Blooming is the first book in the The Golden One trilogy, and gives the series a strong start. I’ve previously read Disease, and wasn’t sure what the author would give to an overcrowded fantasy genre filled with shapeshifters. Disease was a very different book – definitely worth a read, about a pretty gruelling subject.
Blooming is a book with a salutary warning, although it stops short of bashing the reader around the head with its message about human impact on the planet. And that’s why I enjoyed it. At no point I felt as if I were being lectured to, even though the message was clear. Big corporations have a responsibility not only to their shareholders but to the people affected by their activities, not only within their company, but in the wider world.
To reflect this, Hirschi has taken a group of teenagers and given them varying degrees of shapeshifting powers, controlled by the Ohana, The blurb describes it far better than I can so I’ll leave it there. Read it. It’s worth it.
Some members of the Ohana have a conflict of interest, but Mother Nature has also created the ultimate weapon in her arsenal, a golden butterfly with huge powers of persuasion. This time, it is the turn of Jason Mendez, an all-round nice guy who looks after his mother and doesn’t think his life will be very exciting at all, until he is told differently.
Then he realises he can talk to animals, and that’s where the story really took off for me. It was so enjoyable to read, within the bounds of a book written for older teenagers, yet devoid of the teen-speak that a lot of YA authors employ to connect with their readership. No patronising, no trying to get “down with the kids.” This is an intelligent book for discerning readers of any age, who love fantasy and remember the golden age of Spielberg and his epic stories of kids against “the man.”
Jason was extremely likeable. Not perfect, but that was good. It added angst at the responsibility thrust on his shoulders, and showed his character develop as he realised he had to make some important life decisions. His mother was also a great, believable character, with real-life problems many would identify with. There was a possible romance in the offing, and great friendships between people who, on the face of it, had nothing in common.
The ending was also a surprise, being unpredictable, and led neatly to the next book. No cliffhanger, which I liked, just a good, solid, rounded story which took time to introduce the reader to the characters and understand their world.
BLURB
Earth is threatened by humankind. A long time ago, in an effort to help protect her creation, Mother Nature created the Ohana, a worldwide league of shapeshifters, to restore and maintain the natural balance. During particularly troublesome times, she deployed her ultimate defense, a delicate yet powerful golden butterfly, to change the odds in nature’s favor.
Blooming is the first book in the trilogy about Jason Mendez, a seventeen-year-old living a normal teenage life in a small town in the American Midwest. One day, Jason’s world is turned upside down when he realizes the dream he had the night before was in fact reality and that he was flying through a nearby meadow.
Jason is the Golden One, called upon to avert a major crisis threatening Earth. With no golden butterfly sighted since the final days of World War II, will Jason be able to walk in his predecessors’ shoes? Will he be able to replicate their historic achievements and save the planet from all but certain disaster? And what exactly is threatening Mother Nature to call upon the Golden One?
The Golden One is an exciting new fantasy trilogy dealing with urgent topics affecting humanity today.
