A memorable and nuanced tale of a world on the brink of violent change, hampered slightly by its deliberate pace.
In Miller’s fantasy novel, a princess find her world turned upside-down as she begins to doubt her society’s views about magic and its practitioners.
Grand Princess Sorrel Zdraevit is one of five children of the emperor of Eisa, a peaceful land where the use of magic is banned. Those who still use it, known as Wielders, have a reputation in the kingdom for being dangerous and causing trouble. As the royal family host a party to celebrate the 300-year reign of the Zdraevit line, tragedy strikes. A misfired firework winds up killing more than 1,000 people and injuring more. The citizenry is outraged, and some people say that the terrible event was no accident at all, but actually the work of Wielders or “magic-Sympathizers.” To make matters worse, when Sorrel and her sister attempt to visit the injured, they face an attack by a Wielder. Partly in response to this, the emperor decides that Eisa will support their allies in a war against Wielders in other countries. Meanwhile, the government draws up a list of possible Wielders in Eisa and their supporters. However, Sorrel begins to wonder if Wielders and their supporters are really as bad as she’s always been told—or if she has more to fear from other people. Miller develops Sorrel’s story steadily throughout the novel. As the narrator, Sorrel tends to use lengthy description to describe what happens to her; when she’s merely tired, for instance, she notes that “I could feel fatigue tugging at my eyelids.” This stylistic choice tends to slow the pace considerably. However, as the plot progresses, it becomes clear that this is not a typical fantasy tale, as there are some brutal twists that draw on similarities between the Zdraevit line and the plight of the real-life Romanovs in Imperial Russia. Sorrel’s tale of self-discovery, with its elements of magic, makes for a refreshingly offbeat addition to the fantasy genre.
A memorable and nuanced tale of a world on the brink of violent change, hampered slightly by its deliberate pace.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9798218264864
Page Count: 648
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.
Book 2 of Hearne's latest fantasy trilogy, The Seven Kennings (A Plague of Giants, 2017), set in a multiracial world thrust into turmoil by an invasion of peculiar giants.
In this world, most races have their own particular magical endowment, or “kenning,” though there are downsides to trying to gain the magic (an excellent chance of being killed instead) and using it (rapid aging and death). Most recently discovered is the sixth kenning, whose beneficiaries can talk to and command animals. The story canters along, although with multiple first-person narrators, it's confusing at times. Some characters are familiar, others are new, most of them with their own problems to solve, all somehow caught up in the grand design. To escape her overbearing father and the unreasoning violence his kind represents, fire-giant Olet Kanek leads her followers into the far north, hoping to found a new city where the races and kennings can peacefully coexist. Joining Olet are young Abhinava Khose, discoverer of the sixth kenning, and, later, Koesha Gansu (kenning: air), captain of an all-female crew shipwrecked by deep-sea monsters. Elsewhere, Hanima, who commands hive insects, struggles to free her city from the iron grip of wealthy, callous merchant monarchists. Other threads focus on the Bone Giants, relentless invaders seeking the still-unknown seventh kenning, whose confidence that this can defeat the other six is deeply disturbing. Under Hearne's light touch, these elements mesh perfectly, presenting an inventive, eye-filling panorama; satisfying (and, where appropriate, well-resolved) plotlines; and tensions between the races and their kennings to supply much of the drama.
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-345-54857-3
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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