Fights, schemes, snappy dialogue, and some genuinely touching moments make this series continue to shine.
Three years after the events in the previous volume of this martial arts fantasy series (The Art of Prophecy, 2022), the paths of three foes diverge.
As the Zhuun empire approaches civil war, the fighting skills of the empire’s Prophesied Hero, Wen Jian, are improving. He’s still not ready to fight the Eternal Khan, but that’s fine for now, because the Khan hasn’t been reincarnated yet. However, there’s still an enormous bounty on his head, and the religion that anointed him a hero now dubs him a villain for not having killed the previous Khan. The Khan can’t reincarnate until one of his inner circle, Salminde the Viperstrike, submits herself to a ritual death and frees the portion of the Khan’s soul trapped and rotting within her. While Salminde seeks a way to cure herself and prevent the birth of a new Khan, the sociopathic assassin Maza Qisami is desperate for a way out of her own troubles. Having lost considerable status and money for failing to kill Wen Jian, she accepts a new assignment that just might get her back on track—unless she gets too comfortable in her cover as a ducal servant and/or entirely fails to notice that someone is planning to double-cross her (the reader will figure out most of what’s going on long before poor Qisami does). This story continues Wen Jian’s personal journey from rash, naïve spoiled brat to perhaps, eventually, a true martial artist, while vigorously introducing new characters and new plotlines. It is also genuinely interesting to watch Qisami begin to question her previously ruthless ways and confront the consequences of her behavior, and to see both her and Salminde struggle to seize a purpose and a place to belong that represent more than the next great fight against an enemy. As a result, this is a fun and fascinating book in its own right, and not a mere setup for the final installment in the trilogy.
Fights, schemes, snappy dialogue, and some genuinely touching moments make this series continue to shine.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780593237663
Page Count: 672
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf