Book Impressions: Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells

Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells was another Strange Chemistry subscription book I might not even have known of without taking that plunge. As it is, this was one of the books I was actually eager to read once I had it downloaded - I loved the cover, the blurb sounded fun, and overall, it had the feel of a book that would be just up my alley.

Emilie and the Hollow World

 

Martha Wells

 

****

 

While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.

With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.

I should say right away that I'm rating this book as a children's (middle grade) book, not young adult, which, I think, it's theoretically supposed to be.

It didn't read like YA. It read pure middle-grade to me, right down to Emilie, the heroine, coming off far more as 12-14 than 16 which she was supposed to be. The writing style, the plot, the occasionally unnecessary explanations to the reader - all that felt "young" to me (with the possible exception of occasional references to prostitutes).

That said, once I'd adjusted my mindset and read it like a children's adventure instead of young adult fantasy, I really liked it. It reminded me a lot (in the general sense of wonder and adventure) of Jules Verne's work or Conan Doyle's Challenger books, although it was set in a fantasy world, not "our" world (one rather like ours / sort of 19th century feel, just with magic). The pacing was good (at least I didn't find it dragging), the adventures exciting, the heroine spunky and feisty and brave while not being superpowered, the supporting cast largely fairly good.

I'm not entirely keen on the hint of Emilie/Daniel we got from this book (I take it that there are more planned, although this works very well as a standalone), but, eh. I'll withhold judgement on that for the time being - if there are more books planned, I expect we'll see how that relationship develops.