Review of "The Lie" by Hannah S. Chacko

The Lie is the first in the Elementalist series.  A Fantasy series geared towards young adults but which is, in my opinion, equally appealing to adults.


Set in the broader context of an ancient conflict which involves many "realms" and a prophecy in the early stages of coming to fruition, the story centres on two young girls: Scortia and Caya.  The two are best friends.  They are also unknowingly two of the "children of destiny" who will play a crucial role in the fulfillment of the prophecy.  Fleeing from an unhappy home life, Scortia finds herself ascending the strange and magical Mount Zircon, pulled by an unseen force.  Caya soon follows in pursuit of her friend.  They encounter many perils and other characters en-route.  Eventually they start their training and begin to learn of the roles they will play in events to come. Meanwhile, another child of Destiny, Mattias, who is a young officer, comes to learn of his own part.
Though the book is well over 300 pages, it feels like you have just read the first chapter of a much broader and grander story.  Is that a good thing? Yes, in the sense that it leaves you wanting more. 

The storytelling is compelling and fluid, moving at a comfortable pace.  The author captures the reader's attention with an air of mystery that encourages the reader to keep on, seeking answers, but without creating undue confusion or leaving the reader lost.

Interestingly, Ms. Chacko does something most first time authors are strongly cautioned against.  As writers we are told there are "rules", and only well known authors can "get away" with breaking them (because it's assumed that if you're not a well known author then your breaking of the rules just means that you're inexperienced, rather than clever).  In my opinion, Ms. Chacko breaks a few rules, but she seems to know what she's doing and it works.  For example, she uses an unusual format of placing what would normally be relegated to a footnote right in the body of the text, which she calls "notes to readers".  It gives one the sense of a storytelling pausing in the tale to convey some background information crucial to the story that would have otherwise been awkward to weave into the narrative itself.  I found it refreshing that these notes are presented in this way instead of forcing me to mark my place in order to flip to a footnote or glossary.  It also works with the way the story is presented from the start as being the observations of the "documenter of events" and gives the feel that the storyteller is conversing with the reader.

My 10 year old daughter, who is a voracious reader, read through this book with zeal in near record time.  She loved it, would give it 5 out of 5 stars and said it was just as good as her favorite book "The Two Princesses of Bamarre" by Gail Carson Levine and as good as the books by one of her favorite authors, Tamora Pierce.  High praise indeed!
When I informed her that a sequel had already been written and was in the editing stages she responded with an enthusiastic "Cool!!!"



I found the story to be original and well written.  Hannah Chacko is certainly an emerging young talent.  I highly recommend giving this book a read and I look forward to its sequels.  4.5 out of 5 stars.

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