An epic character-driven story with a heroine who can travel through time.
Supernatural storks face unexpected obstacles in their quest to unify earthlings in Anderson van Berkel’s debut, which blends fantasy and world history.
Born during the Bronze Age, snowy white stork Zendala has the ability to travel through time. She rescues women of varying eras and lands from certain death, including a queen and a Christian martyr. They’re all recruits for the White Storks of Mercy, supernatural avian creatures whose purpose is bringing peace to the world. Each woman transforms into a stork, but all can change back to humans (in that form, they’re called the Merciful Ones). Zendala confers immortality on them, but that doesn’t make them immune to such things as distrust, which threatens to shatter their unity. Their greatest menace, however, may be Reba, Zendala’s Siamese cat sister. She blames Zendala for her near death and for splitting “the Mischief Makers,” the rabble-rousing duo of Reba and pharaoh Maatkare Hatshepsut. Reba, who has the power of persuasion, plots revenge against her sister. Her morphing ability excludes bird or human forms, but she befriends a druidess who can help with the latter, giving Reba a new way to make mischief. Anderson van Berkel’s tale is dense with plot and characters. Zendala and Reba, for example, have a complicated history; Reba’s antagonism started when the two shared their stork mother’s egg while surrounded by Egyptian deities. As the author has sequels planned, this book centers on Zendala’s amassing her team and only touches on her “humanitarian mission.” Still, the extensive cast impresses, from apprentice stork Iona to the sisters’ father, Egyptian sun god Re. The story is rich in history as well; the White Storks traverse ever changing countries and bump elbows (or wings) with real-life figures like Joan of Arc and Napoleon. The author rounds out her novel with indelible imagery, such as a sunset that “painted the sky the color of ripe nectarines.”
An epic character-driven story with a heroine who can travel through time.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-578-95780-7
Page Count: 345
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Spanning centuries and continents, this is a darkly romantic and suspenseful tale by a writer at the top of her game.
When you deal with the darkness, everything has a price.
“Never pray to the gods that answer after dark.” Adeline tried to heed this warning, but she was desperate to escape a wedding she didn’t want and a life spent trapped in a small town. So desperate that she didn’t notice the sun going down. And so she made a deal: For freedom, and time, she will surrender her soul when she no longer wants to live. But freedom came at a cost. Adeline didn’t want to belong to anyone; now she is forgotten every time she slips out of sight. She has spent 300 years living like a ghost, unable even to speak her own name. She has affairs with both men and women, but she can never have a comfortable intimacy built over time—only the giddy rush of a first meeting, over and over again. So when she meets a boy who, impossibly, remembers her, she can’t walk away. What Addie doesn’t know is why Henry is the first person in 300 years who can remember her. Or why Henry finds her as compelling as she finds him. And, of course, she doesn’t know how the devil she made a deal with will react if he learns that the rules of their 300-year-long game have changed. This spellbinding story unspools in multiple timelines as Addie moves through history, learning the rules of her curse and the whims of her captor. Meanwhile, both Addie and the reader get to know Henry and understand what sets him apart. This is the kind of book you stay up all night reading—rich and satisfying and strange and impeccably crafted.
Spanning centuries and continents, this is a darkly romantic and suspenseful tale by a writer at the top of her game.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7653-8756-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A multilayered exploration of the complacent as complicit, all within a unique yet relatable magic system.
An orphaned prince on the run gets a chance at freedom if he can become one of his would-be enslavers.
Three years ago, when the Hierarchy killed his family, 17-year-old Vis Solum had to hide in their Republic, bury his rage, and pretend to support the population’s enslavement in order to survive. The Hierarchy is built on Will—a person’s mental and physical energy—ceded by the low to those above them, and then again, all the way to the top of the three pyramids of leadership: Military, Governance, and Religion. Will powers carts and carriages, keeps vaults locked, and gives Will-users inhuman abilities while sapping ceders of their health and life span. So far, Vis has managed to refuse the ritual to cede his Will. Now, he has little more than a year before he legally has to cede or have his Will drained by Sappers. When Senator Quintus Ulciscor Telimus offers Vis the chance to escape ceding for at least another year, and perhaps never do it at all, Vis agrees. The man officially adopts him so he can attend the Catenan Academy, where all students are tested and prepared for the highest Hierarchy positions. If Vis dominates at the Academy, he can choose a position where he doesn’t need to cede or receive Will at all, far away from the Hierarchy. In return, Vis must act as a spy to prove Religion is unearthing a dangerous weapon. Then, when Vis is blackmailed to act as a double agent, everything changes. In order to succeed, he must become one of those he so hates while keeping his true identity a secret. If he doesn’t, he’ll end up dead, or worse. This Roman-inspired fantasy starts slow but more than makes up for it soon enough. With the inevitable comparisons in mind, fans of Pierce Brown's Red Rising will enjoy this book, but it’s darker, deeper, and takes unexpected paths worth traveling. Trust that the author will get you there in the end.
A multilayered exploration of the complacent as complicit, all within a unique yet relatable magic system.Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781982141172
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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