The Floating Islands¶
by Rachel Neumeier
Re-read date: December 2024
Original read date: circa-2011
I have a very distinct memory of seeing this on the new books shelf in my home library. It was an unusual shelf for a library (yellow-painted metal mesh) that I thought they only had when I was in elementary school. However, The Floating Islands apparently came out when I was in high school, so the shelf must have lasted a bit longer than I thought.
Anyway, there were several prominently displayed copies and the covers were very attractive. It seemed to be marketed as a fairly big deal, but I remember it being weeded quickly. There were no copies a few years later. On a re-read, the short shelf-life makes sense. It had some nice imagery and competent writing, but the plot and characters were forgettable. The plot, in particular, hinged on some unnecessary tragedies that the characters recovered from unrealistically quickly. I did still enjoy the descriptions of much the world. The descriptions of the school of mages and the long ocean journey were lovely pieces of writing.
