A sharp, fast-paced fantasy driven by witty characters, impressively complex worldbuilding, and emotional gut punches.
A young man finds himself caught between the demons of Hell and the Queen of All Fae in Givler’s fantasy novel.
In the second installment of the author’s Debt Collection series, Matthew Carver has already lost his soul after having it unlawfully taken by a representative of Hell. Now he works for the immortal Orion, “master of the Hunt,” taking down demons and attempting to get his soul back. During one of these hunts, Matthew is about to be killed by the demon Zagan when he manages to blow on a dandelion, which calls the Faeries and transports him to their world: “The dandelion seeds in the ball-like head waved for a moment, as if my life’s last breeze was merely music for them to dance to…A few heartbeats later, the white head of the dandelion exploded, and seeds shot everywhere, thrown around like nature’s shrapnel. Impossibly, I felt something reach up and hook into my chest through the ground, and suddenly I was pulled downthrough the gravel as if it were water.” There he discovers, via his anthropomorphic fire friend Willow, that he is actually a Lord of Fire—the first in almost 400 years. And Gloriana, the Faerie queen, wants to strike a bargain: In exchange for marrying one of her four daughters and thus strengthening their bloodline, she will help Matthew regain his soul. Doing so is the best chance they have of preventing a “giant supernatural war” that Hell seems determined to ignite. As Matthew navigates the increasingly dangerous world of Fae politics, he begins to suspect that there’s a traitor in their midst. With the discovery that demons are more invested in the Faerie world than it seemed at first, Matthew faces some impossible choices—including whether to finally rescue his soul in exchange for damning his previously dead sister back down to Hell.
Matthew’s wit carries him far, with plenty of quips and self-deprecating jabs to keep readers amused even as his life crashes down around him: “All things considered, I’d like to congratulate myself on exceeding expectations. I killed an Immortal and survived a year on Lucifer’s Most Wanted list. If Vegas had been running odds on me, I could have made a fortune betting on myself. Granted, given that this was looking like my untimely demise, I wouldn’t have gotten to spend it, but I could have died with a smug sense of superiority, which would have been nice.” That being said, Givler still manages to imbue Matthew with a level of emotional depth that belies the steady stream of one-liners—evidenced mainly by his agony over the fate of his previously dead sister, who is now comatose and kidnapped. Meanwhile, the extensive discussions of soul-selling legality and its various loopholes prove delightfully absurd as they add a grounding mundanity to various fantastical scenarios. The novel’s action is steady but not rushed, while its scenes of violence (and there are quite a few) never become overly graphic. The book has a couple of stray typos, but nothing that would get in the way of readers immersing themselves in the intricately woven universes of mortals, demons, and Fae.
A sharp, fast-paced fantasy driven by witty characters, impressively complex worldbuilding, and emotional gut punches.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2023
ISBN: 978-1958204061
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Sad Seagull Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.
With only a month left until the world ends due to a swiftly approaching black hole, Don and Rodney, a retired gay couple, road-trip from Maine to Washington to spend their final days with their son.
After reports that a planet-swallowing black hole is making its way toward Earth, Rodney and Don—who have been together for 40 years and survived everything from homophobia to the HIV crisis—decide to pack their belongings into an RV, say goodbye to their neighbors, and travel from Camden, Maine, to Washington to uphold a promise to spend their final days with their son. They can’t wait any longer, since there’s already chaos around the country: “Military vehicles in the streets of most cities and towns. Looting, rioting, the burning of cars and buildings and people, all of it had already happened.” As they make their way west across the country, they encounter fellow travelers ranging from close-knit families to free-spirited hippies, some of whom have come to terms with the impending end of the world and others who haven’t. While the story seems to be asking readers what they would do if they had 30 days left to live, and reflects on what different kinds of acceptance might look like in the face of unavoidable tragedy, it loses some of its poignancy in a series of thinly padded monologues about the meaning of life. Clearly intended to pack an emotional punch, it’s failed by an abrupt ending, and the way the journey’s mystery—which will be obvious to many readers—is revealed by an info dump in the last chapter.
An existential crisis that steps on its own final moments.Pub Date: April 28, 2026
ISBN: 9781250881236
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
A tender reminder that gratitude is a path we choose, one conversation at a time.
In Green’s inspirational novel, a journalist boarding the wrong train discovers the right moment to speak the words that matter.
Daniel arrives at the Beacon station carrying a leather notebook filled with an unfinished eulogy for his still-living grandfather, only to be swept onto the mysterious 5:07 Gratitude Express, a steam locomotive that appears “for those who want to express gratitude.” His uncanny journey sends him through vividly rendered moments from his own life, where he witnesses the ripple effects of kindnesses he has offered and reunites—sometimes for the first time—with people who were permanently shaped by those actions. Each stop brings a new encounter: A childhood classmate says, “That morning, you altered the course of my life”; an elderly woman confesses, “Your simple act of kindness saved me that day”; a mentor tells him, “You need to figure out what you’re good at and what you like to do. Because when you do that, your potential is limitless.” By the time Daniel reaches Cedarville, intent on seeing his grandfather—the person who most profoundly shaped him—his reflections echo the conductor’s warning that “Time is unpredictable, and unsaid words bring pain and regret.” What follows is a moving affirmation of connection that honors the story’s central message: Appreciation should be expressed to the living. Green structures the narrative as a fable, with emotional clarity and cinematic pacing. The train’s dissolving walls, the recurring whistle rising “high into the dark sky,” and the symbolic briefcase filled with long-kept letters lend the tale a gentle magical-realist texture. While the storyline remains linear and accessible for all ages, the themes—regret, legacy, and intergenerational love—invite adult reflection. The prose is simple, intentionally so, grounding the fantastical elements in an earnest emotional register. This is not a plot-twist-driven story; it’s a quiet parable urging readers to act before time steals their chances. Readers who appreciate heartfelt, uplifting narrative journeys will find resonance in Green’s message.
A tender reminder that gratitude is a path we choose, one conversation at a time.Pub Date: Jan. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9798891385252
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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