Birdies, Califa’s much hated overlords. Flora is therefore the sole surviving heir of the Hadraada family, which means that the Birdies must never find out who she is. If they do, they will surely kill her.
Flora has been lied to so many times that she is not at all convinced that Tiny Doom really is dead. What if she isn’t? Tiny Doom is enormously popular in Califa, and if she were to come back, surely she would be able to lead the people of Califa in a revolution to overthrow the Birdies. Califa could be free once more, and Flora would be able to live as herself without fear.
The problem is that Flora has no idea where Tiny Doom might be hiding, so she casts a spell on a map, and using a little of her blood, she tries to find out where Tiny Doom is. The spell works, but before Flora can get a good look at the map, it is stolen by a wer-bear, a shape-shifter who can take on the appearance of a man or a bear.
Flora desperately tries to get her map back and then, by chance, she finds herself on a ship with the Tharyn, the shape-shifter who stole her map. When the ship is attacked by pirates, Flora and the Tharyn escape together and they make a deal. Flora will keep Tharyn’s true nature a secret, and he will give her back her map. Their plan is a simple one, but not surprisingly, things do not work out as planned, and Flora finds herself traveling to many dangerous and inhospitable places as she tries to escape her enemies and find her mother.
In this third Flora book, the author takes her readers on an extraordinary journey full of adventures, bizarre characters (some of whom are quite terrifying), magickal doings, and a touch of romance. In a very short period of time, Flora learns a lot and does a lot of growing up. She makes terrible discoveries and comes to appreciate that sometimes the people who are connected to you by blood are not the people who are real family.
Readers who enjoyed the first two books about Flora are going to love this weirdly wonderful tale.
