A somewhat dense but ultimately enjoyable questing tale.
An adventurous fantasy series starter that follows a captain and his crew as they search for the fabled Grimstone.
In the year 3203, in the kingdom of Tuscawny, Capt. Zale “The Gale” Murdoch is incredibly close to reaching a level of mastery in his seafaring guild, which would allow him to semiretire. Then the bar for mastery is raised again, so Zale is eager to take on something big—something guaranteed to make him a lot of money. Nobleman Vidimir Tefu has a mission, but it doesn’t seem promising at first; he wishes Zale to hunt down the mysterious and powerful Grimstone, which Zale isn’t even sure exists. Zale’s new healer tells him about the stone’s legendary power—and how Zale’s family name is attached to it, which changes his view of the assignment. After his ship is nearly destroyed by magical fire, he and his crew are forced to set sail earlier than planned, but he’s more determined than ever to find the stone. Then Zale’s semi-estranged teenage daughter, Starlina, is found onboard despite the fact that she loathes the sea; she’s enamored with a member of his colorful crew and ended up on the craft by accident. Her presence adds an unexpected element to what proves to be quite an adventure. Kramer’s introductory installment to a new series is set in another time and another world, and the necessity of describing these things means that the narrative can get bogged down in details of the setting and its history; the introductions of the various crew members, as well as the backstory of the Grimstone, may also overload casual readers. Others, however, will enjoy the feeling of immersion in a complex setting with well-developed characters. Once the search begins in earnest, however, the story moves at a quick, steady pace and becomes more enjoyable to read. The novel also includes maps of relevant places and a diagram of Zale’s ship, both of which prove useful.
A somewhat dense but ultimately enjoyable questing tale.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-955997-30-0
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Heroes of Time Productions, LLC
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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
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