Reviewed by: Glass Town Wars by Celia Rees Alaine Martaus Rees, Celia Glass Town Wars; illus. by Anna Morrison. Pushkin, 2020 [320p] Paper ed. ISBN 9781782691631 $12.95 E-book ed. ISBN 9781782691648 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 London teen Tom lies in a coma, with only quiet admirer Lucy as company, until best friend Milo places untested gaming tech into his ear. Suddenly Tom's pulled into a dream world, where he meets the strong-willed Augusta, fights alongside her in a Napoleonic-inspired battle, then travels with her to the land of the Fairish and on to Glass Town. There he's caught up in court politics against a psychotic adversary, until a momentary flash of the real world reveals the truth: the dream world is an elaborate virtual game, and Augusta is a young Emily Brontë, trapped by a dangerous game designer intent on using her imagination to control the world. Now, as Tom and Emily fight for their freedom, other questions remain: can Lucy pull Tom out before he loses reality forever, and having fallen for Emily, will Tom even want to return? With this genre-defying adventure previously published in the UK, Rees spins a complex tale drawn from the elaborate fantasy worlds created by the Brontë siblings as children. Though this is technically Tom's story, the real heroines are the girls, who shine memorably like the strong women of Emily's referenced Gondal poems. The prose, meanwhile, jumps timelines, narrators, and worlds with nary a clear explanation, but readers undaunted by an initially puzzling read will be rewarded with a narrative as layered and imaginative as the fantasy writing that inspired it. Knowledge of the Brontë family juvenilia provides valuable clarity but isn't essential, and unfamiliar readers may find themselves inspired by [End Page 44] the concluding author's note to learn more about an oft-neglected facet of Emily Brontë's genius. Readers ready to move up from Valente's The Glass Town Game (BCCB 9/17) will find this just the ticket. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois