Austin Aslan

Wow, I was really impressed with this debut novel. I have read a few teen dystopian/end-of-world novels and they all left me feeling a bit unsatisfied. Because they were shorter than traditional fiction, they often lacked appropriate character development, and the writing seemed a little rushed. I began to think this was the standard for the genre. Then I discovered Islands, which puts all of those stereotypes to rest.

Aslan is not afraid to use more words to develop his characters. As a result, he clearly builds a father-daughter relationship that is unrivaled in teen science fiction. I really appreciated a novel that focused on a familial relationship rather than driving the plot with a predictable romance.

And Aslan's use of language is awesome. He has moments of stunning prose but still manages to move the plot forward without getting bogged down by a flowery style.

Although I am a scientist at heart, I really enjoyed the interplay between science, religion and traditional Hawaiian culture. It is clear that Aslan absorbed much Hawaii while he lived on the islands. His understanding of the culture, both the historic and present, could not be achieved by a few visits. It had to be lived!

If I had one complaint, it is just that the plot twist toward the end becomes a little more fantasy/science fiction than I was really expecting. I was originally drawn to the novel because of the potential tension as characters dealt with an end of world scenario in the isolation of the Hawaiian islands. While this is the primary theme throughout the book, the reason for the drama was a little unbelievable to me.

Overall, however, I highly recommend this book. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel!… (meer)

I enjoyed the author Austin Aslan's first book in this series, The Islands at the End of the World. For his second effort, he outdid himself. I thought The Girl at the Center of the World was excellent, better then the first.

Aslan does a good job tying up some loose ends from the first book. We learn more about the mysterious Emerald Orchid and its connection with the main character, Leilani Milton. But, for me, what I really appreciated was the focus on the relationships. I felt that this second book allowed even more character development. In fact, the story was driven much less by the Orchid and more by how the different characters were interacting. For this reason, it did not seem like your typical teen novel.

I would highly encourage people to check out Aslan's second book, The Girl at the Center of the World.… (meer)