A semi-Arthurian SF swashbuckler that swaps future tech for Merlin wizardry.
A novel in which a nanotechnology-infused, militaristic race attempts to conquer humans.
MacDonald’s SF novel takes place in a vaguely described world (whether it’s Earth is uncertain). Following a sort of global war, humanity has divided into two competing factions. Nanotechnology infusions that were intended as a benevolent upgrade in evolution and survival created the “Unity,” a formidable group for whom the microscopic robots in their blood confer superior speed, acuity, and rapid healing—all of which are assets on the battlefield. The nanites also dampen emotions, and the resulting robotlike conformity has made the Unity a conquest-oriented empire, seizing and assimilating non-nano-humanity’s city-states one by one. Timothy Arin, who now goes only by Arin, is a high-echelon Unity military officer, overseeing the absorption of yet another settlement of unconverted people. An assassin strikes down top Unity occupiers, and Arin recognizes the sniper as Lianna “Lia” McMillan—his childhood sweetheart and first love from the pre-Unity era. Now she’s a leading figure in the resistance. He pursues and captures the resourceful, fierce Lia but can’t bring himself to kill her or turn her over to the rest of Unity. Because the others in his collective will be able to read his memories and uncover the disobedience, Arin has no choice but to immediately go back with Lia to her rebel headquarters beyond the “badlands.” But she has a new relationship (with resistance leader Roland), and earning trust with Lia’s people is complicated by the impossible love triangle developing among the three. Nitpicky readers may wish for greater background on this feudal/medieval/futuristic dystopian culture (“The surprise appearance of the resistance soldiers on motorcycles had delivered its order, corralling all the battling bodies together like livestock to slaughter. Roland swiftly closed in on the fighting and pulled out his sword”). MacDonald’s decision to pare things down to the basics, however, creates an agreeably lean narrative. Though a plot outline might sound like one of the Borg storylines from the Star Trek universe, the novel actually leans closer toward the Camelot legend than Gene Roddenberry.
A semi-Arthurian SF swashbuckler that swaps future tech for Merlin wizardry.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9781633738560
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Dragonbrae
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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