by Aaron Powell ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 17, 2012
A compelling premise that suffers from a lack of balance and an underdeveloped plot.
A young boy and his family survive nuclear apocalypse in their underground bunker in Powell’s (Doomsday Diaries IV, 2012) first offering in a dystopian series.
On a seemingly normal day, 13-year-old Luke starts his home-schooled day with Dad, learning about world religions and self-defense techniques. Before lunchtime rolls around, he’s in the family jeep racing toward their secret bunker after they learn of nuclear attacks in New York and an imminent attack in nearby Austin, Texas. They escape annihilation by minutes. What follows is an account of life inside the bunker, where Luke and his parents live for almost five years before they’re forced outside due to a dwindling cache of supplies. The novel suffers in several key ways. A little over half of the 135-page story is written in a series of journal entries from Luke’s perspective, which sketches a smooth yet superficial glance of day-to-day activities in the shelter, from the boring freeze-dried meals to the combat and firearm drills Luke’s dad thinks are necessary in their new life. The prose tends to be light on both substance and the creativity often found in its genre counterparts. However, the plot really picks up when the family decides to leave the shelter. Unsure of what they’ll encounter, they’re taken aback by what they find: A structure has been built around their bunker, and they’re almost immediately met by an official of the “New World Order.” The novel then moves quickly into the sci-fi realm, with futuristic military suits and a secret facility that reassigns peoples’ identities. Luke is transported to a location where teenagers are programmed to engage in sexual activities in order to repopulate civilization. Most of the novel’s substance can be found here, but it’s a bit too much action for a little over 60 pages. This rushed section feels implausible and out of place in comparison to the novel’s rather pedestrian beginning.
A compelling premise that suffers from a lack of balance and an underdeveloped plot.Pub Date: June 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-1478101741
Page Count: 138
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023
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
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by Hannah Kaner ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2024
A bold series continuation from a fantasy author to watch.
In a world where old gods can pass away, new divinities may be born.
Hseth, the fire god whose cult murdered Kissen’s family in Godkiller (2023), is no more. However, problems continue to mount for the intrepid young warriors who managed to kill her. The orphaned Inara and her minor-god companion, Skedi, persevere on a seemingly unending search for answers—she to the questions surrounding her paternity, he to an illustrious past he cannot recall. In the aftermath of the climactic battle, King Arren has chosen a path that his best friend, Elo the baker-knight, cannot bring himself to follow, and Elo must reckon with the ramifications of turning his back on his liege. Just as Arren stokes the fires of his own illicit cult—with himself as figurehead—a resistance movement to save what remains of the world’s outlawed gods begins to heat up. Unable to come to terms with Elo’s desire to keep her away from the dangers of war, Inara makes a rash decision that ultimately sets the stage for mass unrest shortly before Arren’s victory tour arrives at their doorstep. Meanwhile, a presumed-dead Kissen fights her way back from the shores of the god who saved her life, only to find herself at odds with her friends’ and family’s goals. You see, Elo, Inara, and the rest have forgotten one very simple rule: Dead gods can always come back. Tested alliances fuel this tightly plotted found-family thrill ride. The worldbuilding is complex, but the reader never feels bogged down beneath its weight. As with the previous installment, queerness and disability are woven into the fabric of the narrative; Kissen and her sisters are queer and disabled, a prominent secondary character is transgender, and several tertiary couples are gay and lesbian. Although the pacing does become a little too frenetic in the novel’s final chapters, as the point of view switches rapidly among protagonists, Kaner has penned another page-turner in this projected trilogy.
A bold series continuation from a fantasy author to watch.Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780063350106
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
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