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
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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