It feels fitting to listen to Les Miserables while writing this. Two stories of an unjust, relentless pursuit. Underground Airlines is set in an alternate United States where slavery was never truly abolished. While most states have made slavery illegal, the Hard Four have not. It should come as little surprise to the reader who the Hard Four are: Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and a unified Carolina. The story follows Victor, a professional tracker set to find the location of the runaway slave Jackdaw. In doing so, Victor infiltrates an Underground Airline operation, and finds much more than he bargained for.
Book Review: 'Arrows of the Queen'
Arrows of the Queen, written by Mercedes Lackey, is the first in the Heralds of Valdemar series. I lament the fact I was introduced to this book so (relatively) late in life, because I would have loved and cherished this book as a child. If I had read this book before my stint working at Chapters, I would have been recommending it left and right to young adults — but don’t let that deter you from reading this if you don’t generally like YA fiction.