An often-engaging, if unevenly executed, first installment of a fantasy trilogy.
Valente offers an extensive epic fantasy series-starter that explores themes of privilege and magic.
As the story opens, a pair of severed legs is discovered in Nauringale Forest by the Eyes of the Forest, a group formed to protect acres of woods in a kingdom that’s been ruled by generations of the powerful, wealthy Graymere family. The limbs are believed to belong to Prince Odain, who went on a trip and has apparently gone missing; the incident might be the start of a conflict that could topple the rule of the Graymeres. The tale is told through four different third-person perspectives: those of Rhen, a descendent of giants; Edlen, a princess; Aldir, the widowed father of Edlen and the son of King Ulisaren; and Darrin, a recent recruit to the Eyes of the Forest. Edlen and Darrin are at the center of the coming unrest; Edlen hates the negative associations brought on by her family name and birthright, and desperately wishes for the anonymity of being a commoner. Darrin also comes from a life of privilege as the only son of a minor lord, but he wants to prove himself capable of surviving without his father’s help or name. After a lord from a neighboring kingdom crafts a dangerous plan, Darrin and Edlen must confront old enemies of their own kingdom, the machinations of a shadowy organization known as the Voress Ní, and mysterious magic-users. The range of perspectives weaves important details into the tapestry of the narrative, which features several twists and turns, especially after a major character is kidnapped by opposing forces. However, after an exciting start full of action and intrigue, the pace slows considerably for about a quarter the novel as the rest of the cast, with their far less exciting personal woes, are introduced. But the worldbuilding is relatively smooth and unobtrusive, and as characters try to find answers, readers will be swept along. Overall, it’s a serviceable start to Valente’s ambitious story.
An often-engaging, if unevenly executed, first installment of a fantasy trilogy.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 979-8988647522
Page Count: 438
Publisher: Barrente Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.
Three women deal very differently with vampirism in Schwab’s era-spanning follow-up to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020).
In 16th-century Spain, Maria seduces a wealthy viscount in an attempt to seize whatever control she can over her own life. It turns out that being a wife—even a wealthy one—is just another cage, but then a mysterious widow offers Maria a surprising escape route. In the 19th century, Charlotte is sent from her home in the English countryside to live with an aunt in London when she’s found trying to kiss her best friend. She’s despondent at the idea of marrying a man, but another mysterious widow—who has a secret connection to Maria’s widow from centuries earlier—appears and teaches Charlotte that she can be free to love whomever she chooses, if she’s brave enough. In 2019, Alice’s memories of growing up in Scotland with her mercurial older sister, Catty, pull her mind away from her first days at Harvard University. And though she doesn’t meet any mysterious widows, Alice wakes up alone after a one-night stand unable to tolerate sunlight, sporting two new fangs, and desperate to drink blood. Horrified at her transformation, she searches Boston for her hookup, who was the last person she remembers seeing before she woke up as a vampire. Schwab delicately intertwines the three storylines, which are compelling individually even before the reader knows how they will connect. Maria, Charlotte, and Alice are queer women searching for love, recognition, and wholeness, growing fangs and defying mortality in a world that would deny them their very existence. Alice’s flashbacks to Catty are particularly moving, and subtly play off themes of grief and loneliness laid out in the historical timelines.
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781250320520
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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