A convoluted but entertaining sword-and-sorcery romance.
An ancient god’s resurrection causes turmoil in Asgard and on Earth in this fantasy.
Following up on The Ebony Queen (2020), this third installment of Lane’s series charts another imbroglio started by the witch Cynara, queen of Velez. She has unwittingly released the bloody essence of the Asgardian god Anastacio from an eons-old crystal orb while imprisoning the consciousness of Odin, king of the gods, in the same globe. Unfortunately for Cynara, stealing Odin’s divine knowledge leaves her a kind of prisoner, too, as she is left conscious but paralyzed at Camden castle. That leaves an opening for Lady Regana, the queen whom Cynara ousted, to try to kill her—unsuccessfully, since Cynara can’t swallow the poison her foe sticks in her mouth. With Cynara laid up, a succession crisis brings to the fore Keldan Ashburn, Regana’s secret son, who shows the privy council that “a royal emblem is branded between” his “ass cheeks” that establishes his right to the throne. But then Anastacio’s blood infuses the body of Velez’s former King Rickard, Keldan’s father and Cynara’s husband (and Regana’s ex), who is believed dead but is actually yet another conscious paralytic, mummified alive by Cynara in a statue. Anastacio takes over Rickard’s decaying body, rules competently over an astonished Velez, and spends much time bickering with a revived Cynara over all the cruel mischief she has wrought. But with Cynara converted by Odin’s knowledge from hellacious bitch to benign humanitarian, the true villain emerges: Daemonis, a fallen archangel whose duel with Anastacio over the goddess Freya started the orb business. A coalition of Valhallans, witches, and toxic geckos rallies to take him on. Lane’s labyrinthine yarn feels overstuffed with subplots; the characters are well drawn and energetic, but the novel lacks the space to do them all justice. Her writing features atmospheric prose, crude humor, and effective, ghoulish set pieces, including the disembowelment of a sniveling priest by a giant goshawk. There’s a delicious Game of Thrones vibe in scenes of royal intrigue. (“There’s doubt on both sides; no proof for Keldan, no proof for Rudrik. However, one man is moldable and the other is not.”) Lane’s imaginative worldbuilding, tart dialogue, and dramatic reanimations and showdowns are enough to keep readers forging ahead through the tangle of narrative strands.
A convoluted but entertaining sword-and-sorcery romance.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1777069964
Page Count: 462
Publisher: Shelley Kassian
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.
A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.
Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378538
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: yesterday
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
