KLIATT
To quote KLIATT's Nov. 2000 review of the hardcover edition: This is the beginning of an appealing fantasy series about a young woman named Claidi who lives in a constricted world as a servant (slave) in a rigid society. She grabs at a chance to break free, mysteriously aided by an old woman who wants her to accompany a prisoner she will arrange to free. It helps that this prisoner, Nemian, is an attractive prince with gorgeous hair, who seems fearless. The two go out across the Waste to the prince's home, defying every warning that Claidi has ever heard...Still, Claidi and Nemian push on to his city, the Peshamba, where the plot becomes complex, with an amazing ending to this first book in the series. Lee is an experienced writer of fantasy. Her style is often familiar and informal, rather than the more elegant language found in many books in the genre. As she has said in an interview, she likes to put her characters, especially the women, in situations where they question the rules, stand up to authority, and listen to their own hearts and consciences. Claidi is just such a heroine. (The Claidi Journals, Book 1) Category: Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror. KLIATT Codes: JS—Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 1998, Penguin, Puffin, , Ages 13 to 18. Reviewer: Claire Rosser; KLIATT
Children's Literature
Sixteenyearold Claidi is a servant (might as well call it 'slave') to the Lady Jade Leaf, the nastiest, most spoiled princess in the House. But it's better to be a slave in the House than to be an outcast in the Waste. After all, there slaves are dressed and fed, the House is full of beautiful things, the grounds are full of gardens, and the lions, horses, and hippos are safe in their enclosures. The Waste is just that—fierce humans who don't look human, trading in humans, even fiercer uncaged animals, no House and no Rituals that must be followed on pain of exile. No Gates. Claidi dreams of leaving. She gets her chance when a hotair balloon drifts into view and is shot down by Guards. Its passenger is captured and imprisoned. From this point on, Claidi is manipulated into becoming a heroine. She is to lead the prisoner through the Waste to his own city. He knows where he's going. Doesn't he? The reader is manipulated, too—we never quite know who's doing the manipulating. The happy ending is a little too happy to be real. It leaves us looking forward to the next volume. 1998, Dutton Children's Books, Ages 9 to 14, $15.99. Reviewer: Judy Silverman
VOYA
All Claidi has known for sixteen years has been the stifling atmosphere of the House, where she lives and works as a princess's maid. Her first release comes when she steals a book and addresses journal entries to a secret friend. Her second release is literal--when she escapes with a handsome stranger to the Waste that lies beyond the House. Claidi has been told that exile to the Waste leads to a miserable death, and this lie and others she has been told have prevented her from knowing whom to trust. At first Claidi constantly doubts her own worth, but her journey through the Waste to the stranger's city empowers her to let her curiosity and natural resilience surface. Unfortunately the fate that awaits her in the stranger's Wolf Tower is worse than that which she left behind. Ultimately Claidi's ingenuity, resourcefulness, and sense of fairness, together with some help from friends she meets, allow her to save herself and the entire city from an unjust set of arbitrary laws. She then realizes that she has found a new family and a new love. A few minor affectations, such as a superfluous author's note and a section where Claidi thinks she hears her hypothetical readers answering her, mar the otherwise engaging and beautifully descriptive text. It is a pleasure to watch Claidi blossom and develop into the confident and capable young woman she has been given the chance to become, the person readers will encounter in further episodes of The Claidi Journals. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2000, Dutton/Lodestar, Ages 12 to 15, 240p, $15.99.Reviewer: Karen Herc
From The Critics
In this fantasy, Claidi is the slave of petty and spoiled Lady Jane Leaf. And her future appears to be an unbroken chain of tiresome chores and senseless rituals. Life changes, though, when a handsome young man arrives at her castle. He has been captured and imprisoned by Claidi's people. Soon, though, Claidi helps him to escape—and they venture on a journey that leaves her a breathless innocent in a vast game of political intrigue. The reader becomes young Claidi's confidant as she ponders such abstract ideas as social injustice, blind obedience, and belief in God. With its heavy emphasis on the concept of religious divinity, this work is recommended for readers who enjoy mixing fantasy with theology. Genre: Fantasy 2000, Dutton Children's Books, 223p
School Library Journal
Gr 6-9-Claidi, an orphaned lady's maid to a cruel and mindless princess, jumps at the chance to escape with a handsome air balloonist who has been shot down and imprisoned. Leading Nemian through the dark tunnels and out into the Waste, however, she begins to have second thoughts, which she records regularly in the journal entries that form this enjoyable fantasy. Through encounters with tribes that seem kind, and fierce desert bandits, she learns that appearances can be deceiving. When she shows interest in Argul, leader of the bandits, Nemian pleads with her to keep on traveling with him to his home. Nemian's City and its ruling Wolf Tower are bleakly stark and sad, completely bound by rules and the roll of the dice. It turns out that Nemian's quest was to bring Claidi to his grandmother as her successor. Realizing that the punishing cruelties under which the people lived were products of the old lady's twisted imagination, Claidi takes over and breaks the Rules, proclaiming there is to be no more LAW, before being rescued, yet again, by Argul. The satisfying conclusion completes the story but leaves plenty of room for Claidi's journals to continue in sequels. The fantasy world is clearly and humorously described; its varied cultures are both amusing and believable. In spite of her moodiness, the practical and strong-willed Claidi is a likable heroine with whom fantasy readers can easily identify and they will look forward to her continuing adventures.-Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|
From The Critics
Claidi has always known the harsh life of being a palace handmaiden dependent on the savage will of her spoiled princess mistress, so when she's given an opportunity to flee the kingdom and enter a strange new land, she reluctantly takes on the challenge, only to find new hardships and adjustments. Her journey takes her through a foreign land and on encounters which will test her ability to survive even harsher rule than her vanished kingdom in this moving adventure for older teens.
Kirkus Reviews
Lee (Saint Fire, not reviewed, etc.) opens a new series framed, belt and suspenders, in chapters and diary entries. Having grown up serving a petty, vicious princess, Claidi jumps at the chance to help in the escape of Nemian, a handsome, imprisoned prince. In their journey across the barren Waste, the pair weather dust storm and monster attack, pass through towns where sheep and clocks are worshipped, and encounter the Hulta, nomads led by Argul, a kingly youth who takes a shine to Claidi. She is attracted to him, too, especially after he rescues her from a sacrificial rite, but though familiarity has worn some of Nemian's glitter away, Claidi decides to go on with the prince to his home in distant Wolf Tower. To her dismay, she discovers that Nemian is already married, and that she is the victim of an elaborate ruse designed to force her back into servitude. Lee gives Claidi a modern-sounding voice—believing that some of the Hulta voted against her rescue: "Now when I talk to them, I wonder which ones didn't think I was worth the trouble. I don't blame them. But yuk"—and regards the religion and politics of the Waste's residents sardonically. In the end, Argul rescues her again, and off the two ride into upcoming sequels. A diverting escapade for fans of Karen Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy (1994), Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted (1997), and the like. (Fiction. 11-13)
