Gold

by Geraldine Mills

Esper and Starn are twin boys who live in a grim world that has been almost laid waste by massive volcanic explosions. Very little grows in Orchard, which used to be a fruit-growing area, but with the death of insects and birds, pollination of the fruit trees is a tedious and precarious undertaking. When the boys discover an intriguing old manuscript in a locked room in their apartment, which tells of gold on one of the forbidden islands the people can see from the coastline, they determine to go on gold-hunt. They manage to construct a glider that takes them far from their home territory, and so begins a whole new adventure for the boys, as they travel from island to island in search of gold. Their adventures are many and they come close to death. They do in the end, find the gold - but it is nothing like what they expected.

Genres: Adventure, Dystopia, Middle Grade, Animals

241 pages, Paperback

Published June 9, 2016

Reviews

[Suzie Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A dystopian novel, Gold is now like one of my favorites. The plot is creative and the characters are incredibly realistic with their faults and such. This story is amazing. You can tell that Mills is a poet because she uses powerful metaphors and imaginative comparisons to describe Starn (the main character)'s feelings and thoughts as he leaves the Orchard and ventures out into the Virus Islands. When I was reading this book, I could truly feel what Starn was feeling as he saw vivid color for the first time. As he tastes meat and berries for the first time. Brilliantly portrayed and beautifully arraigned. I cannot commend this novel enough. It's honestly like nothing I have ever read. A whole 5 stars - if only i could put down even more :D This novel teaches about finding value not in riches and wealth but in nature, community, and especially family. I (obviously) highly recommend this book to all readers, teens and adults alike.

[Mary Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

With exceptional crafting and a delicate hand, Mills has created a portrait of an unnerving future world while environmental calamity has stripped all light, save from that that exists in the lives of two young boys. Through their dreams, imagination and daring, the reader is taken on a marvelous journey. And while there are environmental and social messages in the story, these take a back seat to the purpose of the tale; an imaginative and wondrous adventure in the vein of such classics as Treasure Island and The Swiss Family Robinson. An amazing story, filled with life, Gold is a story to be treasured. This book simply sings!

[Annie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of worldbuilding it left too much to the imagination, but it's an interesting adventure.

[Susan Maxwell]

Alienation permeates, like a debilitating fog, the world of Orchard Territory where survivors of a volcanic catastrophe live with their families at the mercy of the violent climate and the despotic Sagittars. Twin boys, Starn and Esper, were born after fall of ash that killed a huge proportion of the world’s flora and fauna, leaving the remaining humans to perform the mechanics of life in a dystopian, unjust and profoundly artificial life.

As the humans have to perform the task of pollination previously taken care of by the natural world, everything about the way they live every day is at a remove from any recognisable natural activity. Their world is one in which pineapples and marzipan are meaningless words and food is spoken of in words that are as scientifically derivitive as the substance itself – “orgone water”, “vita-shakes” and “electro-fluid.” Starn loves the things of the sky while his brother Esper loves the things of the earth, but neither one has seen so much as a bird or a badger except in illustration. The boys, their widowed father and their friends all try to keep at a remove from the Sagittars, and from the indigents, the homeless outcasts. There is no indulgence in the physical world, no fun in the snow, no lounging in the sun, the boys don’t even recognise apple-blossom.

Though the boys are accepting of life on Orchard, it is thrown vividly into relief in comparison to the Virus Islands. The islands – cut off from Orchard by a strait infested with the fabulously nightmareish zanderhag fish – are complete worlds, unlike Orchard Territory. On Orchard, the ash and the charred stumps of trees are perfect symbol of the stunted lives of its inhabitants, whose adults are shaped by what has been lost and by memories of the dead. The scavanging birds, wild weather and the poisonous plants found on the islands are as material as the dazzling colours and real food and the birdsong. The fear the breath of a wolf engenders is not like the fear that accompanies an ideology of keeping your head down in a grey world.

Starn is the narrator and is a combination of inarticulacy – he “floors” his brother more often than he talks to him – and clarity. His words for plants he does not recognise are effective so anyone who has seen a blackberry will know what he means by blackfruits on spikers and when his brother is ill his “silence bounces off the walls.” Starn seems particularly sensitive to exclusion, and to being unwanted, despite knowing his father calls them both “precious”. Starn resents Esper but cannot do without his brother and his narration has a constant, underlying resistance to isolation and desertion.

If there is a criticism of the book it is only that, having brought the brothers to their destination the story whisks them away again too quickly. Their acceptance of the reality of the mystery left to them by their great-aunt and their life-changing decision with regard to their next move occupy fewer than twenty pages. There is an appropriate inevitability about the decision, but the reader cannot help regretting the final briskness with which they are escorted out of Mill’s finely-imagined and language-loving world.

Aside from the vigorous and thrilling narrative, a couple of themes are worth mentioning. Firstly, while gender is not relevant in the narrative, exactly, it is noticable to begin with because of the very strong absent presence of Starn’s deceased mother and sister. This gendered theme is then echoed in the depiction of balances of power as the boys encounter representations of different forms of human social structure. What is interesting, though, is where there is ambiguity, and where the balance is between human, rather that female or male, and the environment.

Secondly, and like Patricia Forde’s stimulating The Wordsmith, there is a hint of A Canticle for Leibowitz about Gold. The person in charge of the Biblion glories in the job title of 'Defender of the Page'. It is from his glimpse of da Vinci’s notebooks and his first encounter with an actual book that Starn finds a way for his brother and himself to go to the Virus Islands in pursuit of treasure. If The Wordsmith depicts the philosophical relationship between language and reality, Gold provides a robust and engaging depiction of the impact of words on a practical and adventurous mind. The only response is to read both.

[Arianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

After the volcanoes erupted and threw ash into the sky, blocking out the sun, most of the animals and insects died. This included the bees that pollinated so many plants, that allowed fruits and vegetables to grow. Now, years later, Starn and Esper live with their father on Orchard, a dark, grim, tightly controlled place. The most important job you can have on Orchard is to be a pollinator. Pollinators go from tree to tree, from flower to flower, pollinating the plants by hand, hoping that something will grow. Starn is tired of this life. He doesn’t want to be a pollinator. He dreams of building and flying. When Starn discovers his great-aunt’s old notebook, it speaks of gold on the islands. If Starn could find gold and bring it back to his father, then he wouldn’t have to work so hard. Starn builds a glider, and in the middle of a wind storm, he and Esper set out to the islands to discover the gold. Not everyone they meet along the way has the best intentions at heart. And the gold they find is nothing like what they expected.

[Mattie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay middle-grade dystopian. Nothing really special about it. It was decent, but nothing I'd recommend to anyone. I did like the sibling dynamic in this book, though. It felt very realistic, and that's not something I come across very often. There was one specific quote I can't remember about things that are really complicated/hard/impossible and taking them one small step at a time, and I did like that. But the "dystopian language" was quite grueling. There are only so many times you can read "bivi-bag", "stuff-sack", "pedal-pod", "scroll-box", and "E-pistle" without going slightly insane.
The cover is really pretty, though!

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for about a year now but I finally decided to read it this month.

Honestly I'm not sure how I feel about this book because although it was a fun story to read the writing style was a little confusing. It was so obvious that this writer is a poet because she was trying to use poetic devices throughout her novel.

Also the ending felt a little abrupt with no real conclusion. I have so many unanswered questions that I was surprised to discover there is no sequel.

Overall it was an average read and I'm glad I finally got it off my TBR pile.

[polly · Rating 3 out of 5]

this novel has been sitting on my shelf for a few years and tbh i initially bought it because it has a pretty cover.

it's a fun read, the lore set in the universe is very diverse and interesting, if only it could have been explored more. despite that, i don't particularly feel anything for it after i finished. it was not a bad read, but i feel there were missed opportunities and unanswered questions that if shed light upon would make for an interesting story.

the writing style was also not my favourite. that's a preference thing, so to each their own.

[Misty Santos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twins travel to distant and forbidden lands in order to save their father and their way of life.

The made up words in this book are a bit confusing usually with little or no context for you to determine their meaning.

The book speaks a lot about twins and their bond. However there is an instance where one twin is missing and the other twin just goes and has a snack instead of the gut wrenching emotion that should be there if your twin is missing.

[Avery N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty good, the adventure was really cool. The only thing is that I didn't understand the references because I'm from America, not the UK. Besides that, it was a wonderful book.

[Erin Pauley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it but did feel it was missing more of the story. Just felt a little rushed along to me but hopefully if there are others it will only improve.

[natasha! · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
I really enjoyed this book , there wasn't a moment when i was bored and I love the bond between esper and starn .