Botanical Mischief – T.A. White

White introduces the book with a statement that “Botanical Mischief” can be read on its own but will work better for people who have read her “Firebird Chronicles”. I believe she is mistaken; this book will not work for people who have not read FC. The introduction provides tidbits of background, but cannot tell the reader why certain characters are important, why certain events have resonance, why important characters are behaving oddly. This is more of a problem because “Botanical Mischief” and “Echoes of Insurrection” are taking place simultaneously and in the same settings.

Most of the action in EoI takes place on the space station Titan. Gus, the protagonist of “Botanical Mischief” (‘Gus’ is short for Pityrodia Augustensis - you guessed that right?) is a member of The Forty Three. They are forty-three children who were kidnapped, experimented upon, and given powers - and escaped. They are powerful and dangerous, and not necessarily sane. Gus was the wimp of the lot, and doesn’t get much respect. The Forty Three do not suspect that Titan is, in important respects, hers. Or that her botanical affinity is more dangerous than it seems.

“Botanical Mischief” establishes the main characters of a new series. Mainly it establishes Gus, who starts out behaving as mouse-like as she is thought to be, and ends the book having grown - or perhaps displayed - a spine. It does not end with Gus having any obvious goals. The book starts with her being roped into intrigues she doesn’t care about, and one guesses that the followup will start the same way.

The book is worth reading if you are reading and enjoying “The Firebird Chronicles”. It is not as good as TFC, in part because the main character is passive and reactive - and just not as interesting.