by Trudi Canavan ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2014
Despite the lack of sharp edges, Canavan's creation is intriguing enough to tempt patient readers back for more.
First of a new fantasy series from the Australian author of The Traitor Queen (2012, etc.).
In one world, the use of magic results in black trails of depletion known as Soot, until eventually more magic seeps in to replace it. Student sorcerer-archaeologist Tyen Ironsmelter discovers a sentient book named Vella in an ancient tomb. A thousand years ago, Vella was a real woman until transformed by the era’s greatest sorcerer. She still has her memories, and she can also absorb the knowledge of any person who holds her. She tells Tyen that magic can be generated by creativity; modern scholars disagree, though it’s indisputable that their world's magic-powered industrial revolution is rapidly depleting the magic. Reluctant to give up such a powerful tool to professor Kilraker, his supervisor at the Academy (where, of course, no women are permitted), Tyen conceals Vella—and when Kilraker learns of her existence, he accuses Tyen of theft. Facing ruin as well as the loss of Vella, Tyen steals an aircart and flees. In another world, meanwhile, only (male) priests in the service of the Angels may wield magic. Here, using magic creates Stain, black blobs of depletion that fade only slowly. Dyer’s daughter Rielle Lazuli can see Stain, but if she attempts to use magic, she’ll be stealing from the Angels. Unwilling to accept a husband selected by her parents, she runs away to live with painter Izare Saffre. From a “tainted” woman, Rielle learns how to wield magic only to become the target of blackmail by corrupt young priest Sa-Gest. Canavan narrates in a pleasant tone of voice, the plotting is plausible and the backdrops reasonably persuasive. Characters, though, tend toward the bland.
Despite the lack of sharp edges, Canavan's creation is intriguing enough to tempt patient readers back for more.Pub Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-316-20927-4
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Orbit/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2014
Share your opinion of this book
More In The Series
More by Trudi Canavan
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by TJ Klune ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020
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
Share your opinion of this book
More About This Book
PERSPECTIVES
by Kevin Hearne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 4, 2020
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by Delilah S. Dawson
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Kevin Hearne
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
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
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.