The Pain Merchants –The Healing Wars-
By Janice Hardy
Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks (6 Jan 2011)
Genre: Dystopia-Fantasy Source: Publishers
Synopsis - Nya has a secret she must never share…
A gift she must never use…
And a sister whose life depends on both.This astonishing debut novel is the first in the epic dystopian fantasy adventure trilogy, THE HEALING WARS.
Fifteen-year-old Nya is one of Geveg’s many orphans; she survives on odd jobs and optimism in a city crippled by a failed war for independence. Nya has a deadly secret. She is a Taker, someone who can extract pain and injury from others, but with unusual differences. Her sister Tali and other normal Takers become Healer’s League apprentices and put their extracted pain into enchanted metal, pynvium. But Nya can’t dump pain in this way. All she can do is shift it from person to person. When Nya’s secret is revealed to the pain merchants and the Healer’s League she is flung into danger. Then a ferry accident floods the city with injured, Takers start disappearing from the Healer’s League and Nya’s strange abilities are suddenly in demand. Her principles and endurance are tested to the limit when Nya’s deadly powers become the only thing that can save her sister's life.
My Thoughts- This is what I love about this Genre! That it always brings something new and fresh to the table and even makes you question a few things in the process.
The Pain Merchants follows the story of Nya and her sister Tali who have been left orphaned due to the war. Food and supplies have become scarce and people are close to desperate. Nya and Tali are something different though, they are Takers; they have the ability to take away your pain, you can call it a gift but society most likely thinks of it as a curse. Nya’s gift of taking goes one step ahead; she can not just take the pain but give it to any other individual also. This makes her a walking weapon, one who if found out could be used for destruction.
Now, did I like Nya? It’s hard to say, I knew her intentions were right at times, but there was a lot of selfishness mixed in there also. Towards the centre of her story her gift makes her cruel at times. In a way, having such a gift is bound to make you abuse it if you get too carried away. Herer actions made me distance myself from her from time to time. When she did something horrible she continued to maintain her innocence or just block it out which frustrated. I would have much rather preferred for her to come out and say "yes I did this and I was wrong" instead she turned a blind eye. She redeemed herself though, she matured towards the end, and realised her mistakes and that counted for something.
The trouble begins when Takers all over start disappearing, when Tali vanishes to, Nya knows she must do everything possible to find her. Her journey has just begun but already Trackers are hunting her down, with her doing this alone, does she even stand a chance? Apart from her sister, who I really liked she also has a best friend, Aylin. Nya needed to be told when she did something wrong and went too far and Aylin told her like she saw it and I respected her for that.
Other highlights (character –wise) are; Danello, who becomes a true friend and is someone who stays by her side and grows to be protective in a brotherly-sweet way. Soek is another character I warmed to, although I am not sure right now if he can be entirely trusted, I loved his cheeky remarks, and his boyishness, he added an element of amusement in this dark period of time not to mention he was quite charming. The thing is there is nothing here romance wise, which is something authors nowadays greatly rely on. I think the fact that there was no romance in the book and that I felt like it wasn’t really needed at this point says a lot. There are two people who I see as potential candidates for Nya (lol candidates: D :) I would say Soek and Jeatar! Now he is a hottie, Muscly, and great looking with mysterious scars all over? *sigh*
There is a lot more Nya can do, things that nobody can ever know of, as this instalment comes to a close there is a lot more Nya must do to ensure the ones she loves are safe. Now alongside with her new-found friends and trusted comrades she will begin a new journey, in the next book "Blue Fire" which releases in April! I can not wait; I must say, I have grown quite fond of the characters and Nya’s story. April come sooner, pretty please? J
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