Akarnae relies heavily on well-worn fantasy and sci-fi tropes – so if that that’s going to bother you then this is probably not the book for you. Alex literally trips and falls into adventure, rather than being pushed by tragedy, and as a result she bypasses most of the usual pain and pining that heroes go through when their journey begins.ĭespite the lack of tragic backstory, Alexandra Jennings is very much a fantasy protagonist. Alex’s childhood was unusual – and she missed out on deep friendships with her peers because she moved around with her parents so much – but she was not unloved or abandoned and she clearly has a pretty good relationship with her parents. Sure, when the story begins, she’s pretty upset with her parents for dumping her at boarding school, but it’s your basic teen angst in that deep down she understands why they’re doing it even if she doesn’t like it. The first thing you need to know about Alex is that she doesn’t have a tragic backstory. She’s just a hell of a lot more well-adjusted than your average fantasy protagonist.

Yet Alex’s journey is the same as any other hero. There’s no love triangle - in fact there’s hardly any romance at all - and it’s not weighed down by angst, because the protagonist (Alex) doesn’t have an annoying hero complex to drag her down.

I don’t like making such grand comparisons but it’s the best way to describe why I enjoyed Akarnae, because it’s kind of an answer to everything that annoys me about my favorite fantasy fiction. Will Alex risk her entire world–and maybe even her life–to save Medora? (via Goodreads)Īkarnae is like all your favorite parts of Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of The Rings, and X-Men all rolled into one delightfully charming package. Only she can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home? She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world and the friends who embrace her as one of their own, but strange things are happening at Akarnae, and Alex can’t ignore her fear that something unexpected… something sinister… is looming.Īn unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex’s shoulders bear the crushing weight of an entire race’s survival. While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora’s boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. Desperate to return home, she learns that only a man named Professor Marselle can help her… but he’s missing. With just one step, sixteen-year-old Alexandra Jennings’s world changes–literally.ĭreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities.

Akarnae book series