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A CURSE OF QUEENS

From the The Kingmaker Chronicles series , Vol. 4

Action packed but romance-light.

After her queen in cursed by the gods, a healer embarks on a magical quest to Circe’s island.

Jocasta was born to a family of commoners but became a princess after her brother’s unlikely rise to the throne, a story told in the first three books of Bouchet’s Kingmaker Chronicles series. Jocasta’s healing talent makes her feel like a lesser member of the newly minted royal family, which needs powerful warriors and politicians to stay in power—men like Flynn, her brother’s most trusted friend and captain of the guard. Years ago, Jocasta thought she was in love with Flynn, but she has been steering clear of him ever since he cruelly rejected the romantic overture she made on her 18th birthday. Flynn is afraid to love again, having lost his entire family to various illnesses and tragedies. He never intended to hurt Jocasta but only wanted to protect himself from further loss. When the queen is cursed by a stasis spell—not only will she never change or grow old, but she’ll stay 8 months pregnant forever without ever giving birth—it’s clear she is being used as a pawn in a battle between the gods of Mount Olympus. Jocasta realizes the only possible cure lies in the fabled gardens of Circe. Flynn and three others volunteer to go with Jocasta on her quest, which involves traversing the perilous route of Odysseus. When Flynn and Jocasta become temporarily separated from the rest of their party, they discover they can no longer deny their feelings for each other. Readers looking for a rip-roaring adventure will find it here, but the romance arc is tightly compressed and almost perfunctory compared to the long, complex fighting and action sequences. Uneven pacing makes the final round trip push to Circe’s island feel rushed.

Action packed but romance-light.

Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-72823-004-7

Page Count: 496

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022

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FOURTH WING

From the Empyrean series , Vol. 1

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

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IRON FLAME

From the Empyrean series , Vol. 2

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

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