A dazzling cast brightens this tale of clashing swords and spellcasting.
In this fantasy sequel, a warrior vows to stop, once and for all, ruthless amphibious creatures from attacking a coastal town.
Krell returns from a voyage and docks in Watford on the Kingdom of Baltorc’s southern coast. Beneath this small town’s waters live the sahuagin, “shark-like sea devils,” which periodically come ashore and gorge on humans. Krell is the paladin of ReckNor, the god of the seas and skies. Krell has returned to Watford to answer ReckNor’s call—to help the townspeople withstand the sahuagin’s latest assault. Krell obeys ReckNor, a deity who can speak to Krell in his thoughts, even when he doesn’t understand the reasoning behind his commands. A battle on sand and surf commences, and Krell valiantly defeats the first wave of the sea devils, although further attacks are probable. In the meantime, Krell watches for Cor, a smuggler who’s probably working with the aquatic predators. Cor may have details on the sahuagin that Krell can use to prevent them from ever terrorizing the southern coast again. But hunting the smuggler puts Krell in the path of Dazguroth, the god of rulership and tyranny, who holds sway over demonic minions. Krell is a skilled swordsman, but he’s still learning how to wield his god-gifted magic, and ReckNor may not be able to protect him from every foe. The hero, however, has many allies, from warriors Dahlia and Sheana to Fortis, a tiny dragon. Together they can take on demons, sea devils and, if need be, a tyrannical god.
Cole, after Beginning of Arrogance(2022), packs this second installment with a big, vibrant cast—including humans, orcs, halflings, and more—primarily from Watford, where the action largely unfolds. Krell makes an admirable hero who enjoys rescuing others and treats Fortis not as a pet but a friend. While he tends to ogle or flirt with the women he meets, he clearly has special connections with three of them, Dahlia and Sheana, both warriors, and Verbena, a wizard. Their intricate relationship gets a riveting boost later in the story. Along with the brutal sahuagin, who leave “partially eaten” victims in their wake, villainous beings include a two-headed giant, big-fanged “humanoid bats,” and bodies twisted into the “fiend-warped.” Chiseled prose keeps the narrative humming, even though combat scenes occur infrequently. The final act, however, amps up the action when Krell’s war against the sea devils explodes. In between the violence, Cole squeezes in some much-welcome humor. Krell’s conversations with ReckNor, for example, often lead to amusing exchanges. He can converse in his head but usually replies to the god aloud, either confusing or annoying the people in his vicinity. Likewise, a standard exclamation, apparently, is yelling “ReckNor’s tears!” or “ReckNor’s balls,” etc. Krell doesn’t thwart all of the diabolical baddies he targets, so a third installment is a definite and welcome possibility.
A dazzling cast brightens this tale of clashing swords and spellcasting.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0228892250
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Tellwell Talent
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A unique concept that promises readers will find at least one, if not three, entwined but different narratives to enjoy.
When Vis is copied into two other realities, he must stop a god from repeatedly culling almost everyone back home.
Thousands of years ago, to prevent the Concurrence from enslaving everyone, the world was split into three near-identical copies: Res, Obiteum, and Luceum. To exist in all three worlds, to wield Will there, is to achieve synchronism. After the events in The Will of the Many (2023), which cost Vis his arm and the life of his friend, Vis achieves Synchronism. While Res-Vis must continue to play Hierarchy politics to find his friend’s killer, Obiteum-Vis finds a ruined world, where the dead are reanimated and used by Ka, the Concurrence, and the only other person to exist in synchronism. Meanwhile, Luceum-Vis is forced into a dispute between druids, their High Council, and their kings—with one king intent on killing him—and Vis has no idea why. On all worlds, Vis is as shrewd as ever, weighing his options, planning ahead, and doing what he must to survive. However, he, too, slowly diverges, doing things he swore he never would: cede his Will, use Will to control someone else, and reveal his true name. If at least one Vis cannot use his synchronism and power of Will to kill the Concurrence, no Vis will be safe, and another Cataclysm will cull those he loves on Res. Book Two of the Hierarchy series is a speculative fantasy that is at once Egyptian post-apocalyptic, Celtic medieval, and Roman dystopian, thanks to the multidimensional setting. Although the sprawling narrative at times overextends itself, Islington rewards patient readers with a compelling story, a cast of complex and diverse characters, and a glimpse into how far a good man can go before he’s lost. A symbol at the start of each chapter delineates which world and Vis it’s about. Readers should read The Will of the Many before attempting this volume, or they may be confused for the first several chapters and beyond.
A unique concept that promises readers will find at least one, if not three, entwined but different narratives to enjoy.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781982141233
Page Count: 736
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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