Part 1: Introduction
I've decided to write something about books and analyzing
a book could be a great way to discuss some upcoming books. In my first
article, I've decided to write something about the upcoming Rick Riordan Presents book: The Last Fallen Star on 4th May, 2021 by Graci Kim. This book
focuses on the Korean mythology and is the second book focusing in this
mythology after Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee.
This article will be based on the book description, cover
and sneak peek provided by 'Read Riordan' till now. We will not go to any
predictions about what could be, instead we will discuss the confirmed things;
or maybe we can do it. Anyway, let's see what we can get from the contents
provided till now.
Read till the very end where you'll find important links
and information related to this article.
Part 2: Literal Analysis
The sneak peek from Read Riordan of first two chapters of
the book gave us the concept about the literal characteristics of 'The Last
Fallen Star'. It is written in First-Person POV (Point-Of-View) like most of
the RRP books. Again like many books, this mythology is also staged in the
modern world or more particularly United States where most of the stages of
Rick Riordan related books were done (here: Los Angeles).
From the sneak peek's first page of the PDF version, it
is absolutely very predictable that the book will be in a series as under the
title 'The Last Fallen Star', it is written 'A Gifted Clans Novel' and also
Book One; though these were announced ages ago.
Part 3: Plot Analysis
Two types of people are stated in the book: Witch and
Saram (non-witch). And of course to make the life of the protagonist worse, our
main character, Riley Oh is a Saram without any magical power. Here, in the
book, it was cleared that the witches are termed as 'gifted' whereas the Sarams
are non-gifted.
There were some clans stated too: the Gom clan, Samjogo
clan, the Miru clan, the Gumiho clan, the Tokki clan, and the Horangi clan.
Here, Horangi clan is said to be not allowed in the community because of some
deed they committed years ago. Again, a news of Horangi clan contacting an
elder is also mentioned which means this particular piece can play a role in
the book.
From the excerpt, it wasn't sure what/who was the
antagonist in the whole book though the vague mentioning of Horangis must've
been related. From the book description it was clear that somehow the plan by
Riley and her half-sister Hattie has gone haywire, and the life of Hattie was
in danger. Again from the quick synopsis in 'Read Riordan' website, it said about
to 'save her witch clan family'.
From the above paragraph's last part, it was 'to save HER
witch CLAN family.' Please note the block letters: it means saving the Gom
clan. From the book it became clear that, the Goms aren't actually fighters,
they're healers. So, it would be a big mystery of how Riley saves a clan who
aren't much of a fighter like the Mirus.
Now, let's discuss another important part: the Riley and
Hattie relationship, and incidents. From the book it was clear that both of
them loved each other, though they were half-sisters. Hattie even thinks of how
to give away some of her own magic for Riley though Riley isn't biologically
related to her. And this thing lead to the main problem.
When Riley mockingly said about transferring magic, Hattie
also laughs at it. But when they see their mother's expression which means
hiding something, they becomes stunned. After that, both of them inquires about
this type of magic and when Hattie asks where she can find such a spell, their
mother looked at the family spellbook. So, that's when the siblings decided to
get their 'sticky hands' on the book and find out a way to share magic.
Part 4: Characters Analysis
Anyway, let's see how the relationship goes between these
two. Riley Oh isn't much of a funny person comparing many antagonists of RRP
books, but Hattie seems very funny and energetic. When Hattie brings up the
idea about sharing magic, her mother disagrees and says that it is dangerous
which Hattie decides to ignore and share her magic with Riley.
Riley at first didn't accept the offer. But then, when
Hattie insisted, she thought she might not get this 'chance' again. And so, she
accepts the help. In the next chapter it was more intense. When Riley remembered
that there was the class of Professor Ryu, a teacher in Saturday School, who
likes to be more practical than theoretical. Riley decides to indirectly ask
her how to crack an 'enchanted safe'. It was also clear from the
after-conversation with Aunt Okja that Riley wished to ask her help.
Though it seems as I am criticizing Riley, it is still
obvious that maybe due to the occasional reminding inside her mind that she is
a non-gifted among many gifteds made her think like that. This is much more
complex and we will find it in the next chapters of the book. But from the
description of the book it was also clear that Hattie falls in danger and Riley
would need to face many dangers to save Hattie and 'her witch clan family.'
Part 5: Conclusion
We'll also be wondering about the pink unicorn in the
cover as well as the boy standing beside Riley who was also holding something
at her right hand. They seem to be standing near or in the water with a magical
flow surrounding them. We'll only be knowing it when we read the book.
I may write more analyzing articles of many books and
maybe this book to until it is released. Anyway, I will end this article with a
quote from Hattie from the sneak peek, which I found extremely funny and
lovely:
"The only thing you’re gonna look forward to is getting half of my magic."
Don't understand how it stands? Here are some links you
can visit to know more:
The Last Fallen Star site: https://www.readriordan.com/book/the-last-fallen-star/
The Last Fallen Star sneak peek: https://www.readriordan.com/2021/04/09/the-last-fallen-star-sneak-peek/
The Last Fallen Star sneak peek PDF: https://readriordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Last-Fallen-Star-CH-1-2.pdf
HBR Podcast episode on The Last Fallen Star: https://www.thehalfbloodreport.com/episodes/episode/f96bf2d8/65last-fallen-star-preview-breakdown
Graci Kim Twitter: https://twitter.com/gracikim
Graci Kim Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracikimwrites/
Read Riordan updates: https://www.readriodan.com
Know from Me:
Instagram*: https://www.instagram.com/imanawakens/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imananwarofficial/
Blogger: https://iman-notes.blogspot.com/
[**I post most of my updates in Instagram.]
Note: I
have tried my best to analyze as much information as possible though it is not
sufficient comparing with the world of the 'Gifted Clans' novel. The
information I stated here are from the official sneak peek, description and the
synopsis of the book. Please read those as better reference to this article.
Any mistakes in this article is not intended. Any comments are welcome.
Disclaimer: All the characters, 'The Last Fallen Star' and its related works are owned
by Graci Kim; Rick Riordan Presents is an imprint of Disney-Hyperion Books;
Dragon Pearl is owned by Yoon Ha Lee.
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