The Crystal Stair

by Catherine Fisher

Life in the Settlement is not as perfect as Caz and Will had hoped - they live apart in the Boys' and Girls' Towers and rarely see each other. Searching for her father, Caz is told that he never arrived at the Settlement. But then she finds his name on a secret list of a missing Search and Rescue team that set out to investigate a mysterious signal and never came back. She can't rest until she finds out what's happened to him. Even though Will is convinced it's too dangerous. Even though it means leaving and heading back out onto the endless ice. Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant and dyslexic readers aged 12+

Genres: Thriller, Psychology, Grief, Family, Aliens, Adventure, Science Fiction

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Catherine Fisher was born in Newport, Wales. She graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in English and a fascination for myth and history. She has worked in education and archaeology and as a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Glamorgan. She is a Fellow of the Welsh Academy.

Catherine is an acclaimed poet and novelist, regularly lecturing and giving readings to groups of all ages. She leads sessions for teachers and librarians and is an experienced broadcaster and adjudicator. She lives in Newport, Gwent.

Catherine has won many awards and much critical acclaim for her work. Her poetry has appeared in leading periodicals and anthologies and her volume Immrama won the WAC Young Writers' Prize. She won the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in 1990.

Her first novel, The Conjuror's Game, was shortlisted for the Smarties Books prize and The Snow-Walker's Son for the W.H.Smith Award. Equally acclaimed is her quartet The Book of the Crow, a classic of fantasy fiction.

The Oracle, the first volume in the Oracle trilogy, blends Egyptian and Greek elements of magic and adventure and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Children's Books prize. The trilogy was an international bestseller and has appeared in over twenty languages. The Candleman won the Welsh Books Council's Tir Na n'Og Prize and Catherine was also shortlisted for the remarkable Corbenic, a modern re-inventing of the Grail legend.

Her futuristic novel Incarceron was published to widespread praise in 2007, winning the Mythopoeic Society of America's Children's Fiction Award and selected by The Times as its Children's Book of the Year. The sequel, Sapphique, was published in September 2008.

Reviews

[Annika Samuelsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caz och Will har lyckats ta sig till Bosättningen. En plats där isen inte regerar. Här har människorna som överlevt den blå stjärnan byggt upp ett nytt samhälle. Både Will och Caz har funnit sig till rätta men det är något som gnager i Caz. Det är något som inte känns helt bra.
Trots att hon har fått beskedet att han inte funnits i Bosättningen så kan hon inte släppa det och när hon börjar gräva så visar det sig att Richard Lewis visst har funnits i bosättningen men han försvann mystiskt när han var ute på ett räddningsuppdrag. Men med sanningen så hamnar både Caz och Will i livsfara. Någon vill inte att sanningen kring räddninsuppdraget kommer ut.

[whatbooknext · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caz and her friend Will have been at the Settlement for 9 years. This is a haven to survivors of the Star that fell to
Earth drastically altering its climate. Before the Settlement Caz and Will lived in the icy wastelands. They survived by living in a Department Store with others. The Settlement is a climate controlled area, housing 6,000 refugees from the ice around them.

Caz is determined to find her father. She doesn't believe the Settlement authorities who say he is dead, and soon find proof to back up her suspicions. Now she is ready to go and find him and as always Will is at her side.

It feels strange going back to the area they escaped from, but she knows she will always wonder if she doesn't search for her father herself.



Not reading the blurb before I read this, I thought the cover looked more fantasy than Dystopian, so was surprised and pleasantly so. Caz is a feisty teen and Will a loyal friend, and neither are afraid of risking the authorities wrath or the danger in venturing back out into an icy wasteland they escaped years before.

The second part of a duology this story is simple without much character depth, but it is full of action, a villain and a surprising discovery. You'll have to read it to learn what The Crystal Stair is.

Author - Catherine Fisher

Reading Age 8 - Interest Age Teen

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sure, I could knock of a star for the clumsiness of the fight above the lava (How often can Caz fall into the same railing?) Or I could knock off a star for the fact that they don't notice the large tower whilst flying in, only when it's pointed out to them on the way out. Or I could knock a star off for the impossibility of these two teens managing to hijack a plane to go on a rescue mission to the middle of nowhere- but I can't, because I love how engaging this story is! A little reminiscent of the Time Machine in some respects, the story is epic but compacted in a short story form so as to be less daunting. I think I even preferred this one to the first in the series. Great read!

[Kristin ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this is actually a sequel, however me who have not takien part of the first book understood the most of it. A fast good read, looking forward to the prequel. 3.5/5

[PXISFORYOU ❤️❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty okay 👍🏾

[John Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this read had good parts in it