A fine high fantasy novel with a richly crafted world.
This fantasy series starter by debut author Bethancourt is set in the aftermath of a conflict between humans and elves.
It’s been many years since the humans tried to wipe out all the elves on the world of Asrellion, and they thought they’d succeeded. However, a small fraction of them managed to survive and flourish, far away from where humans live. Loralíenasa Níelor Raia knows that she isn’t supposed to stray close to the human lands, but for some time, she’s wanted nothing more than to climb the tallest, most ancient tree in the woods. She never expected to meet a human in the middle of the forest—and especially not one who could speak her language. Instead of fleeing in fear, she stays to talk to the young man, and before long, she saves him from a bear attack. After passing out from her injuries, she awakens to find herself in the man’s home—which happens to be a castle. The man she saved was no ordinary human: He’s Naoise Raynesley, the second son of the King of Grenlec. Now, human royalty knows that some of her people survived, and soon the Crown Prince Dairinn shows up and delivers startling news: war is coming with a group called the Telrishti. In this first installment of Bethancourt’s series, The Way of the Falling Star, she presents characters from rich fantasy cultures—both human and elvish. Readers who enjoy detailed worldbuilding will quickly fall in love with this novel, as the author clearly put great effort into crafting the world of Asrellion. The prose is similarly polished and executed with great care; the even pacing will keep readers engaged, the various players are well developed, and the smooth dialogue feels genuine. The action scenes are also compelling, and readers will be rooting for Loralíenasa, Naoise, and their band of compatriots as the war for the world begins. They’ll also eagerly await the next plannedinstallment in the series.
A fine high fantasy novel with a richly crafted world.Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73364-800-4
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Dogwood House LLC
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2020
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
An engaging, imaginative narrative hampered by its lack of subtlety.
The Medusa myth, reimagined as an Afrocentric, feminist tale with the Gorgon recast as avenging hero.
In mythological Greece, where gods still have a hand in the lives of humans, 17-year-old Medusa lives on an island with her parents, old sea gods who were overthrown at the rise of the Olympians, and her sisters, Euryale and Stheno. The elder sisters dote on Medusa and bond over the care of her “locs...my dearest physical possession.” Their idyll is broken when Euryale is engaged to be married to a cruel demi-god. Medusa intervenes, and a chain of events leads her to a meeting with the goddess Athena, who sees in her intelligence, curiosity, and a useful bit of rage. Athena chooses Medusa for training in Athens to become a priestess at the Parthenon. She joins the other acolytes, a group of teenage girls who bond, bicker, and compete in various challenges for their place at the temple. As an outsider, Medusa is bullied (even in ancient Athens white girls rudely grab a Black girl’s hair) and finds a best friend in Apollonia. She also meets a nameless boy who always seems to be there whenever she is in need; this turns out to be Poseidon, who is grooming the inexplicably naïve Medusa. When he rapes her, Athena finds out and punishes Medusa and her sisters by transforming their locs into snakes. The sisters become Gorgons, and when colonizing men try to claim their island, the killing begins. Telling a story of Black female power through the lens of ancient myth is conceptually appealing, but this novel published as adult fiction reads as though intended for a younger audience.
An engaging, imaginative narrative hampered by its lack of subtlety.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593733769
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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