A remarkable cast of characters guides readers across a terrifying but compelling landscape.
After inadvertently plummeting to Hell, a man must pass all nine of its levels to make it back home in Mitchell’s debut fantasy novel.
Daniel Strong’s hike up Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina isn’t just to take in the scenery. The former Army soldier–turned–university student plans to propose to his girlfriend, Kristine Groves, at the summit. But inside a cave, he finds a peculiar stone that somehow opens a hole in the ground into which he falls. Once reoriented, he sees a place that doesn’t quite look like Grandfather Mountain and quickly runs into ghostlike “shadow-man” Beau and soul-harvesting, reptilian-eyed demon Charles. Beau, whose job is to help dying people cross over to their afterlife, thinks it’s his fault Daniel is now down below. He shouldn’t be, since he’s still alive—something that Charles picks up on right away. Rather than take Daniel to a “soul trial,” in which a judge would determine what specific Hell (out of nine) would be his eternal home, Charles opts to take him to Satan, which is the best chance Daniel has of returning to Earth. That means going through all nine Hells that make up the underworld until they reach its ruler. Beau, lending assistance however he can, tags along while ever skeptical Daniel just wants to see Kristine again. The trio drop into pit after pit on their volatile journey, putting them face to face with any number of demons. Unexpectedly, however, the greatest threat is Azrael, the Angel of Death, who may be hunting Daniel simply to kill him.
Mitchell’s tale is a pronounced contemporary take on Dante’s Inferno. The levels here are the same as the circles of Hell, starting with Limbo and passing through Gluttony, Heresy, and others. There are recognizable characters as well, including ferrymen Charon and Phlegyas, along with such demons as Asmodeus and Azazel. This book, which closely follows Daniel, Beau, and Charles on their trip south, moves at a steady beat since the three have no reason to linger in any of the Hells. This affords plenty of room for meticulous character development; Daniel, for example, has serious anger issues and is the first person to swing in confrontations. His link to humanity and his earthly home is the Holy Spirit, which functions essentially as a disease in Hell and which he may lose if he lets his rage completely take over. Although each of the trio battles his own inner turmoil, they also bump heads with one another, especially as Beau insists that demon Charles can’t be trusted. Their dialogue rarely feels like banter; it’s more about keeping Daniel alive until they reach the next pit of Hell. The author concisely depicts the group’s perpetually treacherous path, including the Heretics’ Yard in the Sixth Hell: “Radiation pressed into his flesh like countless invisible knives….stone buildings billowed smoke from windows and cracks.” The novel features a satisfying wrap-up with a hint of perils to come.
A remarkable cast of characters guides readers across a terrifying but compelling landscape.Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2022
ISBN: 979-8986987811
Page Count: 299
Publisher: Descendant Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.
Three women deal very differently with vampirism in Schwab’s era-spanning follow-up to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020).
In 16th-century Spain, Maria seduces a wealthy viscount in an attempt to seize whatever control she can over her own life. It turns out that being a wife—even a wealthy one—is just another cage, but then a mysterious widow offers Maria a surprising escape route. In the 19th century, Charlotte is sent from her home in the English countryside to live with an aunt in London when she’s found trying to kiss her best friend. She’s despondent at the idea of marrying a man, but another mysterious widow—who has a secret connection to Maria’s widow from centuries earlier—appears and teaches Charlotte that she can be free to love whomever she chooses, if she’s brave enough. In 2019, Alice’s memories of growing up in Scotland with her mercurial older sister, Catty, pull her mind away from her first days at Harvard University. And though she doesn’t meet any mysterious widows, Alice wakes up alone after a one-night stand unable to tolerate sunlight, sporting two new fangs, and desperate to drink blood. Horrified at her transformation, she searches Boston for her hookup, who was the last person she remembers seeing before she woke up as a vampire. Schwab delicately intertwines the three storylines, which are compelling individually even before the reader knows how they will connect. Maria, Charlotte, and Alice are queer women searching for love, recognition, and wholeness, growing fangs and defying mortality in a world that would deny them their very existence. Alice’s flashbacks to Catty are particularly moving, and subtly play off themes of grief and loneliness laid out in the historical timelines.
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781250320520
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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PERSPECTIVES
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