Review: The Lost Conspiracy

A while back (and I mean a long while back), I read a book called Fly by Night by the author Frances Hardinge.  At the time, I enjoyed the book, and I eagerly looked for the author’s other books.  Only it turned out, that at the time, she didn’t have any other books.  I was just going to have to wait for her to write some more.

Well, time passed, I read several hundred other books, and I completely forgot about poor Frances Hardinge — until last week when I was handed her latest book, The Lost Conspiracy.

All I can say is wow.  Wowee wow wow.  It was definitely worth the wait.

The Lost Conspiracy is a complex fantasy written about two sisters, Arilou and Haithin.  Arilou is a Lost — a person gifted with the ability to leave her physical body behind and allow her five senses to travel nearly anywhere.  Haithin is her younger, nearly invisible, sister who cares for Arilou and her body when her senses are wandering away.  Both girls are members of the Lace tribe, an indigenous people distrusted by all the other people of the island of Gullstruck — both other indigenous people and colonists — due to their past unfortunate habit of sacrificing colonists to their volcanic gods.

Arilou is the first Lace Lost in generations, but when she is the only one on the entire island who survives the strange death that claims all other Lost, she becomes an instant source of suspicion.  The rest of the book chronicles Haithin and Arilou’s plight as they attempt to save their lives.

Actually, a whole lot more happens, but I don’t want to give it away.

What I can tell you are all the many things I enjoyed about the book:

• It’s a complete tale — no waiting a whole year for the sequel when you finally get to know if the characters you’ve come to know and love are going to survive.
• The fantasy world is fascinating — I have never read a world quite like it.  Although it draws from many elements, the actual pairing of all of the different parts is unique.
• It has a ton of different layers.  There are so many different ways this book can be read and discussed.

In the end, I would recommend this book to older middle grade readers (say 10 & up) and also book clubs and reading groups.