In sum, a lumbering, gnarled behemoth that seeks to crush readers beneath its sheer mass.
Reboot (read: author’s definitive edition) of a fantasy first published in 2011, pointing the way to an upcoming sequel.
A magical Veil separates the good guys of the Eastlands from the evil Westlands. A members of a sect called the Leiholan dedicate themselves to maintaining the Veil by singing the Song of Suffering. Still, for reasons unclear, the Veil is weakening, so the good guys need to pull an army together (historically, this has been a problem) and also organize a heroes’ quest, though it’s far from certain what the heroes hope to accomplish. In concept and approach, then, it’s a mashup of such favorite (or least favorite, depending) epic-fantasy authors as Stephen R. Donaldson, Terry Brooks, Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan. The questers are types rather than personalities and consist of: Vendanj, a Sheason (wizard) prone to regrets and gnomic musings; young bowman Tahn Junell, who wants to recover the lost memories of his childhood; Braethen Posian, of a warrior-scholar brotherhood sworn to protect Sheason; farmer and adventure-seeker Sutter, providing comic relief while learning that he sees dead people before they die; Tahn’s abused sister, Wendra, furnishing moments of real pathos when she howls out her pain and discovers she can work magic through the power of her song; fleet, sexy Mira, with a life expectancy of just 18 years; and good-hearted criminal exile Grant. Along their meandering way, they’ll deal with obstacles that test their resolve while being harassed by opposition in the form of Velle (evil wizards), Bar’dyn (sort of knobbly giants), zombies and the like. Orullian writes with facility and a confidence that too often veers into overblown description and obscure, rambling philosophical conversations: further evidence, should any be required, that fantasy fans like what they like regardless of rational considerations. Indications that he can or will address these problems in the sequel are few.
In sum, a lumbering, gnarled behemoth that seeks to crush readers beneath its sheer mass.Pub Date: April 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7653-7987-0
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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