Under the Smokestrewn Sky (Up & Under #4)

Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker

This is the fourth and final book in the Up and Under series, and what a journey it's been. I love reading books based in folklore and faery tale, and Baker/McGuire is so very adept at weaving new tales from these ancient ideas. In the Up and Under series (and the Alchemical Journeys by association) the main mythos at play is that of the Winter King and Summer Queen who are supposed balance each other perfectly as the wheel of the year turns, but as we all know, sometimes things can get out of balance, and that is where the stories come from. (Funnily enough, I have also just finished Terry Pratchett's Wintersmith, which features the same lore in a big way, so clearly this sort of thing is right up my reading alley)

In the first book of this series, Over the Woodward Wall, Avery and Zib climb an unexpected wall in the middle of a road and find themselves in an entirely different world. The rest of the tale is their journey to try and find their way back home, and the entities and friends they meet along the way. In this final leg of their tale, the Unexpected Road has a few more surprises to throw their way. We find our party journeying through a kingdom of fire, which proves to be a more treacherous road for some of our characters. The discussion about essential natures continues, and I'm looking forward to re-reading Middlegame (a companion novel to this series) with this new understanding of how the author interprets that idea of complementary essential natures, and turns that into the alchemical study that we see in the companion books.

The tone of this tale is more weary. Personally, I felt that it was fitting. It's been a long road, our adventurers are tired, and the end is in sight. I could see how for some readers this might make for a less engaging read, but for me, I like when the writing invites me to feel what the characters are feeling too. And it's a fact that not all journeys end with a fanfare, sometimes we are just glad that we survived a difficult season, and that felt very realistic. Like many fantasy readers, I often read as escapism, but I appreciate when fantasy helps give me perspective and tools for understanding my real-life feelings too.

One of the things I've loved about the Up and Under series throughout is that it's an excellent middle grade fantasy all on it's own, independent of its role as a companion to McGuire's other works. I would absolutely hand these books to a reader with an interest in fantasy and folklore, in addition to recommending them to fans of Baker/McGuire's other works.

Thank you to Tor & Netgalley for the ARC. This is an unbiased review.