The timing could hardly be better. Readers looking for more Wonder Woman lore after the blockbuster summer movie will welcome Leigh Bardugo’s imaginative and witty interpretation.
In this coming-of-age novel, teenage Diana lives on the island of Themyscira, which is populated only by female Amazons. She is the daughter of Hippolyta, who created Diana from a clay pot. Diana is painfully aware that every other Amazon earned a place on the island through a noble mortal death and feels compelled to prove herself worthy. Her chance comes when she rescues a lone survivor from a ship explosion, a mixed-race teenage mortal named Alia Keralis.
Through an oracle, Diana discovers that Alia is a Warbringer, a descendent of Helen of Troy who is destined to bring absolute destruction. The only way to divert this tragedy is for Alia to bathe in “the spring where Helen rests” within the next two weeks. Diana accepts the quest. Alia, on the other hand, is wary of Diana’s formidable appearance and outlandish proposal. They arrive in New York, where Diana’s supermodel appearance, Amazonian strength and incongruous naivete form the basis for much of the 21st-century humor. Alia and Diana forge a bond of sisterhood that is tested as the two of them, along with Alia’s brother and her friends, make their way to Greece to locate Helen’s spring.
Fans of Bardugo’s Grisha series will be delighted with the action and romance in this story. Wonder Woman: Warbringer is the first novel in the highly anticipated DC Icons Series, which features popular superhero stories retold by bestselling authors.
Diane Colson is a media specialist at a middle school in Gainesville, Florida.
