A compelling coming-of-age fantasy, despite some pacing problems.
In Hunsaker’s fantasy novel, the first in a series, a group of young initiates must brave a deadly magical cavern to gain the powers needed to protect their island.
Set on Avskild—a magical island protected from a world crawling with monsters—the narrative follows a group of teens preparing to earn their powers and defend their home. At 18, every student at Castle Vrodrmust enter Vanalf, a mysterious, dangerous cave that either grants them the magical abilities necessary to become a “Grimnir” or doesn’t let them leave at all. Hallik, a natural leader and determined overachiever, refuses to wait another year to earn his magic and find out what happened to his missing father. When the island’s protective shield is breached by “draugr,” undead beings formed by evil and hate, the safety of everyone within its walls is threatened (“a corpse stood before them, sallow, water-logged skin hanging from its body, eyes pale white, shattered teeth protruding behind tight lips that barely existed”). Hallik and a motley group set out to restore the shield before the island is overwhelmed by the opportunistic monsters—but first, they must brave the depths of Vanalf. Hallik is a skilled, responsible, and driven protagonist motivated not only by duty to his land, but also by the desire to prove himself. He sets himself apart through his quiet leadership—serving water to tired students, keeping pace with the slowest runners, and refusing to let his ambition overshadow his loyalty. The novel’s first half focuses heavily on training, lessons, and worldbuilding, which sometimes makes the story’s length feel like a bit of a slog. The action doesn’t really pick up until later, which might test the patience of readers eager for the real danger to begin. Overall gripping and heartfelt, this first installment in Hunsaker’s series is rooted in the quiet power of those willing to lead before they’re asked to. Hallik’s journey is only beginning, but it’s already one worth following.
A compelling coming-of-age fantasy, despite some pacing problems.Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9798987518281
Page Count: 444
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in this frightful medieval epic about an orphan girl with visionary powers in plague-devastated France.
The year is 1348. The conflict between France and England is nothing compared to the all-out war building between good angels and fallen ones for control of heaven (though a scene in which soldiers are massacred by a rainbow of arrows is pretty horrific). Among mortals, only the girl, Delphine, knows of the cataclysm to come. Angels speak to her, issuing warnings—and a command to run. A pack of thieves is about to carry her off and rape her when she is saved by a disgraced knight, Thomas, with whom she teams on a march across the parched landscape. Survivors desperate for food have made donkey a delicacy and don't mind eating human flesh. The few healthy people left lock themselves in, not wanting to risk contact with strangers, no matter how dire the strangers' needs. To venture out at night is suicidal: Horrific forces swirl about, ravaging living forms. Lethal black clouds, tentacled water creatures and assorted monsters are comfortable in the daylight hours as well. The knight and a third fellow journeyer, a priest, have difficulty believing Delphine's visions are real, but with oblivion lurking in every shadow, they don't have any choice but to trust her. The question becomes, can she trust herself? Buehlman, who drew upon his love of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in his acclaimed Southern horror novel, Those Across the River (2011), slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn't scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face of unspeakable horrors. The power of suggestion is the author's strong suit, along with first-rate storytelling talent.
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937007-86-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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