Elizabeth Knox
Allen & Unwin
Otago Daily Times, November 1st 2025
Two decades after publishing the Dreamhunter duet, Elizabeth Knox has returned to the mythical province of Southland, updating the setting from the 19th Century to the present day and introducing it to a new generation of YA readers.
The Place of the original novels may be a thing of memory, but Southland remains the site of unusual phenomenon; in this case as the birthplace of individuals with the ability to control those around them through a sort of intense charisma known as Persuasion or P. Although the P-born (the Percentage) constitute <1% of the population and are taught from a young age about the unacceptability of non-consensual coercion, public concerns are growing, and a variety of technological and political protections have been suggested, although none have yet come to fruition.
This distrust is something the book’s central protagonist, 18-year-old Victoria – Vex – Magdolen knows only too well. As the daughter of the man who perpetrated “Southland’s first, and hopefully last, mass murder by Persuasion,” she is regarded by suspicion by those with and without P alike and has spent years cultivating a protective anti-social veneer. Her expectations of the upcoming year at Tiebold Academy (favoured school of Southland’s most prominent and P-strong families) are, therefore, not high, and Vex is surprised to find herself surrounded by people she almost dares to think of as friends. Her momentary happiness is shattered, however, when she and her classmates are abducted, and must face the very real prospect that not all will survive the encounter.
The story encompasses dual time-lines and genres. Scenes of campus life and budding romance alternate with thriller-style interludes in which the teenagers’ abduction and captivity is described in graphic, and sometimes disturbing detail. As a structural device this works well: The ‘academia’ chapters scratch the boarding-school wish fulfilment itch and provide insights into Southland history, the nature of P and its potential links to dreamhunting, and the current political climate; the thrillers ratchet up the tension as Vex and her friends try to understand their captors’ motivation and target – ransom, terrorism, or something personal? – and plan their escape.
Despite the violence and danger faced by Vex and her friends, the bonds between them, high-P, low-P and Nopey alike, only strengthen as they work together to free themselves and protect each other. Their solidarity lends the novel hope, and the ending, whilst bringing resolution, leaves open the possibility of more to come.
Knox also has fun with her worldbuilding, particularly in the way P-related terminology has become embedded within the cultural lexicon (although I found hard to escape the unfortunate real-world associations of that particular initial). Whilst not primarily intended for a cynical, middle-aged reader, Kings of the World left my inner teenager well satisfied.