An engaging installment of a complicated SF/fantasy series about a besieged writer.
A teenage aspiring fantasy author teleported to the dystopic star system of her own fiction tries to protect her friends and elude pursuit by destructive forces, including a frighteningly corrupted superhero.
Portman continues the Coseema Saga, a YA epic fantasy/SF series that began with The Twin Stars (2021), featuring a teen writer haplessly lost in the far-out fictional universe of her imagination. Olive Joshi, 16, is trapped in an exotic star system she conceived in her notebook, an abandoned storytelling effort. It is nightmarish, an unstable arrangement of dying dual suns throwing solar flares on the planet Lyria, where “a brutal tyrant” named Burnash is the main villain—until the resurrection of his sister, Coseema. Originally a superpowered figure of virtue and strength (faintly resembling the self-doubting Olive), Coseema returned from her death/defeat a vengeful, sadistic, bat-winged fiend who covets limitless power that she may achieve by obtaining her creator’s notebook. After her narrow escape from Coseema, Olive has the notebook, but the superhero has the matching custom pen for writing in it. Now, as Coseema and Burnash viciously search Lyria for the Earth girl, Olive and her allies escape via spaceship to outer planets in the system, where an escape space-ark craft, the Wave-Rider, may remain as a last resort for Lyrians. The odyssey brings Olive and her friends (whom, don’t forget, she originally wrote, and for whom she feels tremendous, guilty responsibility) to new revelations and surprising and shocking reunions. Meanwhile, descriptions and narratives in Olive’s notebook continue to appear. But written by whom? The story’s ambiance is a blend of science and sword-and-sorcery magic, and often it is difficult to get a sense of the ground rules at work. But then again, one could argue this is exactly the dilemma that would be faced in a tyro effort from a novice author coming to grips with her inner Neil Gaiman, with half-formed characters and sketchy conceits taking on lives of their own. This sequel does suffer from middle-chapter syndrome, with interconnected ensemble characters whose entrances and exits and backstories are hard to trace without a chart. But by the ending, readers should be sufficiently hooked to follow the vivid, ominous threads into the next volume.
An engaging installment of a complicated SF/fantasy series about a besieged writer.Pub Date: May 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-9959204-6-0
Page Count: 342
Publisher: TITAN1STUDIOS
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A spectacular return to a magical world.
Following the events of Impossible Creatures (2024), a devoted Guardian teams up with a brave princess to fight her power-hungry uncle and save the Archipelago’s dragons from a strange new threat.
Jacques the dragon summons Christopher Forrester back to the Archipelago from the human world: Dragons are dying, and no one knows why. Meanwhile, on the island of Dousha, Princess Anya’s grandfather, King Halam, has been murdered, and her father accused—though she knows he’s innocent. When Christopher and Anya take refuge on the islet of Glimt, the Berserker Nighthand helps them see how their twin missions to save the dragons and free Anya’s father are connected. They work together to create an antidote for the poison that’s killing the dragons and to keep Anya and her father safe from her murderous uncle. Meanwhile, Nighthand and Irian, the part-nereid ocean scholar, pursue their own important secret mission. Divided into three parts—“Castle,” “Dragons,” and “Revenge”—and containing elements of fairy tales, fantasy, and Shakespeare, this story continues the storyline established in the series opener, yet because it introduces new characters and obstacles, it could also stand alone. Dark-blond Anya (“five feet tall and all of it claws”) is a match for white-presenting Christopher, who, though he still misses Mal, finds that “it made a difference to have someone to move through the world with again. A friend changed the feel of the universe.” Mackenzie’s delicate, otherworldly art adorns the text.
A spectacular return to a magical world. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-15)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9780593809907
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
PROFILES
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
