Dark, sordid, gritty, thrilling, and gorgeous in its own peculiar way.
In 1949 London, a bookseller’s clerk stumbles into a secret, exceptionally dangerous aspect of his city.
Physically and emotionally awkward Dennis Knuckleyard is negotiating for a job lot of books written by occult author Arthur Machen when he falls into a weird sort of trap. One of those books is a dangerous metafiction: It’s an imaginary book that Machen refers to in one of his stories, but which shouldn’t exist independently. The unreal volume represents a breach into Long London, aka the “Great When” of the title, a theoretical landscape populated by archetypes and other strange, dangerous beings, and the philosophical foundation of material London. Finding both peril and assistance in unexpected places, Dennis must get the book back to Long London, and also facilitate a meeting between a crime kingpin and one of Long London’s denizens, the embodiment of crime itself. As always, Moore’s prose harks back to the New Wave movement of speculative fiction so prevalent in the 1960s and ‘70s; it’s strongly reminiscent of Michael Moorcock’s more experimental work. The style is well suited to the more hallucinatory passages depicting Long London; and yet, this novel is actually plotted more straightforwardly than one might expect of Moore, who usually delights in elaborate tangents. Though still grounded in cynicism, it also displays more faith in people than is typical for the author; while the setting is a grim post-war London featuring both human and inhuman monsters, the protagonist, Dennis, discovers multiple instances of kindness from complete strangers who have no obvious motivation to help him as much as they do. Moore is certainly far from the first to write about a magical London or a parallel London, but his evocation is well drawn and unique. This first installment of a projected series is clearly a prelude to something interesting—whatever it turns out to be—and solid indication that Moore, who is still mostly known for his iconic graphic novels (Watchmen, 1987, etc.), does not require an artist to paint a picture.
Dark, sordid, gritty, thrilling, and gorgeous in its own peculiar way.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781635578843
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
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