A remarkable and densely atmospheric tale featuring two indelible monarchs.
In this third installment of a fantasy series, a king and queen search for a missing friend and face a threat of war.
King Louis and Queen Selen of Trevalden receive a cryptic message that Lissandro is in danger in the Windy Isles. They journey together to find their friend, which entails a stopover in the city of Kilcairn. Unfortunately, Kilcairn’s king, Dywel, is apparently still irate over Louis’ refusing to marry his daughter years ago and instead embracing Selen, a man, as his queen. As it turns out, the Kilcairn princes and princesses’ blatant ridicule of Selen isn’t the sole reason for a general sense of unease in the city. Selen learns that local women have inexplicably vanished. And though Lissandro is reputedly somewhere in the Isles, Louis and Folc of Tyntagiel, the captain of the king’s royal guard, look for their cohort in Kilcairn—just in case. When someone subsequently takes Selen captive, Louis aligns himself with a vampire to track down his queen. Meanwhile, Selen’s captors enlist him and Kilda, a fellow captive who’s a vampire, to locate and somehow close a portal for invoking demons. Traveling north to the portal in the Frozen Mountains could earn them their freedom, if Selen and Kilda can trust their abductors. Alas, an even greater menace looms: Someone may be planning to declare war. If and when Selen and Louis finally reunite, there’s a chance they’ll have to race back to Trevalden so they can defend their kingdom.
Carlsson shrouds this series entry in tension. For example, Selen and Louis are surrounded by untrustworthy people in Kilcairn, a precarious situation that the news of missing women only aggravates. Other scenes are ominous, such as Louis’ riding into a town in the Frozen Mountains: “Those shacks gave out the impression a curse had descended upon them. Many had broken roof tiles, loose shutters, and unkempt backyards….The echoing clops of his mount’s hooves filled him with a sensation of vulnerability. Before he reached the end of the street, all the town would know about a stranger’s arrival.” There are spurts of shocking violence throughout at the hands of assorted characters, including villains and the Trevalden king and queen. And while this book has its share of battles and confrontations, its steady pace owes more to Selen’s and Louis’ various objectives, from tracking down missing individuals to closing a portal. As in preceding novels, solid character development takes precedence over fantasy trademarks. There are only a few genre elements, like telepathy. The series protagonists are sublime, both as a romantic couple and as leaders. Their romance further makes the two sympathetic, and numerous scenes of Dywel’s royal family deriding Selen are no less difficult to stomach than the eventual brutality on display. Supporting characters are equally engrossing, particularly the vampires. While Louis’ undead companion can indulge in blood excessively (and sometimes does), it’s not a substance as readily available to Kilda, who’s a seemingly reluctant vampire.
A remarkable and densely atmospheric tale featuring two indelible monarchs. (map, author bio)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 441
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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