In 'Guardians of Porthaven,' a new YA fantasy/adventure from Orca Books, the fairy-tale tower is only half real, & the princess cloistered high above is actually a prince. One who reads superhero comics. And he has superpowers himself.
If his life wasn't complicated enough before his 15th birthday, after it literally nothing goes as planned.
Malcolm Gravenhurst is the next generation of an elite family that uses its powers to protect the city of Porthaven against robotic invaders called the klek (for the sound they make). The klek claimed his parents & his grandmother, leaving him to be raised in the family industrial tower by tutors and trainers overseen by his remote grandfather, his emotionally distant aunt, and nurturing Uncle Felix. He's kicked around a lot by his cousin Eric in combat training and reduced to a brand by his cousin Melissa, who controls the family's social media presence and watches its stock price like a mother hen.
A telling metaphor for Malcolm's existence is that, at the media scrum/high-society event that passes for his birthday party, it's almost all over before he discovers there was a cake with his name on it. It's mostly eaten now, and he wasn't offered a piece. Later on he explains to a new acquaintance that growing up as a Gravenhurst is "sometimes more like being part of a business than part of a family" but by then it's already very clear to the reader that he's more a pawn than an individual to his family.
Underlining his difference from them, he wants to be a crime fighter helping the ordinary citizen, but that's not anywhere on his family's big-picture agenda. This yearning lures him out of his tower into the darkened city where he can be himself, unfettered by family demands (as long as he's not recognized). But out there too are people far more diverse than his elite upbringing introduced him to, and questions he's never had to consider, and answers he may not be ready to confront. He gets called on his white, rich, savior-complex upbringing without any heavy moralizing or orchestrated canceling. Beyond his tower he has to earn his friendships, and other people's loyalty.
Malcolm's first fight against the klek is well written, unfolding on your mental movie screen like a manga battle but with an inner narrative of his thoughts & feelings: surprise at the kleks' size and dismay at his own ineptitude, feeling outclassed by his far more experienced relatives as you might expect when a rookie joins a team that's been fighting together for over a decade. The writing continues clear & the pace compelling; with new characters and complications arriving just when you think you know how the story will unfold.
A cracking good story with strong character development and high action. I'll look for more by author Shane Arbuthnott.
