Sky Bounce

Deanna Miller

Average Rating 8/10 (2 Reviews)

Hesper the Alula and her secret friend Tristan the Boytaur are forced to part sadly when Hesper is sent to the human plane to save the parallel planes of existence from possible destruction. A year later, as Hesper leads the life of a high school girl with no memory of her previous life, she meets a strangely familiar boy.

Tristan has journeyed at great risk to find her, having learned a way to travel between the planes without losing his memory. They return to the Alula plane on a dangerous adventure to discover the real solution to the planes' troubles - as Hesper struggles all the while with her fear and her tender feelings for the friend who should be her foe.

Website: www.deannamiller.com

Review by Paul Lappen (301205) Rating (8/10)
Review by Chrissi (010403) Rating (8/10)

Review by Paul Lappen
Rating 8/10
In a different plane of existence, Hesper the Alula and Tristan the Boytaur are secret friends, even though their species are supposed to have nothing to do with each other. Late at night, they like to go flying, with Hesper and her wings supplying the wing power, and holding on to Tristan, a four-legged centaur. The leaders of Hesper’s people find out, and, as a punishment, send Hesper to the human plane. The barriers between the planes of existence are weakening, and the only way to fix it is to send Alulas to the human plane. The downside is that those who are sent lose their wings, and all memory of their previous lives.

A year later, Hesper is your average high school student. One day, she meets an interesting boy in a wheelchair who likes hang gliding. Tristan has found a way to travel between planes and keep his memory. He just had to give up some other part of his body, like the use of his legs. Hesper is reluctant to accept that she may have had a previous life with wings, but accept she does. The two travel to another plane, called the Barren Plane, where supposedly nothing lives. They meet a race of light beings called Dyaphinees, who tell Hesper that the Sending of Alulas to the human plane, is not the solution, but the problem. Hesper also discovers, to her shock, that her friend Tristan is not exactly who he says he is.

This is a young adult novel that is not just for young adults. It’s fresh, interesting, very easy to read, and well worth the reader’s time.
Paul Lappen (30th December 2005)

Review by Chrissi
Rating 8/10
Now, I am probably a bit older than the age range that this book is aimed at, but I really thought it was quite enchanting. Hesper is a winged person, an Alula, living on the sky mounds but sneaking out at night to see Tristan, a Boytaur or young Mantaur. Mantaurs are land-bound creatures vicious to the Alulas should they catch them. This has not stopped Hesper’s friendship with Tristan, who is treated as an outcast by other Mantaurs.

The plane in which the Alula people live is similar to that of earth and the Alula elders believe that the planes are becoming too similar, which would be disastrous for both the people and the Alula. To try to remedy this, they send young ones to try to address the balance. When Tristan and Hesper sneak to watch such a “sending”, they are seen and the elders tell Hesper that she will be going also.

Tristan promises Hesper that he will find her wherever she goes, and that they will not be separated for long. The unfortunate thing is that those who go do not return, and once Hesper gets onto the human plane as an American High School student, she cannot remember any of her past life.

As could be expected, Tristan does find a way to traverse the planes, and he and Hesper try to travel back to the Alula planes. Once there, they are forced to cooperate with the elders to discover how to destroy the aliens that they believe are causing the problems between the planes.

Hesper and Tristan are lovely characters, young and well written, that have been effectively gauged to appeal to the younger reader.

At the end of the story it would be interesting to see how the relationship between Tristan and Hesper could be developed so that we may see them in a different adventure. The idea of the parallel planes reliant on each other and yet separate could lead to more stories, to give a series that young people would enjoy.
Chrissi (1st April 2003)