An action-packed introductory tale that’s somewhat hampered by shallow characterization.
Nicol’s fantasy novel offers a promising start to a new spinoff series, set in former role-playing game designer Rowe’s popular Arcane Ascension world.
The author of the Mage-Born fantasy novels presents an engaging new story in the LitRPG fantasy subgenre—one that’s grounded in the universe of Rowe’s work. It’s a world of complex magic where teams of climbers attempt to scale ancient towers known as the Soaring Spires, hoping to gain magical “attunements” and treasure. In this first installment, the Guiding Star Legacy team of six climbers, each with different attunements, skills, and powers, venture to the 19th floor of the Tortoise Spire. Four of them—thoughtful seer Seji “Sage” Hayden, intimidating healer Lani Nanashi, reckless fighter Nieve Yukihara, and timid “cloudcaller” Emiko Ryotsu, who can manipulate weather—share a tight bond from years of climbing together, exchanging teasing banter and affectionate nicknames. But their last ascent was so harrowing that two other team members quit, replaced by temporary hires Aldis Somers, a prickly telepath, and Hane, an enigmatic, solitary figure. Inside the spire is a dangerous magical realm where the climbers face challenges such as monsters, mazes, and illusions, which players of Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games will find familiar. Much of the narrative reads like a description of gameplay, moving from scene to scene without much motivation or suspense. The characters also seem somewhat underdeveloped; one could easily dub them “the bold one,” “the cute one,” or “the loner.” The complicated magic system with its eight attunements, each with six levels, five magical marks, and dozens of types of magical essences and crystals can be hard to follow, despite an explanatory prologue. However, as the story unfolds, the author introduces surprising elements and shocking twists, leading to a harrowing final life-and-death battle and setting up an intriguing premise for a continuing series. Some readers may find parts of the final confrontation overly dark, but fans of anime, RPGs, and the authors’ previous work will be eager to follow Guiding Star Legacy’s further adventures.
An action-packed introductory tale that’s somewhat hampered by shallow characterization.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2022
ISBN: 9781039415034
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2023
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
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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