In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan

IN OTHER LANDS

A review by Jeana To
★★★★☆

I gave this book a four-star rating because I really enjoyed reading it. It was a very nice break from the usual fare of dark, heart-wrenching YA fantasy novels.

In Other Lands is a fascinating novel by Sarah Rees Brennan. It tells the tale of a cynical, nerdy, and grumpy boy named Elliot. Everything starts with a school field trip, where Elliot discovers a wall that none of his other classmates can see. Turns out, this isn’t just any wall, it’s the Wall -- the gateway to the Borderlands, a land filled with magical creatures. He's taken over the Wall into the Borderlands and given a choice: stay or leave. Though many other humans decide to leave, Elliot decides to stay. He has no one to go back to at home anyway (except for one uncaring father). And besides...there are mermaids!

Elliot enters the Borderlands training camp, which is split up into two tracks: the council training track and the warrior training track. Being the small skinny nerd boy that he is, Elliot joins the council training track. Unfortunately, he soon finds that nowadays it’s the warriors who make all of the big important decisions. The council members, who are supposedly supposed to be guiding them through these big important decisions, are completely ignored. In the Borderlands, war and physical prowess are highly valued, which irks Elliot, a pacifist. Adding on to his struggles, Elliot finds out (the hard way) that technology explodes in the Borderlands. How is a guy to survive without his phone? The novel highlights Elliot's adventures (and misadventures) in this magical land as he strives for change in the system and follows him as he grows and matures. 

At first, this book seemed to me like your average fantasy novel, and I didn't start reading it with any huge expectations. However, as I kept reading, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book was unlike any other YA fantasy book that I'd ever read before. It breaks nearly all of the tropes of the YA fantasy world and presents a completely different view on the genre of fantasy.

The beginning is a little confusing because Brennan jumps right in without giving the reader any time to ease into Elliot’s world. The narrative feels almost like a dream (which is what I thought it was at first) because the story starts off immediately with Elliot going on his field trip and traveling to this other land, and also because of Elliot's cynical nature, as he is not shocked at all but rather excited and awed and curious when he ends up in an alternate magical universe. However, I don’t think this was a problem as it matched the overall feel of the book and set the mood for the rest of the book as well.

One of the more unique things about this novel is its tone. The way that Elliot narrates this novel is very different from the way other YA novels are usually narrated. It is written in third person omniscient, which means that the book is written in the third person and the reader knows what Elliot is thinking at all times. The reason the tone of this novel is unique is because of Elliot’s personality. His grumpy attitude and cynical outlook on life creates a fantasy novel that has the feeling of a slice-of-life book, which is very unusual for the genre of fantasy. One of the reasons the tone is so unique is because of Elliot's personality. He's grumpy and obnoxious, and in all honesty I don't know if I would like him as a person outside of the book. Over time, though, his character develops and ever so slowly becomes endearing instead of annoying.

I also found it interesting how this book breaks most of the tropes that usually binds YA fantasy novels with its romantic plotline. Very contrary to Alanna (check out that review if you haven't already *wink wink*), Elliot falls in love with Serene (full name: Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-Of-Battle), an elf, at first sight. Elvin society is matriarchal, resulting in many humorous misunderstandings. I thought it was interesting how instead of the weak maiden falling for the strong, handsome prince, it was instead the weak but super-smart nerd boy who falls for the strong, smart, intelligent, brave, and deadly Elvin warrior princess.

All in all, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys books that break the stereotypes...this book surely does.

For a better understanding of the overall tone of the novel (in case I didn't do a good enough job), I recommend reading a book blurb online.