Secret of the Sirens
by Julia Golding
Secret of the Sirens is the first in Julia Golding's projected Companions Quartet. It's a book that seems certain to be popular, combining as it does so many successful tropes of children's fiction. First, it is an animal book, in which young Connie Lionheart is discovered to have a supernatural affinity with all living creatures. Connie will be a congenial heroine to children who have recently outgrown the Animal Ark series, or who like their animal-loving with a supernatural twist. Second, it is a story about a secret Society composed of people with special powers, who fight on behalf of humanity and all the planet ' a Society of which readers are at liberty to imagine themselves members. (Indeed, by registering at OUP's accompanying website, www.companionsclub.co.uk, they can even apply to join). Third, it will win parental and teacherly approval for its environmental and ecological focus.
The Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures, each of whose members has the ability to relate to and converse with a particular type of mythological beast (siren, dragon, weather giant, flying horse, etc.), is devoted to protecting the habitat of these, the rarest of all endangered species. But the Society also aims to establish a modus vivendi between the creatures of myth and the humans who have caused them so much damage. If the Society cannot act as an honest broker, there is a danger that outraged nature (spurred by the evil shapeshifting spirit Kullervo) will wreak its revenge by destroying mankind itself.
The ecological issues underlying all this are important and complex, and if Golding doesn't quite find a conclusive answer (who has') she has at least discovered a vivid way of setting out the problems involved. Nevertheless, the style of the book is unnecessarily ponderous. Too often, the narrator stops to spell out something that's obvious from context, and the dialogue frequently creaks. "I can't see the sirens letting such prey slip past them with Kullervo to egg them on," is not a sentence that looks very plausible in a conversation between children, but in Secret of the Sirens everyone speaks like that. Perhaps there is also just a bit too much concentration on the rules, grades, and internal politics of the Society, at the expense of its numinousness. The most effective scenes are those in which Connie (or her friend Col) work in concert with their companion creatures and the forces of nature. Here, the writing is assured, the narrative pace fast, the wonder and tension real. I am sure the OUP website will be well-used.
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