Čarodeji. Duhovi

Rhiannon Lassiter received rave reviews for her debut novel Hex, the first of three futuristic thrillers, and deservedly so. It was imaginative, energetic and bolstered by a rare "keenness of spirit" that made up for any loss of narrative pace through writing inexperience. Hex: Ghosts follows on from the sequel Hex: Shadows and completes the trilogy with style, delivering a satisfying conclusion to a substantial tale with almost as much verve as was evident in the original. Hexes are individuals born with the mutant Hex gene that allows them to interface, hands-free, with computer technology and the awesome, all-encompassing World Wide Web. A clever skill--but in the year 2371 it's an illegal one.

Here, the queen of all such rebels is the black-haired, black-clad Raven who, together with her swelling group of family, friends and Hex buddies, occupies a terrorist fortress amidst the scariest and darkest London city levels. They are fastidiously preparing for attack. On one hand, they plan to deliver the Hex population to power and overthrow the European Federation Government. On the other, they must defend themselves against a final assault that could mean the end of their kind for ever. The key to success of both aims lies in Italy where a disk containing vital Hex historical data lies in the fragile hands of two young sibling Hexes who do not realise their perilous position.

Hex: Ghosts is a meaty story with a large cast of characters that together grapple with no less a subject than the future of the world. It's ambitious and highly readable, and disappointing only in that the book is too short. (Age 11 and over) --John McLay