Lian Tanner, Fetcher’s Song (Hidden #3), Allen & Unwin, Jan 2016 352pp., $18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781743319420
This is the third and final book in the Hidden series. With a list of chapters in the front of the book, a double page map and a detailed Prologue, the story is accessible for someone who has not read the first two. The settings, the diverse characters’ dialects and creative vocabulary, the plot and sense of doom, take the reader on a seesaw ride of emotions. Gwin’s mother has died and she feels a great sense of responsibility for the safety and survival of her blind twin brother and her father. They are Fetchers who travel the countryside trying to bring small moments of respite to the desperate people through song, violin and clarinetto playing, acrobatics and story telling. Gwin has a fair voice but does not believe it is as good as her mother’s who was the Singer. Fetchers have always been hunted by the Devouts for preserving the old ways and for valuing items from the Machine times. When the devious Brother Poosk, one of the Devouts, captures Gwin’s father, she knows she must do her utmost to rescue him. As Poosk takes more captives, the situation gets more desperate. The dark world created by the members of the Citadel is convincing and horrid. When the crew of the Oyster and Sunkers try to breach the doors, everyone’s situation becomes more grim, especially when the mechanical Captain is also captured by Poosk and his cronies. Just when it all seems hopeless, all the ends tie together and the great adventure is concluded.
The feelings of self doubt and hopelessness are balanced by feelings of hope and success as the forces of good try to outwit the evilness. This is an exciting fantasy adventure story that would appeal to both upper Primary and early High School readers.
Reviewed by Julie Long