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Elevation #1
The Thousand Steps
Sixteen year old Ebba has never been outside the bunker deep inside Table Mountain where she and 2000 other young adults are working as slaves.
In a sudden twist of fate, she is elevated to join the elite living on the surface in a post apocalyptic world. She's inherited Greenhaven, the last arable farm in the world. Food is the most prized commodity, and she's now the wealthiest person alive.
Was she elevated because of the mysterious birthmark on her hand or because of the amulet necklace she was wearing as a newborn when she was hidden in the bunker? The High Priest and his good looking son Hal are especially keen to keep her close to them, but can she trust them? And how can she rescue her three closest friends from the bunker and bring them to the safety of Greenhaven?
When Ebba learns she is the last remaining descendant of Theia, the Earth Goddess, she discovers she has a sacred task - to find three lost amulets so the Earth Goddess can return and save the world from a second and final calamity.
In a sudden twist of fate, she is elevated to join the elite living on the surface in a post apocalyptic world. She's inherited Greenhaven, the last arable farm in the world. Food is the most prized commodity, and she's now the wealthiest person alive.
Was she elevated because of the mysterious birthmark on her hand or because of the amulet necklace she was wearing as a newborn when she was hidden in the bunker? The High Priest and his good looking son Hal are especially keen to keep her close to them, but can she trust them? And how can she rescue her three closest friends from the bunker and bring them to the safety of Greenhaven?
When Ebba learns she is the last remaining descendant of Theia, the Earth Goddess, she discovers she has a sacred task - to find three lost amulets so the Earth Goddess can return and save the world from a second and final calamity.
273 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2016
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December 11, 2016A fantasy dystopian read suitable for younger YA readers and reluctant readers, with plenty of action and easy to follow, simple writing.
Ebba has lived her whole life underground, worked half to death, believing that she and her fellow prisoners are survivors of a terrible Calamity. All they know of the earth outside is that no human can live there and that the god Prospiroh will only allow the strong to survive. When Ebba is saved from being culled because of a strange amulet she has had since she was abandoned as a baby, she is forced into a new and very strange life.
While the Calamity has changed the earth and set humanity back, it is a lie that it cannot support human life, and Ebba discovers that she is the sole heiress of a lush farm...and a host of stranger things. Silly and naive, she is easily manipulated by the above grounders about her, who see her as a pawn, and with her lands, a treasure to be bartered amongst themselves.
On the other side of this, there are strangers telling Ebba that she's the last scion of the goddess who made the world, and that she is meant to gather sacred amulets and restore the goddess to earth.
While Ebba starts off annoyingly dim, she grows and shows her strength and her better nature as the story progresses. Elevation is the first part of a YA series, and many questions are left unanswered in this installment as is usual in the genre. One thing I found very different was how Helen Brain set the story up as the usual real world post-apocalyptic dystopia (it is set in a future Cape Town, South Africa that has been flooded and split into islands), but also crosses it with more typical secondary-world fantasy fare - including a whole new mythology and creation myth.
Older YA readers and adult fantasy readers looking for something more complex are not the target audience, but even within the confines of the genre, the author has tackled heavy-hitting subjects and the theme is strongly egalitarian, encouraging young readers to not simply trust a government that elevates one caste higher than the others, and makes slaves of another group for the "good of the people".
Ebba has lived her whole life underground, worked half to death, believing that she and her fellow prisoners are survivors of a terrible Calamity. All they know of the earth outside is that no human can live there and that the god Prospiroh will only allow the strong to survive. When Ebba is saved from being culled because of a strange amulet she has had since she was abandoned as a baby, she is forced into a new and very strange life.
While the Calamity has changed the earth and set humanity back, it is a lie that it cannot support human life, and Ebba discovers that she is the sole heiress of a lush farm...and a host of stranger things. Silly and naive, she is easily manipulated by the above grounders about her, who see her as a pawn, and with her lands, a treasure to be bartered amongst themselves.
On the other side of this, there are strangers telling Ebba that she's the last scion of the goddess who made the world, and that she is meant to gather sacred amulets and restore the goddess to earth.
While Ebba starts off annoyingly dim, she grows and shows her strength and her better nature as the story progresses. Elevation is the first part of a YA series, and many questions are left unanswered in this installment as is usual in the genre. One thing I found very different was how Helen Brain set the story up as the usual real world post-apocalyptic dystopia (it is set in a future Cape Town, South Africa that has been flooded and split into islands), but also crosses it with more typical secondary-world fantasy fare - including a whole new mythology and creation myth.
Older YA readers and adult fantasy readers looking for something more complex are not the target audience, but even within the confines of the genre, the author has tackled heavy-hitting subjects and the theme is strongly egalitarian, encouraging young readers to not simply trust a government that elevates one caste higher than the others, and makes slaves of another group for the "good of the people".
July 9, 2019
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
I was actually really excited about this book but honestly it was one of my biggest let downs of the year so far. Quite honestly I typically DNF books that I am not enjoying, but I did want to see how this book played out so I finished it. It was also really relativity short, 240 pages, so I didn't see the harm on finishing it out. (I also had slight hopes that it would end up getting better, it didn't.)
I feel like this was basically just Edda's day to day activities. Plus, she inherits a whole island and there is virtually no information regarding it. Like, what? I also feel that there was virtually no character development on Edda's end as well as the secondary characters. I found the characters to be super bland and I didn't really care much for them or this quest they were suppose to be on.
Just like the no character development I feel like the world building was also severely lacking. Why are they in a bunker? What made the earth barren? What was the conflict that caused it all? I am still super unclear about everything. It almost makes me want to continue on in this series, but if the next books are anything like the The Thousand Steps then I am gonna pass on it.
I typically save one star ratings for books I DNF, but I couldn't find anything that I liked about this book. The concept had a lot of potential but that was about it. In the end this one wasn't my cup of tea. I do wish I ended up liking it a lot more then I did.
I was actually really excited about this book but honestly it was one of my biggest let downs of the year so far. Quite honestly I typically DNF books that I am not enjoying, but I did want to see how this book played out so I finished it. It was also really relativity short, 240 pages, so I didn't see the harm on finishing it out. (I also had slight hopes that it would end up getting better, it didn't.)
I feel like this was basically just Edda's day to day activities. Plus, she inherits a whole island and there is virtually no information regarding it. Like, what? I also feel that there was virtually no character development on Edda's end as well as the secondary characters. I found the characters to be super bland and I didn't really care much for them or this quest they were suppose to be on.
Just like the no character development I feel like the world building was also severely lacking. Why are they in a bunker? What made the earth barren? What was the conflict that caused it all? I am still super unclear about everything. It almost makes me want to continue on in this series, but if the next books are anything like the The Thousand Steps then I am gonna pass on it.
I typically save one star ratings for books I DNF, but I couldn't find anything that I liked about this book. The concept had a lot of potential but that was about it. In the end this one wasn't my cup of tea. I do wish I ended up liking it a lot more then I did.
December 6, 2016
Writing this review on behalf of my daughter, who read The Thousand Steps with gusto in less than 24 hours!
Frieda is 9 and a half and a precocious reader. She has completed the entire Harry Potter series and the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, she is also a fan of Cornelia Funke, Eva Ibbotson and Cressida Cowell.
Frieda was enchanted by The Thousand Steps and said Ebba was one of her favourite characters ever (step aside Lyra!). She loved that it was set in Cape Town (our hometown) but was particularly intrigued by this imagining of the CT of the future.
Her only criticism: that Hobbits were described as small men with hairy feet. 'Hobbits are SO much more than that Mum!' she says.
Frieda is champing at the bit for the sequel and I think Helen has made a fan for life.
Frieda is 9 and a half and a precocious reader. She has completed the entire Harry Potter series and the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, she is also a fan of Cornelia Funke, Eva Ibbotson and Cressida Cowell.
Frieda was enchanted by The Thousand Steps and said Ebba was one of her favourite characters ever (step aside Lyra!). She loved that it was set in Cape Town (our hometown) but was particularly intrigued by this imagining of the CT of the future.
Her only criticism: that Hobbits were described as small men with hairy feet. 'Hobbits are SO much more than that Mum!' she says.
Frieda is champing at the bit for the sequel and I think Helen has made a fan for life.
May 26, 2017
this is one of the best dystopian/apocalyptic novel that I've ever read! I love the descriptions about table island and the bunker.
Elevation: The Thousand Steps is awesome!!
Elevation: The Thousand Steps is awesome!!
August 19, 2019
I really liked the concept of this book! But there definitely were some flaws!
Full review: http://evelynreads.com/the-thousand-s...
Full review: http://evelynreads.com/the-thousand-s...
February 4, 2020
I am pretty forgiving with YA since I expect teenagers to make immature decisions and have lots of angsty emotions. And while this book's premise really drew me in (the summary reminded me of Hugh Howey's Silo trilogy + The Princess Diaries), it really failed to deliver.
I expected the heroine of the book to act a bit like someone who had grown from babyhood to 16 years old in an underground bunker with minimal education and understanding of things from the world "before". Ebba emerged from the bunker seemingly unfazed by the world around her - things like horses and carriages, boats, palaces, food, etc. I think I would have been rather taken aback by the experience of these novel things.
In addition, despite the fact that Ebba was raised in a hormone-free environment and never educated regarding human romantic encounters, she seems rather comfortable and free in her first experiences with the opposite gender.
On top of that, there is this quest that she is meant to embark upon, 'to save the world', but very little time is spent moving toward completing the quest. By the time I got 3/4 of the way through the book, she hadn't even begun her search, and was still spending all her time trying to free her friends from the bunker, making dumb decisions, and making out with boys. What?
Disappointing, to say the least. I expect a little more from my SFF - even YA.
I expected the heroine of the book to act a bit like someone who had grown from babyhood to 16 years old in an underground bunker with minimal education and understanding of things from the world "before". Ebba emerged from the bunker seemingly unfazed by the world around her - things like horses and carriages, boats, palaces, food, etc. I think I would have been rather taken aback by the experience of these novel things.
In addition, despite the fact that Ebba was raised in a hormone-free environment and never educated regarding human romantic encounters, she seems rather comfortable and free in her first experiences with the opposite gender.
On top of that, there is this quest that she is meant to embark upon, 'to save the world', but very little time is spent moving toward completing the quest. By the time I got 3/4 of the way through the book, she hadn't even begun her search, and was still spending all her time trying to free her friends from the bunker, making dumb decisions, and making out with boys. What?
Disappointing, to say the least. I expect a little more from my SFF - even YA.
September 1, 2020
It has a challenging beginning and an abrupt ending, but this dystopian was really interesting to read. The author, who lives in South Africa, used apartheid as a story mechanism in a post-apocalyptic world. Issues of race, class and wealth are discussed.
The story is a little clumsy in parts but I think readers will enjoy trying to make sense of this new world that Ebba suddenly finds herself in.
Grades 8 and up. Despite a slightly confusing beginning, the story quickly picks up speed. Tell readers to give it at least 20 pages before they quit!
The story is a little clumsy in parts but I think readers will enjoy trying to make sense of this new world that Ebba suddenly finds herself in.
Grades 8 and up. Despite a slightly confusing beginning, the story quickly picks up speed. Tell readers to give it at least 20 pages before they quit!
May 29, 2017
This is dystopian fiction at its best: a page-turner that breathes fresh life into the genre. I loved that it's set in Cape Town and has a mystical element. I'm looking forward to reading books 2 and 3.
November 17, 2017
First off, I must add, that Helen Brain's The Thousand Steps (the first of her Elevation trilogy) has scored what I think is quite possibly the best-looking cover for South African youth literature that I've seen in a long, long time. Wow. It's the kind of book that just begs to be picked up and admired.
The story itself stood out for me because while it plays on the usual "chosen one" riff that is so common in SFF, it does so with originality and nuance that I find is so often lacking in the genre. There's a lot going on under the skin.
Ebba den Eeden, our protagonist, starts out life in an underground bunker, where she and two thousand other young people are set to work shifts producing food for their community. Or so they think. She's led to believe that the world outside their bunker has been destroyed during a great cataclysm. That is, until she is miraculously "Elevated" at the eleventh hour before her execution, that is. (A rescue in the nick of time that seems awfully convenient, if you ask me.)
Ebba's Cape Peninsula is vastly different to the one we know today, and I loved seeing an environment I know defamiliarised. The higher sea level means that the mountain chain of the region has become a string of islands, and the communities living there have a hard life: food is scarce and the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is tremendous.
Coping with this sudden turnaround in her world, from being but a lowly drudge to one of the elite, is not easy, and while on one hand I felt that Ebba herself lacked agency in book one, this was, I believe, in keeping with her character development – she is way out of her depth and struggling to know her place and understand the power that she can wield.
Yet her intentions are good, even if her naïveté is painful, and though I cringed often as I saw her trying to navigate this society in which she found herself, her words and deeds come from a good place. It cannot be easy for a girl who's followed orders her entire life to kick against an authoritarian regime has infiltrated nearly every facet of the people's lives. Ebba is very much in a gawky phase in this story, where she hasn't fully grasped her power – so expect her to make mistakes and flounder a bit, and for others to take the initiative.
There are some lovely secondary characters, like Isi the dog and, of course, Aunty Figgy, whose special brand of magic happens in the kitchen. The world Helen conjures up feels tactile, as if it could possibly just exist in a slightly left-of-parallel universe. Yes, yes, in case you're asking, there is a kinda love triangle. Well not quite. But you'll have to see. I did feel as if the love interest was a bit quick on the draw, but then again there's a lot happening, and we get to the end of book one at a rapid rate.
I must add that much of book one does come across like an extended introduction to the setting, giving us all the main players and an indication of conflict – so don't expect any closure. There are loads of threads left hanging, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Helen will weave them together.
Where Helen shines is that she has a keen eye for understanding how people interact, especially in the subtexts of non-verbal communication, and indirect characterisation, which she brings across often so poignantly. There's a part of me that wishes the story could have been expanded, so that we could've dug deeper. (Though this may also be due to the fact that I'm used to reading doorstoppers, so don't mind me too much.) My biggest criticism was that the action sequences felt a bit rushed, glossed over and cause-and-effect not quite established, but the the sheer depth and breadth of her well thought-out world building, and an entire mythology to unpick, more than makes up for this.
My verdict: This is a super awesome story. It reads quickly, and there's much to unpack, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Helen takes this. Five bats squeaking out of auntie Nerine's hat for The Thousand Steps.
The story itself stood out for me because while it plays on the usual "chosen one" riff that is so common in SFF, it does so with originality and nuance that I find is so often lacking in the genre. There's a lot going on under the skin.
Ebba den Eeden, our protagonist, starts out life in an underground bunker, where she and two thousand other young people are set to work shifts producing food for their community. Or so they think. She's led to believe that the world outside their bunker has been destroyed during a great cataclysm. That is, until she is miraculously "Elevated" at the eleventh hour before her execution, that is. (A rescue in the nick of time that seems awfully convenient, if you ask me.)
Ebba's Cape Peninsula is vastly different to the one we know today, and I loved seeing an environment I know defamiliarised. The higher sea level means that the mountain chain of the region has become a string of islands, and the communities living there have a hard life: food is scarce and the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is tremendous.
Coping with this sudden turnaround in her world, from being but a lowly drudge to one of the elite, is not easy, and while on one hand I felt that Ebba herself lacked agency in book one, this was, I believe, in keeping with her character development – she is way out of her depth and struggling to know her place and understand the power that she can wield.
Yet her intentions are good, even if her naïveté is painful, and though I cringed often as I saw her trying to navigate this society in which she found herself, her words and deeds come from a good place. It cannot be easy for a girl who's followed orders her entire life to kick against an authoritarian regime has infiltrated nearly every facet of the people's lives. Ebba is very much in a gawky phase in this story, where she hasn't fully grasped her power – so expect her to make mistakes and flounder a bit, and for others to take the initiative.
There are some lovely secondary characters, like Isi the dog and, of course, Aunty Figgy, whose special brand of magic happens in the kitchen. The world Helen conjures up feels tactile, as if it could possibly just exist in a slightly left-of-parallel universe. Yes, yes, in case you're asking, there is a kinda love triangle. Well not quite. But you'll have to see. I did feel as if the love interest was a bit quick on the draw, but then again there's a lot happening, and we get to the end of book one at a rapid rate.
I must add that much of book one does come across like an extended introduction to the setting, giving us all the main players and an indication of conflict – so don't expect any closure. There are loads of threads left hanging, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Helen will weave them together.
Where Helen shines is that she has a keen eye for understanding how people interact, especially in the subtexts of non-verbal communication, and indirect characterisation, which she brings across often so poignantly. There's a part of me that wishes the story could have been expanded, so that we could've dug deeper. (Though this may also be due to the fact that I'm used to reading doorstoppers, so don't mind me too much.) My biggest criticism was that the action sequences felt a bit rushed, glossed over and cause-and-effect not quite established, but the the sheer depth and breadth of her well thought-out world building, and an entire mythology to unpick, more than makes up for this.
My verdict: This is a super awesome story. It reads quickly, and there's much to unpack, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Helen takes this. Five bats squeaking out of auntie Nerine's hat for The Thousand Steps.
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February 8, 2020I really like this concept. It's a fairly traditional dystopia up until the Goddess is a thing and then it's also a portal fantasy with a neat mythology! It talks about apartheid and wealth inequality! There's also a climate change/environmentalism aspect! There's a lot going on, but everything in the concept works better together than I would have expected. I've read a lot of dystopias and a lot of portal fantasies, and this idea was pretty unique.
But the writing was simplistic, and Ebba was... uh. Kinda stupid. Kinda unbelievably stupid. Like, we're supposed to believe that she was kept in an underground concentration camp that routinely sacrificed the weakest for 16 years.... and is almost sacrificed herself before she's rescued at the last minute.... and then.... when she gets above ground.... she keeps hanging out with the priest who tried to sacrifice her? Because he's NICE? And he has a hot son. Can't forget that! So she ALSO puts up with the hot son repeatedly telling her that her friends who are still in the underground concentration camp are worthless... because he's hot. And all of this could be fine! It could be believable because she's super traumatized and grateful to him for saving her, and I'm pretty sure that's what the book was going for. But the writing was too bland to support that level of complex characterization, so instead Ebba just reads as not smart enough to figure out that these obviously bad people are bad OR too blinded by The Hot to care.
And then it seems like the author realized that Ebba was reading as stupid and/or blinded by The Hot so she tried to fix it, but instead of editing the text that was making Ebba read that way, we got an addition of hormone-repressing drugs in the underground concentration camp's food (and a childhood crush who also has The Hot). And now Ebba is eating real food that doesn't have the drugs so THAT'S why she's thinking with her wibbly bits (in the few instances she's thinking at all). Again, the basic idea could have worked; the dystopia is controlled by a totalitarian religion that's heavy on the traditional gender roles, so it's reasonable enough that they would figure out some way of keeping these teenagers from embracing normal sexuality. But that tends to be accomplished by brainwashing and shame, and I'm not a scientist or anything but this didn't exactly read as good science to me. And also it was just shoved in there as a bit of a non sequitur so I wouldn't have liked it anyway because something that quite literally changes the way Ebba is thinking should have been referenced from the beginning.
HOWEVER. I actually think the simplistic writing makes this book a really good choice for readers who are ready for the more complex ideas being presented by the story but not for a higher level of writing. It's sort of a shame that the writing doesn't really support the level of nuance and subtlety that the story deserves, but at the same time I don't have a problem with it. It'll bore some readers, but it's perfect for others.
But the writing was simplistic, and Ebba was... uh. Kinda stupid. Kinda unbelievably stupid. Like, we're supposed to believe that she was kept in an underground concentration camp that routinely sacrificed the weakest for 16 years.... and is almost sacrificed herself before she's rescued at the last minute.... and then.... when she gets above ground.... she keeps hanging out with the priest who tried to sacrifice her? Because he's NICE? And he has a hot son. Can't forget that! So she ALSO puts up with the hot son repeatedly telling her that her friends who are still in the underground concentration camp are worthless... because he's hot. And all of this could be fine! It could be believable because she's super traumatized and grateful to him for saving her, and I'm pretty sure that's what the book was going for. But the writing was too bland to support that level of complex characterization, so instead Ebba just reads as not smart enough to figure out that these obviously bad people are bad OR too blinded by The Hot to care.
And then it seems like the author realized that Ebba was reading as stupid and/or blinded by The Hot so she tried to fix it, but instead of editing the text that was making Ebba read that way, we got an addition of hormone-repressing drugs in the underground concentration camp's food (and a childhood crush who also has The Hot). And now Ebba is eating real food that doesn't have the drugs so THAT'S why she's thinking with her wibbly bits (in the few instances she's thinking at all). Again, the basic idea could have worked; the dystopia is controlled by a totalitarian religion that's heavy on the traditional gender roles, so it's reasonable enough that they would figure out some way of keeping these teenagers from embracing normal sexuality. But that tends to be accomplished by brainwashing and shame, and I'm not a scientist or anything but this didn't exactly read as good science to me. And also it was just shoved in there as a bit of a non sequitur so I wouldn't have liked it anyway because something that quite literally changes the way Ebba is thinking should have been referenced from the beginning.
HOWEVER. I actually think the simplistic writing makes this book a really good choice for readers who are ready for the more complex ideas being presented by the story but not for a higher level of writing. It's sort of a shame that the writing doesn't really support the level of nuance and subtlety that the story deserves, but at the same time I don't have a problem with it. It'll bore some readers, but it's perfect for others.
did-not-finish
February 11, 2020I admit, I had high expectation for this novel because it was set in Cape Town - which is close to where I live and I am always up for reading books set in my province (similar to a state). After reading a bit of this, I should have lowered my expectations.
It wasn't necessarily a bad book and I did like the main character most of the time, I just couldn't deal with her actions and emotions.
Like a lot of the plot (or at least I'm guessing, since I didn't even finish it), revolves around Ebba and this guy - who she thinks is THE MOST PERFECT AND WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL GUY SHE'S EVER SEEN whenever he does something like open a door or smile and that's when a little big part of me went because honestly, I thought we were past the whole his eyes looked at me and I just decided that even if he killed my whole family and my dog I would still marry him.
There was also a lot of sexism - 'oh, you're a girl, you can't do this or you only need to worry about this' blah blah blah, another reason for not finishing it. Like there was literally this quote of: All you've got to do is learn how to be a good wife and catch a husband and my reaction was: Not to be dramatic or anything but I'd rather die. Why yes, I did have fun reacting to the quotes.
There was also the trope of 'seemingly plain girl gets a makeover and suddenly everyone, including her crush loves her', which I'm very much not for (though some stuff do get it right).
It wasn't necessarily a bad book and I did like the main character most of the time, I just couldn't deal with her actions and emotions.
Like a lot of the plot (or at least I'm guessing, since I didn't even finish it), revolves around Ebba and this guy - who she thinks is THE MOST PERFECT AND WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL GUY SHE'S EVER SEEN whenever he does something like open a door or smile and that's when a little big part of me went because honestly, I thought we were past the whole his eyes looked at me and I just decided that even if he killed my whole family and my dog I would still marry him.
There was also a lot of sexism - 'oh, you're a girl, you can't do this or you only need to worry about this' blah blah blah, another reason for not finishing it. Like there was literally this quote of: All you've got to do is learn how to be a good wife and catch a husband and my reaction was: Not to be dramatic or anything but I'd rather die. Why yes, I did have fun reacting to the quotes.
There was also the trope of 'seemingly plain girl gets a makeover and suddenly everyone, including her crush loves her', which I'm very much not for (though some stuff do get it right).
July 10, 2021
This book had some good elements but I felt the whole thing wasn't quite ready and was half baked. The idea was there but it was poorly executed and overall the book was kind of boring to read. The characters needed to be developed more and we know very little about the characters personalities if at all which I found made it very hard for me to connect with the characters. The main character Ebba I felt was a huge pushover and a people pleaser who would not stand up for what she believed in even though she knew what she was doing was wrong. Even when she did grow a spine, she did so at the wrong moments and ended up doing more harm then good to her and those around her. She is super naïve and at the same time thinks she somehow knows better then everyone trying to help her even though they all have more experience.
I liked the idea and story behind the Goddess and the Gods but again I felt that it wasn't entirely finished and needed to be polished up more like the rest of the book.
I liked the idea and story behind the Goddess and the Gods but again I felt that it wasn't entirely finished and needed to be polished up more like the rest of the book.
August 27, 2019
I really wanted to like this book more than I did, the characters are compelling as is the plot concept.
On the other hand the writing was a real let down, between formatting issues such as sentences with no spaces and the authors habit of telling instead of showing it felt more like an outline than a book.
Honestly this book could do with a hundred more pages, time and space to develop the relationships sufficiently and improve the simplistic sentences that plagued the story.
The high points of this book were the ending it was sudden, dramatic, fully unexpected and the characters emotional responses everyone made sense, the turmoil simmering under Ebba's skin and Jasmine's reactionary hatred, all completely believable.
I really liked Michah and Leonid.
I also really like the story the author was telling about privilege and status and the lines you must walk in the fight for equality.
On the other hand the writing was a real let down, between formatting issues such as sentences with no spaces and the authors habit of telling instead of showing it felt more like an outline than a book.
Honestly this book could do with a hundred more pages, time and space to develop the relationships sufficiently and improve the simplistic sentences that plagued the story.
The high points of this book were the ending it was sudden, dramatic, fully unexpected and the characters emotional responses everyone made sense, the turmoil simmering under Ebba's skin and Jasmine's reactionary hatred, all completely believable.
I really liked Michah and Leonid.
I also really like the story the author was telling about privilege and status and the lines you must walk in the fight for equality.
August 20, 2018
This was as good as I was expecting! Hard to put down, and leaving me eager to read the next one in the series. It is easy to empathise with Ebba, the main character, although I would have liked her to be stronger and less dependent on the male characters. To be fair, she does acquire more independence during the course of the book when other characters are dependent on her. There are a few anomalies regarding the amulets and the seemingly short-sighted plan to try and rescue Ebba's friends, but these do add to the building tension in the narrative. The book is part fantasy and part dystopian fiction - perhaps more fantasy, in that Ebba is given a sacred and seemingly impossible task, and the consequences, if she fails, will be devastating.
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February 19, 2017– I was Ebba, "the girl who could grow anything", part of sabenzi group 4.7, Year Five. I got up when a siren went, ate breakfast when the siren told me to, started work. Each moment in each day was allocated and all I had to do was be obedient and work my hardest. For the common good, so we could all survive. –
– Leonid is so negative. Everything is so awful, people are so evil, everyone is out to get everyone else... I wonder how he sleeps at night. –
– Hi words make me want to squirm. They don't sound real. They sound like some cliché he's learnt off by heart. –
Please note: I kept the quotes to a mere three to avoid spoilers.
– Leonid is so negative. Everything is so awful, people are so evil, everyone is out to get everyone else... I wonder how he sleeps at night. –
– Hi words make me want to squirm. They don't sound real. They sound like some cliché he's learnt off by heart. –
Please note: I kept the quotes to a mere three to avoid spoilers.
January 5, 2020
Sadly this one just didn't work out for me. I found the start of it very confusing and the story just didn't grab me. I was actually really excited to check this one out as science fiction/fantasy are some of my favorite stories. But sadly that wasn't the case with this one. I was thinking about just going ahead and finishing it since it was only 240 pages long but as I went through the pages it just got worse from there and I just had to put it down.
Overall, this book lacked character and story development and the plot was very weak. At times it was very confusing on what was going on and about 20% in I just had to put it down.
Overall, this book lacked character and story development and the plot was very weak. At times it was very confusing on what was going on and about 20% in I just had to put it down.
May 30, 2017
I loved the way Cape Town is both defamiliarised and yet deeply familiar in this dystopian landscape. Ebba is a strong and very relatable character. She has layers of interest to her character to carry a whole series of books. The Thousand Steps left me with so many questions, I can't wait for the next book!
February 6, 2020
ill probably finish this book series. but can we talk about how the main character is racist and just generally ignorant as all fuck? this book could’ve been 600 pages gone into a lot more detail and showed a lot more character growth and it would’ve been great. but instead it had racism and a bunch of bland characters. but the mythology is kind of interesting.
April 13, 2020
A well-written story about calamity, survivor guilt, and political/religious controls enforcing compliance by a wide population, either through comfortable payoffs or despicable atrocities. Some unusual words, perhaps from Afrikaans. No glossary, but the context is usually clear. First in a trilogy, my hardcover copy indicates second volume to come out this year, third volume out in 2021.
July 11, 2021
Good young adult book
It was good easy read for early young adults, around 10 years old. And knowing that it is a series helps to understand the abrupt ending. As a stand alone I would be very disappointed in the way the book just drops off. More of an ending to a chapter vs end of the book.
It was good easy read for early young adults, around 10 years old. And knowing that it is a series helps to understand the abrupt ending. As a stand alone I would be very disappointed in the way the book just drops off. More of an ending to a chapter vs end of the book.
March 13, 2023
A seriously underrated book.
at first i had only gotten it because i was at the airport and was looking for a cheap book that i can buy and really had no expectations set for this book but it was surprisingly interesting and i finished the book in under three days (and this was during the time when i wasn’t even into reading!)
at first i had only gotten it because i was at the airport and was looking for a cheap book that i can buy and really had no expectations set for this book but it was surprisingly interesting and i finished the book in under three days (and this was during the time when i wasn’t even into reading!)
May 29, 2017
This is dystopian fiction at its best: a page-turner that breathes fresh life into the genre. I loved that it's set in Cape Town and has a mystical element. I'm looking forward to reading books 2 and 3.
November 3, 2018
I liked that this was set in Cape Town. But I'm a little over young teenagers who think they've found the only guy they'll ever love 🙄 Otherwise, I'll probably still read the next in the series. The book didn't feel finished and it is short anyway so I'm not sure why it's been spilt into a series.
February 20, 2018
Very pacy and exciting and even though I'm well past the age of young adult, enjoyed it a great deal.
abandoned
June 30, 2019I got 25% into it and then I just...forgot about it.
Interesting concept, writing forgettable.
Interesting concept, writing forgettable.
December 3, 2022
Gripping story, well written and with strong characters.
November 8, 2024
I feel like the YA community has been snoozing on this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I absolutely loved the setting in Cape Town, and the story was as believable and interesting as a YA dystopian novel can be. I thoroughly enjoyed it, read it in under 24 hours.
March 3, 2020
While the story was a bit predictable, it also was compelling and pulled me forward to want to finish it.
June 22, 2025
I won the second book in the series through Goodreads Giveaway. I borrowed this book The Thousand Steps through the Libby app at first. Then to my surprise Catalyst Press sent a hardcover of this book along with The Rising Tide.
When I read this originally ebook I had to remind myself that this a Young Adult book best suited for an early pre-teen audience.
I honestly did not like how the book ended. It felt like it was an end of a chapter and left on a very big cliff hanger. I felt it was written very much with the idea it would be a trilogy and therefore the author felt it was okay to end very abruptly. Due to this I think it would be best to wait and have all threes book available for a child to read at once.
I recall as a child (even as an adult) getting frustrated and discouraged with books that ended like this. As a preteen I would not have the patience to wait the year or more for the rest of the series. I would forget that I had read book 1.
I am hoping book 2 will not end as abruptly.
I will say again this book is best for a pre-teen. The characters in the book are young and naive but they do learn during the story. As an adult the story was very predictable. Ebba falls in love with the wrong boy, over looks the person that is the true spy, and other predictable scenes. As a pre-teen you would not catch onto those young adult mistakes as quickly.
This book would be good for someone in late elementary to middle school.
When I read this originally ebook I had to remind myself that this a Young Adult book best suited for an early pre-teen audience.
I honestly did not like how the book ended. It felt like it was an end of a chapter and left on a very big cliff hanger. I felt it was written very much with the idea it would be a trilogy and therefore the author felt it was okay to end very abruptly. Due to this I think it would be best to wait and have all threes book available for a child to read at once.
I recall as a child (even as an adult) getting frustrated and discouraged with books that ended like this. As a preteen I would not have the patience to wait the year or more for the rest of the series. I would forget that I had read book 1.
I am hoping book 2 will not end as abruptly.
I will say again this book is best for a pre-teen. The characters in the book are young and naive but they do learn during the story. As an adult the story was very predictable. Ebba falls in love with the wrong boy, over looks the person that is the true spy, and other predictable scenes. As a pre-teen you would not catch onto those young adult mistakes as quickly.
This book would be good for someone in late elementary to middle school.
September 1, 2019
Trapped in a bunker for sixteen years, told that the outside world doesn't exist any more, Ebba is shocked to be elevated to the position of the biggest landowner in the world. Now she must navigate her strange new world without forgetting her old one.
The idea of this really excited me. It's an interesting one. Sadly, I didn't enjoy the read very much. There's no real depth to anything, including the characters. This one is good, that one is bad, and there's not much subtlety. And, like another book I read recently, it doesn't end so much as stop dead, in an obvious effort to get people to read the next one. Honestly, I'd have been more inclined to keep reading if it had finished with Ebba determined to do her best the next time she faced the High Priest, rather than stopping dead in the middle of the confrontation.
It's not an awful read, it just could have been much better. I think that's what hurts the most about it.
The idea of this really excited me. It's an interesting one. Sadly, I didn't enjoy the read very much. There's no real depth to anything, including the characters. This one is good, that one is bad, and there's not much subtlety. And, like another book I read recently, it doesn't end so much as stop dead, in an obvious effort to get people to read the next one. Honestly, I'd have been more inclined to keep reading if it had finished with Ebba determined to do her best the next time she faced the High Priest, rather than stopping dead in the middle of the confrontation.
It's not an awful read, it just could have been much better. I think that's what hurts the most about it.
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