Next book

ESCAPE

THE DIVISIONS SERIES, BOOK ONE

A slight diversion for fans of teen romance.

A teen fantasy debut that sees a young woman caught between warring nation-states.

It’s 3085, over a thousand years since the Third World War delivered nuclear destruction. A new civilizationcalled Unmundi has risen. Situated on a single continent are four habitable regions: the Mountain Division, the Sea, the Desert and the South Division. In the Mountain Division lives 18-year-old Anastasia, an orphan who serves in King Byron’s castle. When Anastasia’s brother Zephyr is robbed on the Crossing—a road that allows trade among the Divisions—Byron doesn’t believe him and instead threatens to kill him. After Anastasia begs for his life, the king proposes a solution: “You swear yourself to me, and I shall spare your brother’s life.” Anastasia agrees, and the king wastes no time abusing her; she defends herself and flees. Once Anastasia is recaptured, a metal collar is soldered around her neck. Luckily, the blacksmith sympathizes with her, later helping her escape. Anastasia reaches the South Division and finds work as a scullion wench in King Valek’s castle. In contrast to King Byron’s oppressed people, Anastasia’s new acquaintances seem to worship Valek, who violently usurped the throne from the South’s previous king. But Byron doesn’t plan to let Anastasia escape easily; he’s branded her a dangerous criminal and hopes to enlist Valek in her return. Debut author Khan pulls readers into her medieval world with moments that wouldn’t be out of place in Game of Thrones. In one particularly brutal scene: “Somebody was screaming in the dungeon. It took a moment for Anastasia to realize it was her.” Khan typically offers just enough description to set the scene, eschewing the bulk that many fantasy novels favor: “The entrance of the castle was at the top of some raised white marble stairs, and the double doors were also a white marble with black veins intertwined into the white stone.” The problem is that aside from a world risen from the ashes of nuclear war, there are scant other fantasy elements. Straightforward action/romance follows from a great (if familiar) premise, enlivened with only a few minor twists. The sequel should take more creative risks.

A slight diversion for fans of teen romance.

Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2014

ISBN: 978-1483408620

Page Count: 232

Publisher: Lulu

Review Posted Online: June 23, 2014

Next book

THE FAMILIAR

Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.

In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.

Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.

Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.

Pub Date: April 9, 2024

ISBN: 9781250884251

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

Next book

FOURTH WING

From the Empyrean series , Vol. 1

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

Close Quickview