A richly conceived fantasy with a grand emotional payoff.
In Miles’ debut fantasy novel, an art student’s dreams bring her into contact with a wizard and his extraordinary realm.
Sara Moore studies sculpture at the Hite Institute for the Arts in Louisville, Kentucky. She’s having trouble finishing her final piece that will allow her to graduate and begin a rewarding career as an artist. Her troubled personal life isn’t helping matters; her twin sister, Marilla, has been in a coma following a car accident eight months ago, and her best friend, Peter, could be the love of her life, if only she’d commit to their relationship. Also, Sara’s been having vivid dreams about a strange gnome—and once, she woke with a splinter after dreaming of touching a wooden table. Meanwhile, on a world called Canard, Dane Whitley is a “dewin,” or music mage, who’s capable of harnessing the divine Song without going mad from the accompanying Dissonance. He crafts magical instruments that are forbidden by the conclave, the religious order that’s ruled Canard since the good Storm King sacrificed himself to save the people from the evil Wyrm. Later, when Dane sees an elusive “fae” spirit named Sara, she tells him, “Fire. Fire everywhere. Run.” He follows her command and barely escapes being burned alive by conclave acolytes. Can Dane and Sara somehow forge a bond and solve the problems that plague each other’s lives? Miles offers a dense emotional tapestry for fantasy fans who may be looking for more than swords and sorcery. The intensive worldbuilding involves gnomes who raise human children (known as “deemlings”), shape-changers known as “chymaera,” and a monumentally epic World Tree (“The Tree was enormous, bone white, its top shrouded. It had split perfectly down the center....Clouds served as the Tree’s canopy”). However, although Canard’s narrative ambles forward with wild invention, Sara’s more grounded narrative sings more strongly. The complex family dynamics surrounding Marilla’s situation, for example, could fuel its own novel. Miles’ final revelations promise further layering of reality and fantasy in a planned sequel.
A richly conceived fantasy with a grand emotional payoff.Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-07-222658-1
Page Count: 363
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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