A tale with complex worldbuilding that effectively explores what happens when voiceless peoples band together to make...
A new nation must contend with new power imbalances and alliances in Lewis’ second installment in the Durajan fantasy series.
This volume picks up right where the previous one ended, with Dothemides ruling the newly built city of Dothemia, forged from an alliance of people who were sent to the Durajan as punishment. Although Dothemides is beloved by most, he’s also more cautious than some of his subjects would like, especially in the face of incursions by other clans, such as the cultlike Creed, who continue their proselytizing. Dothemides hopes to keep Dothemia strong, but not by extending his reach so much that the fragile new nation crumbles. Still, his people face threats from warchiefs and the Creed, as well as from a new power: a group of battle-ready and ruthless women called the Furies who follow their leader, Svirva, with unflinching loyalty. Dothemides must decide whether and how much to engage, and not everyone is happy with his decision. This second series entry has a much quicker pace than the first and takes place over a much shorter time period, but the cast of characters swells even more, which means that some receive only cursory introductions and lack distinct personalities or voices. As in the first book, part of the story is told in the form of journal entries, which continue to read as though they were written by the same hand and don’t provide the dimensionality that some characters need. Still, Lewis’ strength is in the complexity of his worldbuilding; the various nations and clans all have complicated and convincing motivations, fears, and strengths. There are no straightforward villains in the Durajan saga—only people with differing needs and backgrounds who must contend with a world that’s often uncompromising and cruel. Some characters, such as Svirva, receive welcome additional characterization, and their trajectories make this book as much of a page-turner as the first in the series.
A tale with complex worldbuilding that effectively explores what happens when voiceless peoples band together to make themselves heard.Pub Date: June 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798998845888
Page Count: 528
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
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