With a more coherent perspective, this sequel offers a smoother entry into a bewitching but difficult story.
An intriguing character narrates her side of a complex story in Chan’s fantasy sequel.
Readers familiar with the fantastical world of Kaef’re (which resembles ancient China), first introduced in the author’s previous novel Blackcloak: A Man of his Sword(2015), will find the onslaught of confusion and excitement familiar as this installment starts out with the fractured identities of the protagonist fighting each other. (“I, we. We…I’ve just learned to share with myself,” says the narrator as he violently grapples with the aftermath of the first book’s story.) This time around, the focus is on Charan’s sister Sariana Jaydemyr, who is ready to recount the details of her life and the long voyages through different realities, memories, and battles that brought her to Charan. Told from her perspective, Sariana’s tale begins in a village where she was known as Sarah-Jade Falkenstrom, the daughter of a self-centered and abusive lounge singer named Chantal. After being abandoned by Chantal’s husband, the mother and daughter move to Teristra, where the outbreak of war leads Sarah-Jade to hide in an Abbey. There, the same Dreamsong magic that fractured Charan’s identity in the first book also leaves Sarah-Jade—now called Sariana—with multiple memories and identities. (“Who am I supposed to be, and what will happen if I reveal the truth?”) Sariana hides behind multiple false identities within the Abbey, training as a Sister of the Liquid Night before emerging into the world armed with a vision of the apocalypse and a signature weapon called the Gildenhammer. Sariana ventures from there to the city of Kaifeng, where her brother is only beginning to understand their shared history—and where the same political intrigue and fighting of the first novel await them both. As Sariana’s twisted story starts to catch up with the present day, both siblings also move closer to new, shocking revelations.
Compared to the first outing in Chan’s fantastical world, this entry gives readers a bit more to hold onto as Sariana’s first-person narration anchors all of the magical interventions with a single point of view. “I grew up in the memory of a shadow of a fantasy, unable to live up to any of it,” Sariana explains to her brother (and to readers) while showcasing the poetic turns of phrase that made Chan’s first book distinctive. However, there is still a mountain of dense mythology and worldbuilding to climb. Readers can easily get lost in the vast lists of characters and competing factions—those feeling completely overwhelmed may do well to start at the end of the book, where the author has wisely provided a detailed chronological timeline mapping the major events of both novels. (Spoilers abound here, of course, but for many they may be worth the relative clarity.) Chan’s powerful prose still pierces through the fog of his unwieldy mythology—the horrific abuse Sariana/Sarah-Jade suffers while also struggling to understand her egotistical mother is chilling. Readers willing to put in the work to understand what’s going on will be rewarded with Chan’s big ideas and even sharper writing than in the original.
With a more coherent perspective, this sequel offers a smoother entry into a bewitching but difficult story.Pub Date: Aug. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780994285232
Page Count: 488
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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