A conceptually dense installment that will likely satisfy fans of the series.
In Susman’s fourth fantasy-series entry, sorcerer Kip Penfold, an anthropomorphic fox, must save his new school during a revolutionary uprising.
It’s two years after the American Revolution of 1817, and Kip, the first nonhuman sorcerer, has founded a college for sorcery in East Georgia. Money is tight, however, and Kip and his colleagues don’t know if they’ll be able to keep the school open. Kip is one of the Calatians—a historically marginalized group of humanlike animals—and his school serves the local Calatian community. He suspects that some humans in the newly formed American government would be happy if the school failed. Along with his partner, Alice, and his friends Emily Carswell and Malcolm O’Brien, Kip sets off for the International Exposition of Sorcery in Amsterdam in the hope of procuring support for his college. He’s wary of the presence of his human nemesis, Victor Adamson, who’d like nothing better than to see Kip’s school go under. When some students Kip brought along start disappearing, however, he realizes that Victor’s plot to harness demonic magic is a threat to Calatians everywhere. To save his people, Kip won’t let anything stand in his way—not even a French revolution. Each chapter features a lovely black-and-white illustration by Garabedian, which serves as a point of entry for the reader’s imagination. Susman’s prose is smooth and even throughout: “Having a raven, Kip had discovered, was like having a very perceptive young child, and he’d learned to project calm and assurance even when (as now) he did not feel them naturally.” In addition to the normal Harry Potter–esque wizarding fare, Susman uses the setting to explore issues of intolerance toward women and minority groups. For those who haven’t read the previous books, the world of the Calatians is a lot to wrap one’s head around: an alternative history with humanoid animals, magic, and some complex domestic relationships. The plot is perhaps not quite compelling enough to warrant the amount of mythology the reader has to wade through, which makes it a troublesome starting point for newcomers.
A conceptually dense installment that will likely satisfy fans of the series.Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-61450-528-0
Page Count: 278
Publisher: Argyll Productions
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
