A romance-light space adventure that still has plenty to please readers.
A hacker is determined to stop a person trying to incite war between two galactic empires.
Kee Ildez is a legendary hacker and an integral part of the crew of the spaceship Starlight’s Shadow. The crew's human ex-soldiers served together in the war against the Valoffs and now work across the galaxy as bounty hunters. Kee has one goal: Find Commodore Frank Morten, the man who betrayed them during the war, and bring him to justice. She suspects Morten is trying to rekindle war between the Federated Human Planets and the Valovian Empire by staging an incident on Bastion, a remote space station. Kee arranges to leave the Starlight’s Shadow crew behind for a few weeks to run a solo investigation on Bastion—which will also give her a much-needed break from Varro Runkow, a Valovian munitions expert and telekinetic who recently joined the group. Kee is wildly attracted to Varro, but he has made it clear there can be no future between them. When Varro discovers she’s alone on Bastion, he leaves the ship, determined to protect her. As Kee and Varro hack into Bastion’s systems, they conclude that Morten might cause trouble at a high-profile fashion exhibition featuring human and Valovian designers. Kee and Varro’s adventures on the space station are full of action and intrigue. They make a good team, but their romance is underdeveloped and more of an afterthought than a well-integrated part of the plot. Of note: Kee’s staunch defense of why she continues to fight evil, even against what seems like impossible odds, is clearly meant to bolster readers who might feel overwhelmed in the face of Earth’s many problems. It’s a cogent reminder of why readers are drawn to speculative fiction in the first place.
A romance-light space adventure that still has plenty to please readers.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06305106-5
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
Slow and plodding.
A young woman with a magical ability to harness light discovers she is royalty.
Talasyn is a foot soldier for her homeland of Sardovia, which has been under attack for the past decade by the powerful and evil Night Empire, a conflict known as the Hurricane Wars. Talasyn is an orphan with no knowledge of her family, but she assumes they might be the source of her rare, magical Lightweaving talent. During a battle with the forces of the Night Empire, Talasyn spars with Prince Alaric, a fierce warrior who is the son and heir to the Night Emperor. Talasyn is sent on a covert mission into Nenavar, a nearby matriarchy that has remained neutral during the Hurricane Wars, to try to access a Light Sever which could hone and refine her magic. Instead, she discovers she is the heir to their royal throne; she and her mother, now presumed dead, disappeared under mysterious circumstances when she was a year old. Alaric follows her into Nenavar, and they discover his magical ability to cast darkness and shadows produces shocking results when mixed with her Lightweaving. A few weeks later, the Night Empire defeats Sardovia and ends the Hurricane Wars, and the novel transitions to a tedious, slow-moving story of court intrigue and diplomacy. A group of Sardovian soldiers and refugees seek asylum in Nenavar, but Talasyn’s grandmother agrees to protect them only if Talasyn agrees to join the royal court and marry Alaric. The politics surrounding the impending wedding is the primary plot for the rest of the novel, and it’s a slog. The glacially slow pacing only serves to highlight the confusing world building and underdeveloped characters. It’s unclear why Alaric and Talasyn are attracted to each other, and their tentative romance is just as stuck in a rut as the plot.
Slow and plodding.Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9780063277274
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
A sweet fantasy brews little conflict.
A disillusioned palace guard and a powerful mage ditch the Queendom in this quaint Sapphic romantasy.
Undying loyalty to a sociopathic queen can get pretty old. For Reyna, a palace guard, the final straw comes when a potential assassin holds a knife to her throat and she finds that Queen Tilaine doesn’t care whether she lives or dies. Decades of fealty collapse in an instant, and truthfully...Reyna doesn’t care either. She’s finally free to escape the palace grounds and never look back, to travel to the ends of the earth and open a tea shop/bookstore. Reyna and her girlfriend, Kianthe, have dreamed of combining their favorite pastimes into a solid income and living a life free from royal obligation and bloodshed. But Reyna isn’t the only half of the couple who will need to escape Tilaine—Kianthe is the Arcandor, the Mage of Ages. Kianthe wants no part of the Queendom, nor any role in the Magicary; she’d rather act on her own to decide what duty she owes the world’s magic. Reyna and Kianthe flee the Queendom in the night and arrive just south of dragon country in a backwoods town named Tawney, meeting charming locals and uncovering an abandoned barn perfect for their tea- and bookshop. As Reyna and Kianthe embrace their independence, they tackle threats of dragons, Queen Tilaine’s spies, and commands from the ancient Stone of Seeing, all while openly and patiently navigating their newly public relationship. Thorne’s novel encompasses all the wonders of fantasy—pet griffons, vengeful dragons, and a bloodthirsty monarch—while capturing the heartwarming moments of a blossoming romance. Side characters, including a nonbinary diarn crushing on a young lord, add to the whimsy as Thorne deftly weaves a closed-door, cozy romantasy.
A sweet fantasy brews little conflict.Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781250333292
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Bramble Books
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
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