A lightweight and playfully swift adventure set in a famous realm of magic and royalty.
Murray and Fahrie deliver the latest novella in their supernatural series featuring a shape-shifting time traveler from the present day.
In a previous installment, Lucy and James traveled from September 2018 to the days of King Arthur’s court. As this book opens, it’s September 518, and the two find themselves among such famous names as Merlin and Lancelot. Jousting tournaments and dinners with plenty of wine make for an entertaining existence for the pair; Merlin even has a sassy parrot who points to such things as how “James still misses his mother very much.” The idyll ends, however, when it becomes apparent that murderous vampires are on the loose in Camelot. The problem is so acute that Lucy even finds one under her bed. Luckily, James is a shape-shifter who’s able to change into a wolf whenever the need arises; not only does he save Lucy and himself from an intruding vampire, but he also rescues Queen Guenevere from an attempted kidnapping. Amid the hubbub, there’s an illicit relationship between Guenevere and Lancelot, which goes against her wedding vows. She tells Lucy that she knows that she must break things off, but she feels passion for the knight that she sometimes finds herself “unable to control.” Many other women at court find Lancelot equally attractive; indeed, it appears that a commoner named Roxanne may have killed herself because he didn’t reciprocate her advances. And if that weren’t enough, there are still all those vampires to deal with.
Murray and Fahrie present a densely packed tale in this series entry, but it’s one that moves quickly. As the entire novella is less than 100 pages long, no individual scene lasts for very long, and many chapters are dominated by action. In one notable scene, Lancelot gets punched in the face at dinner; another features two characters being forced to dance in a vampire castle, as villains chant “Dance or Die!” However, the dialogue is frequently on the nose, with characters stating how they are feeling instead of showing it through action: One character remarks after swimming in a mineral spring, “That was a delightful swim. I feel much more relaxed now”; during an attack, someone unnecessarily exclaims “We are being attacked! Kill them before they kill us.” Even Lancelot takes an opportunity to bluntly explain his actions: “I’m very much my own man and I often go away on adventures all by myself.” The earnestness of everyone involved doesn’t make for the most mysterious atmosphere, but it does result in entertainment. The fact that the monstrous vampires laugh and clap gives them an unexpectedly humorous bent, and during a confrontation with bats, Merlin uses owls in an endearingly cartoonish scene: one bird “quickly ate the entire bat whole.” Some aspects of the story are predictable, but there is always something new developing around the corner, and it may well come with a touch of silliness.
A lightweight and playfully swift adventure set in a famous realm of magic and royalty.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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