Flora's Dare

Unquestionably, the 2008 book I anticipated most was Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room), by Ysabeau S. Wilce (Harcourt, 2008). Or Flora's Dare, for short.

Its predecessor, Flora Segunda, was one of my favorite books of 2007. The twisting and turning plot, the unique yet distinctly American fantasy world, the original fantasy elements, the well-rounded characters, and dry humor made it a pleasure from beginning to end. Flora's Dare meets the high standard set by the first volume.

Three months after the events of Flora Segunda, the nation of Califa is facing great unrest, both political and in the form of earthquakes that threaten to destroy all. When Flora learns the earthquakes may be caused by the Loliga, a powerful elemental trapped in the form of a squid underneath the city, she knows she must seek the aid of Califa's most powerful adept, Lord Axacaya, though her parents insist he is not to be trusted. Meanwhile, Flora's perfect older sister has deserted the army and her best friend Udo has gone silly over a goth girl and the prospect of making his fortune bounty hunting. As always, Flora asks herself: what would her idol, the great magickal ranger Nini Mo, do?

In addition to the things I loved about Flora Segunda, these were some things that stuck out to me while reading Flora's Dare:

• Flora is no Mary Sue. When she tries a spell beyond her ability, she gets burned (sometimes literally). Things never go right the first time—or, often, the second or third time. It's sometimes frustrating to read, because you want to see Flora succeed. But it's great because at each failure, Flora tries again; like a good ranger, she never gives up.
• Wilce keeps the surprises coming, but each reveal gives you the sense of, "Ahhh! I see!" rather than "Where did that come from?"
• It's clear by the end that there's at least one more Flora book coming, but you don't feel that way while reading it. In other words, this is not a Book Two that feels like nothing more than a build-up to Book Three. (Meanwhile, I think readers could read Flora's Dare without having read Flora Segunda first, but so much world-building takes place in the first book, I don't think you'd want to.)
• There is what I believe to be a thinly veiled reference to This Is Spinal Tap on page 70.

Flora's Dare is darker than Flora Segunda. There's more violence and death, and there are some tense moments when sexual assault is threatened (but never carried out). Still, I don't think it's anything that anyone but gentle readers couldn't handle. I highly recommend it for readers interested in adventure and/or fantasy and/or just something a little different, junior high age through adult.

And now, of course, I can't wait for volume three.

(Don't miss this fun interview with Ysabeau Wilce, conducted by Little Willow last year!)