TITLE: Into the Windwracked Wilds (The Up-and-Under Book 3)
AUTHOR: A. Deborah Baker
213 pages, Tor.com Publishing, ISBN 9781250848444 (hardcover/e-book/audiobook)
MY RATING: 5 stars out of 5
SHORT REVIEW: In the third book in A. Deborah Baker’s Up-and-Under portal fantasy series, protagonists Avery and Zib seem no closer to finding their way home – but they are much closer to being actual friends instead of happenstance travel-mates. The interplay between the cautious Avery and the impulsive Zib continues to be the heart of the series, as they work to find common ground and a way of understanding each other. By saying that the kids seem no closer to finding home, I don’t mean to imply that their journey lacks momentum or change. Zib and Avery are growing and learning throughout this adventure, as they leave the Saltwise Sea behind and enter the Land of Air and face an encounter with the Queen of Swords. Each encounter with royalty of the Up-and-Under so far has been dangerous, and this one is no exception.
LONGER REVIEW: In the third book in A. Deborah Baker’s Up-and-Under portal fantasy series, protagonists Avery and Zib (two children, one boy and one girl, the same age but very different in personality, who lived three doors down from each other but who had never met until they climbed Over the Woodward Wall in the first book of the series) seem no closer to finding their way home – but they are much closer to being actual friends instead of happenstance travel-mates.
To rules-following Avery, the Up-and-Under continues to be confounding as there are no obvious consistent rules to follow and every time someone explains how things work he just gets more confused. But even adventurous Zib is nearing her wits’ end as obstacles to completing their journey crop up and her impulsive responses make situations worse instead of better. The interplay between the cautious Avery and the impulsive Zib continues to be the heart of the series, as they work to find common ground and a way of understanding each other. As with the best children’s literature, there are lessons to be learned – about friendship, about patience, about really listening, about not giving away things that don’t belong to you, about being careful what you wish for. None of these lessons are bludgeoned over the reader’s head; the author is too capable and has too much respect for the intelligence of her audience (regardless of their age) for that – but they are present nonetheless.
By saying that the kids seem no closer to finding home, I don’t mean to imply that their journey lacks momentum or change. This is not a series where the status quo is maintained and each book ends with the characters right back where they started. Zib and Avery are growing and learning throughout this adventure, as they leave the Saltwise Sea behind and enter the Land of Air and face an encounter with the Queen of Swords. Each encounter with royalty of the Up-and-Under so far has been dangerous, and this one is no exception. While I had faith that Avery and Zib have a certain amount of “plot armor” (which doesn’t mean they can’t be hurt, just that they’re more likely to survive the series), I genuinely feared at one point for the continued health of their friend the Crow Girl, especially due to the Crow Girl’s history with the Queen of Swords. No spoilers as to how that turns out, of course.
The fact that I was concerned, though, should tell you just how well developed the supporting cast (Crow Girl, Niamh the drowned girl) are. They are as important to the forward momentum of the series as the two leads, and their mysteries drive the narrative as much as Avery and Zib’s simple wish to find the missing Queen of Wands and finally gain access to the Impossible City that will lead them home. The supporting cast continues to grow in this (I believe to be) penultimate book in the series, and I think my fellow readers will be intrigued by the newest addition to the team.
The series as a whole, but this book in particular, also seems to have a lot to say for how adults prepare their children for the world. Avery’s parents were very strict and controlling (but not unloving), while Zib’s gave her more free rein (which does not indicate a lack of care). The fraught relationship of parent and child is really explored in this volume, and it gave me a lot to think about (as an adult with no kids of my own, but a small army of nieces and nephews I would place myself in grave danger to protect).
It probably should be noted that the Up-and-Under books are written by Seanan McGuire under the pen name A. Deborah Baker, because in the world of McGuire’s novels Middlegame and Seasonal Fears, Baker’s children’s series is as well known as the Oz, Narnia, and Wonderland books are in our world. You don’t have to read the two novels to understand anything at all about these books other than knowing why McGuire chose the pen-name she did. If I recall correctly, the Up-and-Under is a long series (12 books? 16?) in that world, but McGuire is only planning to write the first four for us. I anticipate a lot will happen to Avery, Zib, and their friends in the final book before the kids find their way home, and I look forward to reading it in late 2023.
I also can’t close out this review with complimenting the cover art of the series so far. David Curtis’s covers are beautiful, evocative, and so perfectly consistent in design that I would love to own them as posters.