by Bill Hiatt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 27, 2013
A top-notch mix of action, adventure and romance with a generous helping of literary allusion.
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An action-packed tale of reincarnated Arthurian characters living as teenagers.
In an engaging sequel to Hiatt’s (Living with Your Past Selves, 2012) rollicking debut, this tale tells of young Taliesin Weaver, who suddenly becomes aware of dozens of his past lives and his accompanying magical powers. The evil Morgan LeFay is back and searching for her sorceress sister, Alcina, who’s trying to lay claim to the body of Carla, a young girl in a coma. Of course, Tal and his allies would rather see their friend Carla remain in control of her own body. Thus begins an epic battle, with fighting in California, the mystical land of Annwn and a previously undiscovered land. There are dragons, faerie archers, hostile marine life, animated foliage, shifting alliances, unexpected betrayals, even a ghost. It turns out that Tal’s friend Stan is the reincarnation of a powerful, unexpected historical figure. And as if adolescent romance weren’t already difficult enough, a potent love spell cast on Tal is virtually impossible to break. Hiatt also adds a wonderfully appealing new sidekick for Tal and his allies: a prepubescent boy with supernatural powers explained in the Quran. Despite all the action and the superhuman characters, the story never loses sight of the human element; scenes between Tal and his mother, who is beginning to develop magic powers of her own, are particularly poignant, as is a love triangle reminiscent of the original tales of Camelot. The minor editing errors that plagued the first book are again present, but the overall quality is there, helped by the type of sparkling humor that enlivened Hiatt’s first book: “Anyway, after what seemed like an eternity—or at least, like an algebra class”; “The tone was vaguely disquieting and more than a little sexual. Great! What was it that made me so attractive to homicidal spell casters?” Readers need not have tackled the first book to follow the storyline here, though there’s no reason to forgo the pleasure, as the series seems to be living up to its early promise.
A top-notch mix of action, adventure and romance with a generous helping of literary allusion.Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2013
ISBN: 978-1494269494
Page Count: 312
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
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by Brandon Sanderson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2023
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
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New York Times Bestseller
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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by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson ; illustrated by Charlie Bowater & Ben McSweeney
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