In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan [Family Reads]

Why we chose Sarah Rees Brennan’s In Other Lands

After Mythago Wood  disappointed my sister and I, we agreed that we wanted to try another stand alone fantasy.  Ash suggested this book, about which I had recently heard some positive things.

The Borderlands aren’t like anywhere else. Don’t try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border—unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and—best of all as far as Elliot is concerned—mermaids.

Elliot? Who’s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He’s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands.

It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there’s Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there’s her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There’s even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world. 

Our Discussion

Ash gave this book ★★★★½ (she plans to purchase a copy) and I gave it ★★★★. Ash had a lot of great thoughts to share on this book, leading me to comment at the end of our discussion, “I don’t even know why we do Family Reads; you should just do a guest post on my blog – Ash Reads” 😋.

Narration

We both found that the third person omniscient narrator helped us get into this book. Although I don’t usually enjoy books that fuse contemporary characters with a classic fantasy setting, the third person narrative helped ease me naturally into the story. Ash appreciated Brennan’s occasional explicit foreshadowing, which playfully builds suspense and intrigue about how the event foreshadowed will play out. In Other Lands reinvents the portal fantasy while paying it tribute (in contrast to something like The Magicians, which I seriously disliked).  

Realistic Characters

We both liked Elliott, even though he can be an unlikable character. (Personally, I liked him from the start cos we’re both into mermaids.) Brennan does a great job at writing him in a realistic manner. Yes, he can be an ass, but he’s going through teen growing pains; he screws up in believable ways and he’s not truly malicious. He learns to be better. These comments can be applied to all of the teenage characters, really – they misinterpret, they assume, they act like teens. This might not seem like something of note (‘wow, a YA book in which the YAs act like YAs’), but in a fantasy world it feels rare to see teens behaving in the same manner as their high school attending counterparts instead of waging political or literal war to win back their kingdom, or something. Ash and I both could identify parallels between Elliott’s friends and our own high school friends. 

Romance?!

Both Ash and I despise romance. (Actually, she might dislike it even more than I, considering her reaction when I mentioned it in our discussion…). One of her favourite YA books is Graceling, which has a romance that she didn’t mind because it isn’t The Point of the story. In Other Lands presents romance in a similar manner. Romance and relationships are the avenues through which the characters learn about and explore their identities. Romance allows them to do certain things, but it’s not The Point of the plot. (However, we also acknowledged that someone who loves romance could read and enjoy this book for just that reason.) We loved the queer rep (bi and gay) and how it’s naturally incorporated, but we chose to read this book because it’s a fantasy, not because it’s queer. The romances go side by side with the friendships with regards to how important they are to the characters.

The next two sections contain spoilers!! Read at your own risk. Skip to ‘Final Thoughts’ to avoid.

Tying the two previous paragraphs together, I especially hate love triangles between friends but this triangle felt almost painfully real. Ash and I saw the same thing play out between our friends in high school, because it’s high school and it’s a small environment and it just happens. This triangle doesn’t exist just to add drama. It plays an important role in showing who the characters are and giving them a chance to grow. Ash also highlighted how Elliott and Serene’s relationship demonstrates good communication, the value of an honest friendship, and the flaws of making assumptions.

Family Dynamics

Coming back around to Elliott, Ash particularly appreciated his character arc regarding his biological family. Neither his father nor mother are good parents. This does not change over the course of the story. His father never learns to love him, so Elliot lets him go (“Your loss”, Elliott said to the both of them” [them being himself and his father]). He learns about his mom, he reunites with her, but she doesn’t give a crap about him so he doesn’t give a crap about her. Brennan avoids the trope of a redemption arc. She focuses instead on Elliot finding his own family in Serene and Luke, and that’s a story that could be validating to many readers.

 Final Thoughts

While we had good expectations for In Other Lands, the scope of the novel and the believability of its characters seriously impressed it. Highly recommended for fans of fantasy or character driven works, not just YA fans.