Intense and captivating; a pitch-perfect ending for a strong trilogy.
After narrowly surviving The Empress (2017), Nemesis is pulled back into imperial intrigue to stop a madman.
Rather than a traditional start (either a recap or where the previous left off), the book opens with Tyrus’ boyhood, when he makes a personally painful decision for the greater good, with ramifications that set him on the path that finds him, 15 years later, a mad tyrant declared to be a God-Emperor. Meanwhile, Nemesis, left by Neveni after Nemesis botched an assassination attempt on Tyrus, lives in hiding in a desolate mining colony with the only other surviving Diabolic, Anguish, who’s dying. As “Nemesis lives” has been taken up as a rallying cry by those opposing the tyrant, she loses anonymity and returns to Tyrus, who finds he misses her, in exchange for medical care for Anguish. But, unable to go along with Tyrus’ cruelty, Nemesis and Anguish must leverage every connection they have to enable Tyrus’ opponents to take him down. In doing so, they uncover some of the empire’s deepest secrets. The intrigue- and betrayal-packed plot never feels like twists for the sake of twists because character decisions are rooted in their complex, often contradictory, emotions. Nuanced social commentary and philosophical musings give thematic weight to a story grounded in a passionate, tragically antagonistic relationship. As appearance is easily and routinely altered via technology, the diversity focus is firmly on classism.
Intense and captivating; a pitch-perfect ending for a strong trilogy. (Science fiction. 13-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0995-8
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters.
Two young people save the world and all the magic in it in this series opener.
When tall, dark-haired, white-skinned Christopher Forrester goes to stay with his grandfather in Scotland, he ventures to the top of a forbidden hill and discovers astonishing magical creatures. His grandfather explains that Christopher’s family are guardians of the “way through” to the Archipelago, where the Glimourie Tree grows—the source of glimourie, or the world’s magic. Black-haired, olive-skinned Mal Arvorian, a girl from the Archipelago, is being pursued by a murderer, and she asks Christopher for help, launching them both on a wild, dangerous journey to discover why the glimourie is disappearing and how to stop it. Together with a part-nereid woman, a ratatoska, a dragon, and a Berserker, they face an odyssey of dangerous tasks to find the Immortal, the only one who can reverse the draining of magic. Like Lyra and Will from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Mal and Christopher sacrifice their innocence for experience, meeting every challenge with depthless courage until they finally reach the maze at the heart of it all. Rundell throws myriad obstacles in her characters’ way, but she gives them tools both tangible (a casapasaran, which always points the way home, and the glamry blade, which cuts through anything) and intangible (the desire “to protect something worth protecting” and an “insistence that the world is worth loving”). Final art not seen.
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-16)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593809860
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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