Asian American Literature Fans

A Review of Rin Chupeco’s The Never Tilting World (HarperTeen, 2019).
By Stephen Hong Sohn



Readers of AALF will know that I am a fan of Rin Chupeco. I’ve taught one of her novels and just finished her other series. Now she’s moved over to HarperTeen with this latest, The Never Tilting World (HarperTeen, 2019).

We’ll let the official description provide us with the backdrop: “Generations of twin goddesses have long ruled Aeon—until one sister’s betrayal split their world in two. A Great Abyss now divides two realms: one cloaked in eternal night, the other scorched beneath an ever-burning sun. While one sister rules the frozen fortress of Aranth, her twin rules the sand-locked Golden City—each with a daughter by their side. Now those young goddesses must set out on separate, equally dangerous journeys in hopes of healing their broken world. No matter the sacrifice it demands. Told from four interweaving perspectives, this sweeping epic fantasy packs elemental magic, star-crossed romance, and incredible landscapes into a spectacular adventure with the fierce sisterhood of Frozen and the breakneck action of Mad Max: Fury Road.”

Now, the four interweaving perspectives are all first-person narrators: the twins are Haidee and Odessa; the other two are their respective romantic counterparts, Arjun and Lan. The world building aspect is totally intriguing, especially as readers basically hopscotch from one side of the world to the other. The monsters and mythical beings on each side are obviously different based upon the divergent climates. Krakens appear on one side while sand worms appear on the other. It’s constantly freezing on one size while it’s frightfully hot on the other. Chupeco also gives us enough information to realize that Haidee and Odessa don’t really know the other is alive; as each journeys toward the Breach that separates the worlds, there is a sense that they must figure out why the worlds remain so unbalanced and in threat of dissolution.

Inevitably, because there is a bifurcation, readers will probably find one side more compelling than the other. Chupeco also wisely shifts the tonalities from one world to the next. There is more of a gothic, horror element that pervades the ice-water world, while there is more of a thriller-romance that follows the sun-desert world. I found myself more compelled by the ice-water world only because there is a kind of survivor-like conceit going on there. What occurs in that side of the narrative is that Odessa is starting to receive gifts from underworld demons. These seven gifts will ultimately all result in Odessa losing some part of herself: what readers (and everyone who is journeying with her) begin to understand is Odessa is losing her humanity.

If I had one minor negative response to this narrative, then it comes in the form of readerly sequencing. I had just finished Kendare Blake’s series concerning the queens on Fennbirn. For those familiar with that series, the basic premise is that three daughters are born every generation, who basically must duel each other to the death. A similar conceit is being considered here, at least insofar as two sisters are basically supposed to duel each other until one dies, which provides a sort of balance to the worlds. When this sacrificial line isn’t followed, the world goes unbalanced. Such also seemed to be the case in Blake’s series. Despite the overlaps, the multiplied narrative discourse and the bifurcation of worlds makes Chupeco’s novel have some of its own unique elements. Fans of the paranormal romance will thus have something new to chew on in her latest offering.

Buy the Book Here!

Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Leslie J. Fernandez

If you have any questions or want us to consider your book for review, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email!
Prof. Stephen Hong Sohn at ssohnucr@gmail.com
Gnei Soraya Zarook, PhD Student in English, at gzaro001@ucr.edu