An engaging otherworldly thriller with an upstanding hero.
In Mike’s debut urban fantasy, a man learns not only that he’s part-angel, but also that he must go up against a power-hungry demon.
Agent Michael Lieberman’s antiterrorism unit in New York City is working on an arms-dealing case. Things take a frightening turn when a stranger apparently doses him, triggering what appear to be hallucinations of black worms attached to people around him. But he may not be hallucinating at all; according to angel Gabriel, who drops by his apartment, he’s half-mortal and half-archangel and can see things that many others can’t—including demons. These creatures hail from the spirit realm that overlaps the mortal world, and Michael finds out that has little time to unearth the nefarious scheme that archdemon Mammon is cooking up. Meanwhile, Michael joins New York City police detective Sara Wilson’s investigation into a homicide of a notorious billionaire that be related to terrorism. As it happens, this crime links to Mammon’s plan, as does Michael’s complicated past—most notably, his parents’ death when he was young, and his older sister’s disappearance more than a decade ago. The capable agent trains with his newly acquired wings and conjurable flaming sword so he can battle demonic hordes. Mike packs exposition into this first novel in a planned series. This gives the story an initially measured pace as Michael comes to terms with what he is. Things pick up, however, as the mystery deepens and the billionaire’s murder case expands to involve other affluent businessmen. Similarly, several action scenes energize the latter half, and Michael puts his flaming sword and Gabriel’s training to good use. Michael appealingly rolls with the punches, quickly adjusting to such horrific, grotesque sights as creatures “glinting golden” as they writhe around in another character’s mouth. He doesn’t hesitate to put himself at risk protecting the mortal realm, and along the way, he also falls into a smartly understated romance with Sara. There’s surprising resolution for a series opener, though there remain plenty of avenues for sequels to explore.
An engaging otherworldly thriller with an upstanding hero.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2022
ISBN: 9789925786947
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Audere Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 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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