A grand otherworldly adventure with an appealing protagonist at the helm.
A young man scours unknown lands hunting for legendary runes in Gardner’s debut fantasy novel and series launch.
Nall lives in peace and solitude on remote Clearwater Island. His parents died when he was a boy, but the 22-year-old is close with several islanders, particularly Tengar, the childhood friend he’s fallen for. Nall craves adventure out in the bigger world and finds his chance with a vacant spot on a merchant ship. The action picks up when the crew docks on the Southern Continent and Nall meets treasure hunters Bright and Steiner. They’re looking for famed explorer Ohlegan’s mysterious, powerful runes, which he has hidden in “dangerous and isolated spots.” Bright and Steiner know where one rune is, but the remaining three are secreted on other continents. They take to the seas, traverse a barren desert, and try not to incite locals at pubs. In exotic locations (such as an ancient temple), the three men, soon joined by a fourth adventurer named Ruby, tackle potentially deadly puzzles and navigate mazelike interiors to unearth the runes. Gardner eases readers into this story with the warmhearted, instantly likable Nall and his quiet life. As his journey begins, the mysteries enjoyably pile on, including the runes’ ties to an uninhabitable “Lost Continent” and a stranger apparently shadowing the treasure hunters. The author’s straightforward prose presents an unknown world with sights that feel familiar, from a rusty-colored river and forests to Clearwater’s annual festival. At the same time, Nall and company run into several packs of ghastly creatures—ones that move with “contorted and spasming” legs and horned, spike-tailed beasts that spit a “vile brown liquid.” A few answers gradually come to light, some coming from Ohlegan’s journal excerpts (though he certainly doesn’t give the precise location of the runes). Many threads are left hanging, and it’s clear that the hunters’ quest is far from over.
A grand otherworldly adventure with an appealing protagonist at the helm.Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780578350554
Page Count: 201
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2024
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
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
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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