I finished out my reread of the Tillerman Cycle by Cynthia Voigt with the final book, Seventeen Against the Dealer.  I’ve loved revisiting the Tillerman family, getting inside each of their heads (as Voigt does so well!) and watching them navigate and struggle with goals, identities and connections.

This last book brings us back into the point of view of Dicey, lead character of the first two books.  At twenty-one, Dicey has dropped out of college to start her own boat-building business.  With her usual fierce pride and independence, she’s determined to make her own way with her business, accepting no help and incurring no debts.  She faces setback after setback, and her solution is always to work harder…so hard that she doesn’t notice the people she’s pulling away from in the process.  The title is metaphorical, about making a risky bet in Black Jack, reflected in the book by the gambles Dicey makes throughout as she struggles toward her goal.

This final book wraps back to the beginning in a nice way by putting the focus on Dicey again (which it hasn’t been for four books).  It also continues the theme of the Tillerman tendency to keep oneself apart–needing no one and relying on no one.  That was part of Dicey’s character in her earlier two books, and we saw the quality taken to an extreme with Bullet in the fourth book, The Runner.  In this book Dicey seems on a path to be like Bullet, so self-reliant that she’s cutting off all other ties.  This is a satisfying ending to the series in part because Dicey (and her grandmother) ultimately learns something about needing other people–not giving up her strength or will but realizing that she doesn’t have to do everything alone. Continue reading “Book Review: Seventeen Against the Dealer (Tillerman Cycle)” →

I’m continuing my reread through Cynthia Voigt’s Tillerman Cycle with Book 5, Sons from Afar.  Books 1 and 2 focused on oldest sister Dicey, Books 3 and 5 spun out to focus on supporting characters, and Book 4 was a prequel.  This one finally brings us back into the heart of the Tillerman family, but shifts focus (as the title suggests) onto Dicey’s two brothers.

Six years have passed since Book 2.  James is sixteen and Sammy is twelve, both struggling with identity, how they fit in (or don’t) and where they’re going in life.  James latches onto the idea that he can learn about himself by learning about his father, who left the family before Sammy was even born.  James drags Sammy along on a quest (mostly metaphorical, but there’s some travel) trying to find answers about what kind of man their father was.

This is another book that’s more about character than it is about plot.  The search for information gives it some thread of focus, but mostly it’s about the character of the two boys.  Trying to find out about their father is, not very subtly, really about finding themselves, and I think James at least even knows that. Continue reading “Book Review: Sons from Afar (Tillerman Cycle)” →