I'm an English teacher. A girl in my class handed me a novel she had written, almost 35 000 words long. She's tomboyish, loves music, plays guitar and she's a swing dancer.
Her novel is about a boy that gets raised by the leader of a city. Once his adopted father dies, the boy is able to barter a peace between his home city and the nearby wealthier city state, by showing both sides how cooperation is mutually beneficial.
It's more alternate history than sci-fi or fantasy. The only fantastical element is a drug that can keep a deadly infection at bay and gives the user an inflated sense of self.
The book is obviously written by a young person, especially towards the end, where most of the political drama gets abandoned by a very cringe romance. I am going to tell her to include the love interest earlier on in the story and tie her into the plot.
Still, the book is very well written for a fourteen year old. It is also written in English, which is her second language. It also doesn't lean too far into the darlings of fanfiction and YA-literature.
I want to gift her a book, something that's for adults rather than YA, but which fits her interests. I doubt any of the books I've read would suit her. I haven't read much fantasy or historical fiction with political plots. Most of the stuff I've read are the type of things sadboy English majors like.
I watched Shogun the show this fall and was thinking about reading the book, as I am planning a trip to Japan. It struck me that the show has both political intrigue and the same kind of feudalist, cusp of industrial revolution setting that her story has (it would of course take a good while for Japan to industrialize, but it's close enough).
On the face of it, the book seems perfect. The problem is that I haven't read it myself yet, and so I only have the show to go on. Even though I am sure she'd love the show, I am not sure if she'd like a story by a male boomer from 1975.
So, to those who have read the book, do you think a 14 year old girl who likes political intrigue set in an early modern period type world would enjoy this book?
by Moon_Logic