Reviewed by Kellie Nissen
Something about Garth Nix’s new mid-grade fantasy
grabbed me right from the beginning.
The cover? It is very striking, and Maeve Norton
has managed to create a glorious blend of ominousness and beauty.
The title? We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old Overlord
is unusually long with an immediate ‘what-the?’ overtone and so many
questions: How can an overlord be ten? Why aren’t they welcome? Who is ‘we’?
The opening paragraph? Not only does the sun ‘go
out’ but only one scientist was ‘paying attention’, while all the other
scientists (who presumably weren’t paying attention) said she was wrong and
that it was a computer glitch.
Or perhaps I was invested because the story is set
in the mid-1970s (my childhood era) with a setting based loosely on Canberra
(where I grew up – as did the author). Although, we’ll forget about the
Dungeons and Dragons bit because that was not my thing.
Whatever it was, I was hooked from the start
through to the end.
Despite this story being of the fantasy genre, the main
characters – Kim and his younger and unquestionably smarter sister Eila – along
with Kim’s D&D friends, Bennie (and her sister Madir), Theo and Tamara, are
all patently believable characters who you might expect to see in your own
neighbourhood. The exception, of course, is the weird glowing orb Eila pulled
out of the lake and soon starts speaking to, referring to it as Aster.
Aster is here to learn and, according to Eila, to
save the world – but Kim and Bennie aren’t so sure. For starters, there is the
creepy voice Kim hears when he touches ‘Aster’, the electric shocks and the
sensation that something is trying to probe its way into his mind. Kim is used
to Eila lording it over him, but this is next level.
With Bennie somewhat reluctantly in tow, Kim sets
out to discover what Eila is up to with Aster. After a series of mishaps and
near misses, they are joined by Tamara and Theo, and it becomes a case of
trying to outwit a glowing orb and two ten-year-olds.
Mind-control, aliens, sibling rivalry, D&D –
Garth Nix has it all wrapped up in this exciting-yet-menacing story with its
plot that could well be entirely plausible.
Whether or not you’re a sci-fi or fantasy fan – and
even if you’ve never played D&D – We Do Not Welcome Our Ten-Year-Old
Overlord is a great read and will capture the imaginations of readers 10
years and older.
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