Stealing Death [Paperback]

If you have enjoyed Janet Lee Carey's other young adult fantasies, you will probably enjoy this one. The setting is different from the 'middle earth' like northern latitudes where her first two fantasies were set. This story is set in a world that feels sub-Saharan, The character of both the magic, and, significantly, the dragons, is different. The realistically drawn hero, Kipp, must deal with the burden of Death's Sack, and he'll be sympathetic and familiar to Carey's readers. The strongest part of the story is the vividness with which the world and the magic are drawn, and the conclusion not only satisfies, but leaves you wanting more. To get there, however, Carey must deal with the promise implicit in the title - that is, she has to wrangle with the issue of death itself. This is ambitious territory, but Carey has explored it before Wenny Has Wings with humor and grace. Does she pull it off this time? You read it and decide.

Seventeen-year-old Kipp is struck by tragedy when he leaves the house in the middle of the night with the goal of catching a wild white horse he has been watching. He has left Royan, his nine-year-old brother, with his tinder box to light the morning fire.

Somehow, the house, barn, fields, and everything else around his home are engulfed in flame and Gwali, the Death Catcher, has taken the souls of Royan and their parents. Only younger sister Jilly has survived. Kipp vows to steal Gwali's Kwaja, or bag of souls, to release his family's spirits.

Within a day of his family's deaths, Kipp and Jilly are forced into the service of Sor Tunassi, the wealthy landowner from who Kipp's family had purchased their home. Kipp struggles to keep Jilly safe and healthy as they slave in the fields. He also struggles with his growing feelings for Zalika, Sor Tunassi's rebellious daughter.

As Kipp's journey progresses, he is continually tested in his quest to steal the power of death from Gwali. Kipp's life changes yet again one night on the way home after going riding with Zalika when Zalika takes a fall, and Gwali comes for her.

Carey's fantasy questions religion, immigration, social systems, and life over death. The lessons Kipp learns include issues of acceptance, belonging, love, and personal strength. He learns that he must sacrifice himself to keep those he loves safe. This engaging fantasy captures the reader's heart from the very first with strong characters and a fascinating setting.

Though the story is winning, the vocabulary is not for the weak at heart. Carey's fantasy dialect can be intimidating from the start. Strong readers, however, will enjoy tackling the language puzzle of Kipp's world.

Reviewed by: Theresa L. Stowell

Stealing Death by Janet Lee Carey is a book I really wanted to like. It has an unusual YA setting--a desert land of red sandstone and small villages; a great premise--a young boy (Kip) who steals the sack Death uses to collect souls so no more have to die; an exciting, emotion beginning with all but one of Kip's family killed in a fire; and a pattern of inserting small folktales into the larger narrative.
But for all that I really wanted to love this book, and for all its emotional weight of theme and character--death, guilt, love, family responsibility, aging--it had a curiously removed feel to it. Part of it was that once we had followed Kip from the fire that left him with only his little sister to the new fields he was forced to work to when he steals the sack of the Gwali (death-catcher), the book becomes very episodic as Kip is chased by the Gwali from spot to spot. The world of the book rushes by relatively quickly, with little solid place sense. It's a rare setting, as mentioned, but the land isn't fully mined for its potential--it feels a bit sketchy. The same is partially true of Kip's movements, some of which didn't seem to really advance story or character all that much. His love interest--the daughter of a rich landowner and thus out of Kip's reach--I felt was more a hindrance to the story than a plus. Without her we could have focused much more on Kip's desperation over the death of his family and responsibility to his sister--a relatively unique and certainly powerful narrative. Instead, we end up with a relatively common story--the lower-class boy and the upper-class girl forbidden to love and you can fill in the rest (well, most of it--Carey does throw the relationship for a major twist early on, but it mostly repeats earlier themes/motivations rather than add to them).
Kip is a pretty three-dimensional character, mostly well drawn, but he stands out among the others for this. His sister, his love interest, the landowner, none of them truly come alive in rich, individual fashion. They aren't stock or caricature, but they just don't have the spark of life to them. It's somewhat telling that Soar Joy, an old man who was once Kip's mentor, comes alive more in Kip's memories than most of the characters Kip meets in the flesh.
Part of the reason for that is Joy is associated with the tales of the Escuayan's and these old folktales, such as the Gwali and his soul sack, are where Carey really shines--they feel like truly ancient tales and whenever we dip into them, no matter how short the time, the book feels like it jumps up in richness of style and tone and atmosphere, as if the writer is most fully engaged in those moments. I would have happily spent more time with them in the book.
The book's close has some moving moments, and the themes of life and death are brought directly forward in strong fashion. While the story is fully resolved by the end, it also seems clear the author isn't finished with these characters yet (or at least, doesn't have to be). While Stealing Death is mostly just solid, I'd be interested to see another book by this author set in this world, one that spends a bit more time on the world and its characters. The potential is there, even if it's not fully met in Stealing Death.

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