It was over 40 chapters into the book before I actually realized it was a young adult book. No matter to me, Loved this story! Although I would suppose that Authors would prefer not to be compared, for me, not since reading Anne Mccaffery "Pern" books have I been so thrilled with Sci-Fi again. Reading it throughly, enjoying it like eating a fabulous dessert, I was sad when it was over. Perhaps there will be another adventure by Perry Aylen.. Until then, it seems that I must read it again! ( )

Hexult is more of a sci-fi novel that takes place in a ice world setting. There are a bunch of islands in this world and some of the islands fighting for superiority.

Two 15 year old twin children turn up and create quite a stir by showing people their new "magic" which is really science.

I think this would be a good book for younger male readers.

The ending of the book left things quite open for more to be written about this world, and questions myself, as a reader, would enjoy finding out the answers to those questions. ( )

Hexult is a story for young adults, but will be enjoyed by adults who like fantasy books.

In the distant future, Hexult is an ice-covered land of islands surrounded by frozen seas. Aulf is the young mailman who sails his boat with his helper Ingar delivering the mail to the islands. Aulf and Ingar find twins Jacob and Elya shipwrecked on the ice, rescue them, and become friends. Jacob and Elya are from a land across the sea that no one from Hexult has ever visited or even knew existed. Their land is one of science and the four young people join together to bring that science to Hexult. Unfortunately, the islanders of Hexult are filled with suspicion and mistrust and view the science as magic.

The book is an enjoyable read--danger, science, wizards, prophecies, conflicts between the islands, raiders--everything needed for a good adventure story. The story is somewhat simplistic and I kept wondering why we didn't learn more about the land that Jacob and Elya came from earlier in the book. No one seemed to be interested in asking them, which seems unlikely. It was a quick read and by the middle of the book my interest was caught enough so that I am looking forward to reading the next book. ( )

Hexult, by Perry Aylen, is a quick read, enjoyable enough, by a promising author. The world he has created is intriguing and the story has the potential to be engrossing if the characters could just be developed more fully and the darker themes explored and allowed to have more of an effect. This book would be an ideal fit for young readers, perhaps in the 10 to 13-year-old range. However, teenagers and older will crave characters and themes with more complexity than those offered here. The fast-paced story only skims the surface of prejudice, superstition, political instability and war. The frenetic pace did not allow any kind of rapport to develop between the reader and protagonists. Key points in their back-stories, such as the questions of how and why the twins ended up so far from home, were not addressed early enough in the story and led to a sense of incredulous disbelief that none of the other characters thought to ask a single leading question for 28 chapters. Yet we are to believe that they invited them into their homes to live with them? A mature reader will be bothered by this lack of character development and bemoan the fact that no one grows or changes at all through the course of the story. However, the adventure and imaginatively envisioned world are a safe choice for children who are still cocooned in a world where good guys always win and nothing really bad ever happens. The author has potential - I will be interested to check in on future work to see if he can take the germ of a good story to the next level. ( )

Hexult by Perry Aylen is marketed as a young adult book, but don’t be fooled. While it took some time to orient myself in this new and chilly world, the world has much potential. Reading this book is like browsing in a foreign market; colorful and filled with a variety of remarkable people.
When a boat crash kills their father, Elya and Jacob, 15-year-old twins, are stranded in Hexult, a loose federation of island city-states on the brink of civil war. The two of them try better communication and new devices to reduce tensions between the islands.
The part I liked best in this book was the ice itself. Hexult is unique from other worlds; a series of islands set in oceans of ice. While there are many things that the reader is expected to take on faith (for instance, all he islands are heated from below) it has beautiful descriptions of the terrain. Moreover, the place has a personality, a “soul”, some of the characters considered it to have a name: Vajra.
I thought the ending was abrupt, perhaps not a cliffhanger, but certainly didn’t wrap up the problems completely. Perhaps this is to leave room for a sequel. Alternatively, like in real life, there always will be another adventure waiting. People who like the realms of Diana Wynne Jones and enjoy reading about enterprising young people taking on the problems of their world would certainly find Hexult a good read.