In Other Lands

In Other Lands is a 2017 young adult fantasy novel by Sarah Rees Brennan. It was nominated for numerous awards and won the 2017 Bisexual Book Award for Teen/Young Adult Fiction.^[1]

Before being published as In Other Lands, Brennan wrote the initial story, "The Turn of the Story" on her website and her LiveJournal account under the profile "sarahtales";^[2] the story was based on the characters previously created in Brennan's short story “Wings in the Morning” in Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant’s anthology Monstrous Affections.^[3]

In January 2023, Brennan released a two-part short story sequel called "Tears Waiting to Be Diamonds" on The Sunday Morning Transport, set 10 years past the events of In Other Lands.^[4][5]

Elliot Schafer, a 13 year old English boy, learns he can see across the Border (a wall that separates our world from a fantasy world). He decides to go to a military training school there after meeting Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle (also known as Serene,) a young elf girl who Elliot is immediately enamored with. Elliot also meets classmate Luke Sunborn, a boy from an affluent local family, and dislikes him. While at school, Elliot's prickly personality causes rifts between him and his classmates. When summer comes, Elliot returns home to his father (his mother abandoned the family shortly after Elliot was born.)

Elliot continues his schooling, becoming increasingly frustrated by the political processes that emphasize war over peace talks in conflicts. He starts writing treaties and participating in international negotiations. When he is 15, Elliot and Serene begin dating, but their relationship is short-lived. While on a summer trip with friends, Elliot realizes he is bisexual, and dates a man, Jase, for some time before realizing the relationship is unhealthy. Eventually, Elliot and Luke begin dating, and Elliot provides support to Luke (who is still reckoning with his newly-learned identity as half-harpy.)

In Other Lands was well received by critics, including starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews^[6] and Publishers Weekly.^[7]Kirkus referred to the novel as "stellar, if dense and lengthy,"^[6] whereas Publishers Weekly called it "hilarious, irreverent, and multilayered."^[7]

BooklistCindy Welch destacó cómo "Brennan da la vuelta a los estereotipos" y señaló que "esta es una historia escolar para jóvenes mayores, con una sexualidad desenfadada (pero no explícita), un pacifista convencido como personaje principal y un humor ligeramente cínico que enmascara una gran ternura". ^{[ 8 ]} Welch recomendó combinar la novela con los libros de Harry Potter de J.K. Rowling , los libros de Terry Pratchett , el Ciclo del Cuervo de Maggie Stiefvater y La princesa prometida de William Goldman . ^{[ 8 ]} Lee Mandelo, en su reseña para la revista Tor.com , describió la novela como una "lectura satisfactoria, reflexiva y divertida ". ^{[ 9 ]}

En otras tierras es un libro del Junior Library Guild . ^{[ 10 ]} En 2017, The New York Times lo incluyó en su lista de las mejores novelas de fantasía para jóvenes adultos del otoño. ^{[ 11 ]}