A whodunit in fantasy form makes for a complex, original tale.
A servant of the god of autumn tries desperately to figure out who stranded her master in the land of the living.
Tirne holds a coveted position within a religious sect that worships the four seasons, each personified by a different deity. As Autumn’s Herald, she is responsible for escorting the god from the divine realm to the human world every fall and back again via an ancient portal called the Mirror that Heralds alone can manipulate. During their annual three-month sojourn abroad, Autumn sleeps with a mortal Consort to produce magical demigods known as Scions, and Tirne catches up with friends, takes part in earthly life, and enjoys rendezvous with her own lovers. Since she was appointed Herald five years ago, Tirne has excelled in the role—until, that is, the Mirror inexplicably shatters after she and Autumn cross over for the sixth time, severing the connection between the two domains and spelling bad news for mortals. With the Mirror broken, autumn will stretch out indefinitely, food reserves will run out, and many will starve—not to mention that the trapped souls of the dead will begin feeding on the living. It’s a premise that recalls the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone, but with plenty of twists and additions. Horrified and shaken, members of the sect and even skilled civilians immediately set to work trying both to repair the Mirror and find the person or people responsible for its destruction. Suspicion immediately falls on Tirne, the last person to touch the Mirror before it broke, and she is demoted to common acolyte. Devastated by the loss of her title, status, and sense of self, Tirne begins to conduct her own research into the Mirror’s destruction. Some plot points feel disconnected from the larger narrative, and the ending comes abruptly, but the mystery is compelling and Tirne's world is richly drawn.
A whodunit in fantasy form makes for a complex, original tale.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781250896490
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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