Fast-paced, with nuanced characters and believable parallels to our own world.
In Beaumont’s fantasy novel, war erupts over control of the Stars.
The author skillfully explores the philosophical implications of power in her created world, the Star-Riven Settlements, in which each region uses their given Stars—asteroid-like objects that fell from the sky—differently. The two Stars of Gemynd enable its rulers to subjugate an adjoining region, Rask. Rask accepts its lesser status until dire circumstances compel its people to revolt, refusing to provide labor and goods to Gemynd any longer. Parlenta considers itself superior because it mines its Stars and sells the resulting product, Astamitra (a drink that fosters communion with the Stars), to the Gemyndians. In contrast to the rest, Aisren’s Stars are available to all in the form of energy. The story’s two principal characters come from opposite socio-economic backgrounds. Einya, from wealthy Gemynd, is newly trained as an Astrologer, one of an elite group with access to the cave housing the sacred Stars. Einya hopes to elevate her Raskian lover, Tollska, by wedding her, but Tollska has different plans, sacrificing herself to a loveless but expedient union with Einya’s cousin, Pearth, the leader of the Constellan Guard. While Einya and Tollska try to work from within to prevent a civil war, Einya’s brother travels to Parlenta, seeking an alliance with that region against Gemynd. A startling discovery by Einya furthers the ongoing crisis: Communicating directly with the Stars, she finds that, contrary to long-standing mythology, Gemynd isn’t the favored land at all. The Stars are neutral, caring only about “memory and truth,” desiring merely to be “historians.” But rulers such as Pearth shun that revelation, rounding up and executing Raskians under the guise of keeping the peace. Beaumont’s narrative mostly moves at a gallop. The characters, often hurtling through dangerous situations, are compelling and multidimensional; for example, Tollska, though in love with Einya, feels unexpectedly attracted to the unlikable Pearth. The story could have reached a smoother finish; it ends abruptly on a jarring note (Beaumont has a next installment planned).
Fast-paced, with nuanced characters and believable parallels to our own world.Pub Date: April 24, 2021
ISBN: 9781957537818
Page Count: 266
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
A clever and inspiring reimagining of a little-remembered time and place.
Medieval history and Celtic mythology merge in an enchanting tale.
Arden, best known for her Winternight Trilogy, here turns from medieval Russia to Europe during the same period. Anne of Brittany—a real person—is 19 when the novel begins in the late 15th century, a sovereign duchess whose father, the duke, has been dead since she was a child. Described as “small and glossy as a cat in a dairy,” she’s desperately trying to avoid marrying Charles VIII, the king of France, which would mean the dissolution of her country. She conceives a plan to conduct a unicorn hunt in the ancient, haunted forest of Broceliande, thinking she will be able to secretly arrange a proxy wedding to Maximilien of Austria, heir to the Holy Roman Empire. While there, she encounters not only an actual unicorn but an evil enchanter who has designs on her kingdom. With the unlikely aid of the chivalrous (and undeniably attractive) Louis of Orleans, who has been sent by Charles’ sister Marguerite to betray Anne, as well as Anne’s spunky younger sister, Isabeau; a clever peasant girl, Elesbed; and a cat named Butter, Anne works feverishly to protect her people from sinister forces both political and supernatural. Arden takes her time immersing the reader in this thoroughly and intricately imagined world, where historical figures bump up against an enigmatic korriganed queen, at least one monstrous sea-dragon, a herd of undead “anaon,” and a whole Breton city that has been trapped in time. This is an alternate history in which the admirable Anne, freed from the confines of textbooks, gets to ask the question, “Shall we not write our own story?” Here, love and duty reach an understanding, and courtly romance makes friends with a steamier variety of physical contact. Fans of jousts, spells, dark magic, and brave women will find plenty of each here.
A clever and inspiring reimagining of a little-remembered time and place.Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9780593128282
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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