Three bite-sized vampire stories that make for a tasty sampler.
This collection of three novellas explores the backstories of peripheral characters from Belasco’s Blood & Ancient Scrolls vampire series.
“Teeth are Bones” (previously published in 2022 in Together We Stand Volume 2: A Charity Anthology for Ukraine) is essentially the origin story of Zoraida, a vampire who, as a human, lived in Haiti during the Haitian Revolution in the late 1700s. After she meets a mythical, formerly enslaved freedom-fighter named Kgosi—who turns her into a vampire—they begin a timeless but tragic love story while battling against American occupation of the island. “Blood Brothers” uncovers the gruesome beginnings of Dubhghall and Wulfhram’s friendship. After the two nearly kill each other during a clash between Picts and Vikings in the 900s, they’re turned into vampires and begin an epic friendship that spans centuries. “Abyssinia” (previously published in 2023 in the Adventures in Bodily Autonomy anthology) is set in Prohibition-era Philadelphia and revolves around a factory worker named Palmina who helps other struggling young women receive abortion services. When she meets a woman named Astryiah—who happens to be a vampire—Palmina finds a new way to help women in need. It’s a surprisingly romantic love story that will leave readers with tears in their eyes, and a powerful, timely read. All three stories feature well-developed characters, impressive emotional intensity, and a dark, lyrical writing style. A fight scene from “Blood Brothers,” for instance, is described thusly: “As he rolled, blood spun out and caught in the twilight like a little whirlwind of garnets.” The only criticism is the stories’ overuse, at times, of series-specific terminology: “Maybe it is in the vhoon-anghyaa from Asdrúbal, that none of his frithaputhraish can ever recover from the loss of their patar.”
Three bite-sized vampire stories that make for a tasty sampler.Pub Date: July 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781960942067
Page Count: 262
Publisher: Immoral Influence Publications
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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