A fantasy romance influenced by Hindu cosmology concludes its quest with exhaustive thoroughness.
In Sundari, a fantasy land with the flavor of the Indian subcontinent, Marinda spies on her former masters. Marinda was raised as a visha kanya, an assassin so packed with snake venom that she murders with a kiss. She’s now working for the Raja to bring down the followers of the Snake King, who’d almost succeeded in sacrificing Marinda’s beloved baby brother to their god. The machinations of the Naga leave her exhausted. Marinda’s old friend Iyla is here as well, and she also claims to be working for the Naga. Is she double-crossing the Snake King or triple-crossing Marinda? In first-person chapters from both Marinda’s and Iyla’s points of view the two girls navigate their desire to do right, their love for one another, their history of betrayal, and their romances with two handsome young men outside the Naga. Marinda learns to speak with serpents, while Iyla discovers the gods made manifest in human form. Uneven worldbuilding diminishes the coherence of this mostly preindustrial, mostly desi society, and a tidy resolution sweeps away any magical messiness in favor of uncomplicated smooches.
A strong thread of the importance of female friendship makes this adventure rise above Marinda’s bland romance . (Fantasy. 13-15)Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-101-93786-0
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
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A lost prince and his ladylove must defeat the tyrant rampaging over the steppes with an army of enslaved spirits in this sequel to The Oathbreaker’s Shadow (2015).
Raim is haunted by the spirit of his best friend, Khareh—a spirit that appeared when Raim accidentally broke an oath made by another, leaving him magically marked and exiled from his nomadic tribe as an oathbreaker. Khareh yet lives, but with the best part of himself lost in the spirit, his ambition has become megalomania. Not content to be khan of his tribe alone, Khareh aims to join all the northern nomads into one massive khanate. Raim seeks control over his spirit but also yearns to rescue Wadi, the dark-skinned desert girl to whom he's given his heart. Wadi is Khareh's captive, and she is more than capable of freeing herself from the cruel young khan; nevertheless she must stay a captive. It's her destiny to make a king of Raim, she learns from a blind seer in one of the stalest tropes of superpowered disability. Raim, Khareh, and Wadi travel all over the steppes of Darhan, giving a solid glimpse of this fantasy world roughly based on the lives of Mongolian nomads. A dense narrative of tiny chapters with shifting points of view leaves little time to become invested in each character's journey.
Though it’s a bit of a slog, readers of Book 1 will find it worth the time for its unexpected conclusion . (Fantasy. 13-15)Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7387-4512-1
Page Count: 456
Publisher: Flux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
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A Texas bayou holds memories and secrets, weaving together people and animals through connected histories.
Buffalo Bayou takes her place as part of an ensemble cast that spans nearly two centuries. Sixteen-year-old Cade Curtis is a white boy who works alongside his father stealing angel statues from cemeteries for an antiques dealer, and Soleil Broussard is a 16-year-old Creole Christian with a tiny honey bear jar tattooed on her wrist. The two attend school together in present-day Houston, Texas, but the story intertwines their connection with stories of slaves and an ocelot in a narrative that runs away like the rushing of a river. Texas is a gorgeous backdrop for the story, eliciting haunting imagery that spotlights the natural beauty of the state. Each character helps piece together a quilt of experiences that stream from the omnipresent bayou who sees, hears, and protects, and the revelations of their overlapping connections are well-paced throughout. The novel is less successful, however, at underscoring why there are so many voices battling for space in the text. Too-short vignettes that are rather haphazardly forced together provide glimpses into the lives of the characters but make it difficult to follow all of the threads. While an author’s note offers historical background explaining the inspiration for the characters, it does not provide sufficient cohesion.
Moving imagery is muddied by disjointed character representation in a novel that feels overcrowded. (author’s note) (Fiction. 13-15)Pub Date: March 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2109-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
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