14 year old Catherine Hunter is the daughter of an Anglyan government official. Living in comfort, she doesn't have to fear the Collections which tear apart other families, taking away all but the oldest child to fight in a far off war. But as her heartless father is about to marry her off to a rich, pompous brat, her life will never be her own again.
In a twist on the classic 'boy running away to sea', Catherine changes her name to Cat and hides on a skyship heading out of Anglya, leaving her comfortable lifestyle and gravely ill mother behind her. Now she must work for her keep, helping Matt with the skyship's engines. But then she discovers a terrible truth about the Collections, one which challenges all she knows and forces her to make a horrendous choice. Cue pages of battles, excitement, espionage and romance!
What a fantastic book. Amazingly, Lucy Saxon wrote it aged only 16, this certainly makes me think I need to get a move on! The story is gripping – the characters seem real, the world depicted is vivid and detailed and, luckily, even the romance isn't overdone.
Cat is a really strong female heroine, not forever turning to boys or men to tackle the difficult tasks she is faced with. The ending was not at all what I had expected from Cat, but that's not necessarily a bad thing – I'm still undecided. However, the rest of the book more than compensates for any possible let down and I'm glad to know that a series is planned to continue the story.
The sole negative was that everything seemed perhaps a little too ... easy. At points I was thinking how it would never happen like that in real life. So a little incredulous at times but the plot was strong enough to make this only a minor distraction.
All in all, I highly recommend it, even if you don't normally read sci-fi/fantasy. I also hope that boys aren't put off by the cover and female protagonist – it's well worth a read!
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