The Foretelling of Georgie Spider

The Tribe depends on Georgie's ability to foresee possible futures; now a world-ending blizzard of emptiness is snuffing futures out, each time precipitated by Ashala's death, in this conclusion to the trilogy begun with The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (2014). Distinguishing what is here and real from what might never happen is challenging for Georgie. Assisted by her cave-dwelling spiders and loyal friend Daniel, she twists vines into ropes that, when connected, map outcomes, concluding that the world's survival turns on choices made by certain individuals at a particular time. While Georgie can identify the chooser, neither choice nor outcome is foreseeable. Further, Ash must remain unaware her life's at risk. Dangers mount when terrorists disguised as Illegals (those, like the Tribe, with Abilities) bomb the Gull City train station, causing devastating casualties, to prevent city leaders from any rapprochement with Illegals. After a chaotic attempted coup, Ash leads a mission to free detainees slated for execution, while Georgie remains in the Firstwood seeking a way through the approaching blizzard. Alexander Hoffman, the not-altogether-likable curator of human survival, lends his voice to the intricate and intriguing world-building, while Starbeauty, an ethereal (but decidedly feline) cat spirit, adorns a cosmology drawn from the Australian author's indigenous heritage and fertile imagination. If the plot's complex, the theme resounding through this powerful trilogy couldn't be clearer: we have the power to choose love over hate and life over death, to forgive ourselves and others; either all life matters or none of it does. (author's note) (Indigenous futurism. 12-adult) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2018
In this final volume of Kwaymullina's "Indigenous futurism" trilogy, it seems the repressive government will finally dissolve the punitive restrictions on those with supernatural abilities. However, powerful Neville Rose's insidious influence causes damage. Action dominates the story, but Kwaymullina develops the imagery and relationships of earlier volumes to undergird all with a web of loyalty, compassion, and commitment to "connection" between beings.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

November 1, 2017
Kwaymullina, of the Palyku people of Western Australia, concludes her fantasy trilogy (The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf, rev. 3/14; The Disappearance of Ember Crow, rev. 3/16) of what she terms Indigenous futurism with a plot and set-up that speak to the prospect of environmental cataclysm--and even more pointedly to the fight between those who want to stop the hating and those who don't (as stated in her author's note). In this final volume, it seems that at last the repressive government will dissolve the Citizenship Accords that impose punitive restrictions on those with supernatural abilities, the Illegals. However, powerful Neville Rose, a man who makes it seem reasonable to hate, has insidious influence and causes drastic damage. Action and event dominate the story, but Kwaymullina develops the imagery and relationships established in earlier volumes to undergird all with a web of loyalty, compassion, and commitment to connection between beings--human, animal, and android. Transparent in ideals and political concepts, the book nevertheless sustains its own vivid world of a sensate forest, animal spirit beings, futuristic technology, and enduring love. deirdre f. baker

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)