by A.K. Delaney ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016
An arduous quest brimming with villainous beasts in an already epic opening volume.
Triplet sisters fulfill an ancient prophecy by enduring a harrowing journey to reclaim a sacred book in this fantasy debut, the first installment of a proposed series.
Expectant mother Taniyah, fleeing the Shadow Riders and the monstrous, flying Great Leeleth, serendipitously passes from the Realm of TuNerahland into the Present Realm. There, she gives birth to three girls: Arniyah, Shiyloh, and Hadarah. They are the three, named in a prophecy, who will recover the lost Book of the Sacred Seven and return it to its creator. Within the volume are seven seals that, if opened, will ultimately result in humankind’s doom. The sisters’ arrival, however, awakens enemies, most notably the Lord of Darkness, Taznuth, a three-headed sea dragon. The Gatekeeper allows Aristobolus, who raised Taniyah since discovering her as an abandoned 3-year-old, and his sisters to pass through the gateway and bring the triplets back to the Realm of TuNerahland. The girls train as Zamariy (warriors) until the day they leave to fulfill their destiny. They first travel to the Temple of Eraum to meet Agabus, a Foreshadower, who has sacred scrolls, written by L’Avior, the Lord of Light, which should hopefully lead to the book. Along the way is a bevy of evil creatures, from winged Sheolites to flesh-eating horses known as Basararks. Delaney’s clever tale instills a refreshingly understated religious theme into the plot. Though the metaphors are unadorned (good and evil godlike beings, sacred scripts, etc.), they don’t dominate the narrative, which primarily focuses on the three Bearers facing a sundry of monsters that have banded together. Other factors in play are the villains’ want of the Aristobolus-gifted Sacred Scepter (part of a key to control the gateway) and a possible rift between the sisters, as Hadarah keeps secret the powerful Sacred Stone. The author, rather unusually, tends to avoid physical descriptions of human characters, like allies Orek and Zayden. Conversely, she paints Taznuth’s servants in vibrant colors, making them stand out more than the good guys: the Haragii, for example, are people that, believing they’re skinless, drape themselves in rotting, maggoty flesh. An accompanying glossary helps keep track of the novel’s countless characters and sacred items.
An arduous quest brimming with villainous beasts in an already epic opening volume.Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4575-4319-7
Page Count: 374
Publisher: Dog Ear
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Nora Roberts ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 1995
Thoroughbreds and Virginia blue-bloods cavort, commit murder, and fall in love in Roberts's (Hidden Riches, 1994, etc.) latest romantic thriller — this one set in the world of championship horse racing. Rich, sheltered Kelsey Byden is recovering from a recent divorce when she receives a letter from her mother, Naomi, a woman she has believed dead for over 20 years. When Kelsey confronts her genteel English professor father, though, he sheepishly confesses that, no, her mother isn't dead; throughout Kelsey's childhood, she was doing time for the murder of her lover. Kelsey meets with Naomi and not only finds her quite charming, but the owner of Three Willows, one of the most splendid horse farms in Virginia. Kelsey is further intrigued when she meets Gabe Slater, a blue-eyed gambling man who owns a neighboring horse farm; when one of Gabe's horses is mated with Naomi's, nostrils flare, flanks quiver, and the romance is on. Since both Naomi and Gabe have horses entered in the Kentucky Derby, Kelsey is soon swept into the whirlwind of the Triple Crown, in spite of her family's objections to her reconciliation with the notorious Naomi. The rivalry between the two horse farms remains friendly, but other competitors — one of them is Gabe's father, a vicious alcoholic who resents his son's success — prove less scrupulous. Bodies, horse and human, start piling up, just as Kelsey decides to investigate the murky details of her mother's crime. Is it possible she was framed? The ground is thick with no-goods, including haughty patricians, disgruntled grooms, and jockeys with tragic pasts, but despite all the distractions, the identity of the true culprit behind the mayhem — past and present — remains fairly obvious. The plot lopes rather than races to the finish. Gambling metaphors abound, and sexual doings have a distinctly equine tone. But Roberts's style has a fresh, contemporary snap that gets the story past its own worst excesses.
Pub Date: June 13, 1995
ISBN: 0-399-14059-X
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2008
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
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