An imaginative, well-crafted fantasy that’s weighed down by overused tropes.
An adventurous woman joins a crew of pirates and sets sail aboard the Wailing Wind in Kalous’ novel.
Sol Vesper was born for a life on the ocean. Her father was a sea captain and raised her on his ship after her mother died in childbirth. Her father was murdered in a mutiny when she was 12, and now, after a decade of “learning to survive without selling herself or being sold,” Sol arrives in the Aurtanian colonies of Barbaka, determined to get work as a sailor. Despite her experience and expertise, no one will hire her, as it’s considered bad luck to have a woman on a crew. A skirmish with a predatory captain leads to a chance encounter with Danken Vesper, her long-lost pirate uncle and the captain of the Wailing Wind. Sol joins his crew, eager to earn their respect; she forms friendships with Laius,a master swordsman who becomes her sparring partner; Will, the crew’s surgeon; and twin master gunners Derk and Jordan. She also earns the distinction of being the Wailing Wind's official thief after stealing a jeweled rapier from a Royal Navy ship. She faces challenges from misogynistic shipmates and enslavers at one of the ports that the crew visits. She also experiences a growing attraction to Curt, the ship’s surly first mate. When Capt. Vesper leads the crew in a mission to find and steal the mythical Hoard of Cerlax, Sol and Curt become closer, but Sol can’t risk a romance—there’s too much at stake. Kalous’ series starter showcases masterful worldbuilding, featuring mythology, royal politics, and richly detailed topography. However, some of its narrative elements are overly familiar; as a protagonist, Sol isn’t particularly compelling and falls into the not-like-other-girls cliché, even reflecting that “there had always been an oddness to her, things she couldn't explain away.” It doesn’t help that, until the final chapters, she’s the only significant female character; before that, unnamed innkeepers, barmaids, sex workers, high priestesses, and sex trafficking victims abound. Sun-and-moon symbolism throughout the novel is clever but heavy-handed.
An imaginative, well-crafted fantasy that’s weighed down by overused tropes.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781039198616
Page Count: 342
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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