The splintered light

Ishmael's father is dead, perhaps because of Ishmael's actions, and his brother, Luc, has gone missing, leaving Mam and his siblings to work the sheep farm. His hardscrabble life lacks color, literally and figuratively until the day he sees a prism in the barn. He leaves to find Luc, which he does, but at a fantastical place, the Commons, where creation is explored in different halls that center on music, machinery, motion, and more. Like his brother, Ishmael becomes a color keeper, whose role is to color new worlds into being. It's a glorious calling, yet he continues to think the brothers will return home to help their struggling mother. For a story centered on brightness and light, there is a good deal of plodding in the descriptions of how things work. At its best, the story explores the broken relationship between the brothers, though debut novelist Johnson also builds a unique world, turning ordinary attributes into things of wonder. Ishmael's final decision lacks impact after the lead-up, but the friction between him and Luc builds to a possible sequel.--Ilene Cooper Copyright 2018 Booklist

Ishmael lives on a dry, barren farm in a drab, gray world.One day, a strange beam of brilliant light breaks through the monotony. Ishmael's never seen anything like it beforeit seems to have a life of its ownand he can't find the words to describe it. "Light span? Ribbon of brightness? Shiny flash?" When the light separates into seven disparate bands, it comes to him: "splintered light." "It's only light," Mam says; she can't see its uniqueness. The only person who might understand Ishmael's curiosity and excitement is his older brother, Luc, who left home four years ago. Against Mam's wishes, the 11-year-old travels to the Commons, the seat of creation, where reality is shaped. Finding Luc, who is training to be a color keeper, Ishmael discovers that splintered light is the color spectrum and not everyone can see it. When Ishmael accidentally prevents Luc from carrying out his dream, he tries to make things right, but nothing goes as it should. Johnson takes a familiar coming-of-age arc and wraps it in a gorgeously built world that asks readers to plumb the nature of creation. The book is divided into five parts, each beginning with an epigraph from Gerard Manley Hopkins' ode to creation, "Pied Beauty," but, like the intricate worldbuilding, the words may need multiple reads for total comprehension. Racial differences are hinted at in descriptions of hair texture and physiognomy, but within this world's limited palette, the book adheres to the white default.A beautiful world for patient readers to explore. (Fantasy. 8-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.