KIRKUS REVIEW (view on Kirkus site)

In this debut novel—the start of a four-part fantasy series—a young boy and his peers endure the Tribe’s harrowing trials to decide who will become fighters.

Da-Ren is an orphan who was born in Sirol, the big camp of the Tribe. He’s one of the children gathered by the Guides, in a tradition carried out every winter for trials known as the Sieve. This determines the kids’ destinies, whether they become warriors (an Archer or Blade) or “the help” (a fisherman...