Songs of Power

by Hilari Bell

Someone is trying to sabotage the underwater habitat where Imina, the granddaughter of an Inuit shaman, lives after terrorists have infected the earth's food supply, and Imina must call on her still undeveloped magical skills to save the colony.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Magic, Childrens

219 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

As far as writing is concerned, I call myself the poster child for persistence. Songs of Power, the first novel I sold, was the 5th novel I'd written. When it sold I was working on novel #13. The next to sell, Navohar, was #12, and the next, A Matter of Profit, was #9. The Goblin Wood was #6, and the first Sorahb book, Flame (later renamed Farsala: Fall of a Kingdom), will be #15. You get the picture.

My reviews: Mea culpa! I got onto Goodreads years ago, and haven't been reviewing--but I now mean to start! I should add that as writer, I tend to read a bit more critically. Or at least, when I think a book is going off the rails I usually see technical, writer problems with it. In short, any time a book stops working for me, that author becomes an honorary member of my writing critique group--whether they want to or not! So I apologize in advance for any technical critiques my fellow writers may recieve.

Biography: My personal life? I was born in Denver in 1958—you can do the math. I'm single and live with my mother, brother and sister-in-law. I used to be a part time reference librarian for a mid-sized public library, but in the beginning of ’05 I achieved a writer’s dream and quit the day job. Librarian turned writer is a very schizophrenic state—when I try to urge people to buy my books, I have to beat down a lifetime of professional reflexes demanding that I tell them to check them out at the library instead.

I enjoy board gaming and fantasy gaming, both table top and live. But my favorite thing to do is the decadent version of camping my mom and I practice. We have a pop-up trailer with a fridge, a sink, a stove and (if electrical hookups are available) a space heater, heating pads and a toaster. Our motto is "No unnecessary work." We don't cook, we don't wash dishes, we don't...you name it. What we do is spend all day, every day, reading and hiking and reading some more. Camping is the only time I can get in enough reading. Well, I take that back—when it comes to reading, there's no such thing as enough.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was intriguing enough to read in one sitting, but I've read several books now that make me wonder whether Bell knows how to write endings. This one was fairly abrupt and ruined the immersive power of the story she had created. Granted it was a first novel, but still. Read her more recent stuff...it's MUCH better. I also wish there'd been a bit more description of the underwater "habitat," as I found it difficult to imagine that experience with the scarcity of description she included.

[Julia]

Imina's grandmother did all she could to teach Imina all the magic she knows. But when she dies, Imina realizes that she doesn't know enough to become a shaman, and there's nobody else to teach her. She now lives in an underwater habitat with her parents and many other people. One day, when practicing magic, she senses someone else doing magic. Will she be able to find this person so that they can teach her how to become a shaman?

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved this book when I first read it in middle school. I recently recommended it to a cousin of mine and I wanted to check back in and make sure it held up. It does, barely (I blame nostalgia), but it's not as marvelous as I remembered.

[Joy Liberatore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief story before the review: I found this book in my middle school library and was immediately drawn to the cover (yes, judge a book by its cover because cover illustrations can be beautiful!). I read the first chapter or so, but then got distracted by other books (probably assigned reading or Harry Potter). But the cover and the premise have stuck with me in the ensuing years. After many years of searching for the title and author (which I had forgotten), I FINALLY found the book and FINALLY read it!

Okay, onto the actual review part.

All the elements are there for a neat story. The futuristic sci-fi research lab, political intrigue, global crisis, marine biology, Inuit practices and beliefs, magic versus science... but the narrative fell short of making all these elements work together.

For one, the global crisis conflict and the reason behind the sabotages wasn't revealed until about halfway through the book. The only conflict was that there was potentially another magic user besides Imina in the facility. And Imina's leap in logic to randomly search the homes of others felt sudden and rushed; I hadn't gotten the chance to know Imina well other than her resent for others not respecting her Inuit heritage (also, weird that we'd have this underwater utopia where everyone of every race and nationality get along and bring all these different fields of science together... but no one can accept the Inuit girl and her beliefs?). So going from her resent to her breaking and entering homes made her not very likable for the first half of the book.

Second, I would've loved to have seen more development with learning about the whales and their songs throughout the book instead of smashing it into the last 3/4 of the book. It's established in the first chapter or two that Imina and Ivan have to do a science project about whales... and it's never brought up again until the last possible moment. It would've been nice to see the kids doing some research on whale song and migration, and Imina talk more about the Inuit tribe's relationship with whales, so that when the "AH HA!" moment came, it had more impact instead of being a convenient Maguffin/Chekov's Gun.

Third, the ending felt like the setup to a whole new story! Where are my whale stories that bring world peace?! I felt like there could've been an epilogue or at least another chapter of Imina communicating with the whales. Something that could tie in the magic and science working together.

However, I must be a little lenient because this was a debut novel. An ambitious combination of elements for a story, for sure. But more than anything, I'm just glad to say that I have FINALLY, after years and years of searching, have read the book that's haunted me since the eighth grade!

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imina is living with her parents in an undersea city, research station and plankton/food production facility. She greatly misses her maternal grandmother who was training her to be an Inuit shaman. She is considered a little delusional, but in the end saves everyone with her magic.

[SBC · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! An enjoyable (and unusual) mix of science fiction and fantasy, in a very different setting.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Popsugar's 2015 Reading Challenge: a book from an author you love that you haven't read yet.

I can clearly see the beginning of Hilari Bell's style in this, her first published novel. The naturalistic magic in a sci-fi setting is very Trickster's Girl/Traitor's Son. The story was well crafted and satisfying. Although I have to admit I guessed the identity of the saboteurs very early on in the narrative as a passing fancy... and then proceeded to mentally scream at the characters as it became more and more clear that I was right.

[Kogiopsis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm totally in the minority on this, I think, but this is my favorite Bell book to date, no matter how much I adore the Knight and Rogue series. Why do I like this one so much? I'm a complete marine biology dork. So... WHALE MAGIC HELL YES. And that's most of the reason. What a wonderful, cool idea.

[JS · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little obvious, and the main character is a bit snotty/obnoxious. Oh, and there's one of those really frustrating scenes where no one believes her and it's so frustrating you want to scream. So overall, not worth the read.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was ok for her first

[jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was her first book and is barely worth reading. Good to see how bad someone can be who becomes a really good writer.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite by Hilari Bell but still enjoyable story of an Inuit Shaman girl who lives in an underwater habitat.

[Catharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a fun book. I enjoyed the characters and the world it was set in.

[Ita · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good book for a kid, but it was too juvenile for my current reading tastes.

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little boring and the ending was unsatisfactory

[Brittney Bower · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really good way to see two different pionts of view of how are world is.

[Noelle Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book, though I checked it out twice because I didn't realize it was a reprint. Super amazing, great charecter developement and thought provoking, but in a good way.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Songs of Power by Hilari Bell - This had some very unique world building and teenagers saving the day! Happy Reading!

[Lafcadio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Underwater clausterphobia.