Angie Thomas has managed to breathe new life into the badly overused tropes of youth fantasy.
Fantasy
Angie Thomas: Nic Blake and the Remarkables – The Manifestor Prophecy (Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy). Finnish Ilkka Rekiaro. Big Dipper. 320 pp.
If the main character of the new young fantasy series is a 12-year-old with magical abilities who lives in the world of ordinary people, expectations immediately jump on the Hogwarts train. After 27 years of Potter, can anyone write fresh about the adventures of magical youth?
American Angie Thomas (b. 1988) shows that it is possible. Thomas is known for portraying the lives of African-American youth The hate you sow -from his novel (2017, Finnish Kaijamari Sivill). The fight against racism also continues Nic Blake and the Marvelous -in the beginning of the trilogy In Manifestors' Prophecy.
The title character of the novel, Nic Blake, is a 12-year-old girl who lives with her father. He has one good friend, JP, the only other African-American kid on the street. JP doesn't have any supernatural abilities himself, but Nick doesn't get to enjoy them either. Nic's father has promised to teach him to use his magical abilities when he turns 12. His birthday comes, but Nic has to settle for a new pet: a horned hound puppy.
On your birthday however, things happen that change Nic's life in one fell swoop. Without giving away any more plot revelations, let's mention that Nic ends up running away to New Orleans with JP and his twin brother Alexis, who came into his life as a surprise. They have a few days to find the missing magic item, or Nic and Alexis' father will have a bad time.
Along the way, the youngsters encounter a whole host of supernatural and mythical creatures that are hostile, friendly, or sometimes somewhere in between. At the same time, secrets related to his life begin to be revealed to Nic.
Like by JK Rowling In the Harry Potter novels, in Thomas's fantasy, the community of supernatural beings and people who use magical abilities lives partially hidden among the “commoners”, i.e. the non-miraculous. However, Thomas's wonders also have their own hidden cities.
However, the hidden magic people are not scary, but African-Americans who are proud of their background. The magical abilities of their ancestors have been extinguished in time, allowing them to be enslaved – until in the 19th century they regained their abilities and founded their own secret societies.
What is also surprising in Thomas's fantasy is that the community of African-Americans with miraculous or supernatural abilities is also technically decades ahead of the society of ordinary people. The union of magic and technology produces a shiny science fiction utopia, compared to which the medieval wizarding exploits of the Potters seem dusty.
Angie Thomas has managed to breathe new life into the badly overused tropes of youth fantasy. The Bertha locomotive of the underground railway that transports young people from place to place may be a version of the Picking Line from the Potter books, but Bertha's connections to African American history and cool magical technology make the creation original.
It's easy to believe that Nic Blake novels provide relatable heroes for African American youth in the United States. The novels soar into imaginative realms, but are firmly rooted in the social reality of American minorities.
Fantasy and reality come together in a shocking way when you realize that the characters in the novel have to fear white people more than vampires, werewolves or dragons.
Read more: An unarmed black man was killed by the police, and Angie Thomas, the same age, began to vent her frustrations into writing – and a worldwide hit book was
born
#Book #review #Angie #Thomas39s #young #adult #book #Harry #Potter #meets #African #American #folklore
