I was recently caught staring into the bathroom mirror trying to see if my eyes change colour…they don’t. Two green eyes continued to stare unsympathetically back at me so I’ve concluded I’m nothing like Jacob Lightfoot, though it’s fair to say, not many people are.
Jacob Lightfoot is the slightly strange protagonist of Sharon Sant’s debut novel Sky Song. This is the first in a trilogy that sees young Jacob discover his true identity and the huge amount of responsibility that comes with being different.
The story starts in a recognisable manner; it opens with a scenario that evokes thousands of questions, and then relaxes into a setting of the scene that leads to a dramatic but comfortable read. This is not necessarily a criticism, this method is a tried and tested formula for young adult novels that works well, and is not to say that the plot is predictable. From poor Jacob’s rude awakening one morning by a creepy individual in his bedroom telling him that he, Jacob, does not exist, the plot hurtles around corners and loops the loops at alarming speed. It is brilliantly surprising with every chapter and Sant manages to include many themes without the plot feeling cluttered. Jacob, in essence, is a normal teenage boy; he finds it difficult to fit in, he loves his best friends, bickers with his parents and has girl problems. He also, however, has eyes that change colour, a photographic memory and a feeling that something inside him is waking up.
One of my favourite things about this story is Sant’s characterisation. Unlike many young adult novels where the main characters seem much wiser and articulate that normal teenagers, Sant’s characters feel very real. I can easily hear their interactions and especially like how the intimacy and affection between Jacob and his friends and with his parents is always apparent without having to be spelled out. Sant obviously has skill at portraying her characters so it is somewhat disappointing that this talent doesn’t stretch to all areas of the book. I never really felt like I knew Dae at all. I would have loved more interaction between him and Jacob so that when (SPOILER ALERT) Dae dies I feel some of that harrowing sadness that envelopes Jacob when he finds out. But I didn’t pity Dae at all and it’s such a pivotal moment for Jacob that I knew I must be missing something. I think the problem I had is that a lot has to be explained to the reader; who Makash is for example, and why he is angry. The revelations about Dae have to be awkwardly communicated, which is why I think they lose their significance, and I don’t feel the reader ever quite understands who the watcher is or why this is such an important position. This may sound ridiculous but I didn’t really realise that Astrae was another physical planet until the very end, I thought it was a sort of state of mind, which obviously makes it quite different!
It would have been great if Sant could have developed these issues further so that readers can figure out more by themselves. I, personally, would have appreciated more description and detail about Jacob’s time on/in Astrae and truly what is expected of him so I could fully understand the weight of his decision. We heard so much about Jacob hearing and feeling his home inside his head but I felt that we didn’t get to hear or feel it ourselves.
Sky Song is the first in a trilogy so I am hopeful that many of my questions will be answered in the second and third books, which I would still very much like to read. Sant is a talented writer and there are obviously so many excellent and creative ideas inside her head, I would just more of them on paper.
@SharonSant
http://sharonsant.com/
