While difficult to decipher in places, this wild tale about a goddess delivers surprising insights.
A fantastical novel offers myths and adventures.
Lemon follows up the first volume in this series with the further escapades of the goddess Gaia Ladrieh. This sequel begins with Gaia seeking “new Wisdom from amongst those inhabitants of the Falen World.” In order to do so, she ventures beyond the Great City of the Pyramids. What she discovers disappoints her. She is immediately struck by a place where “toxic fumes dominate the air.” Later, she is enraged when, after trying the water, she finds it “tastes of gasoline and the oil of those virulent machines of the Dark Age!” Then, on the island of AIA, Gaia encounters more problematic circumstances. Things get so bad that she is driven to tears. Whatever is a goddess to do? She returns home, where “the Rites oV—DIONYSUS IX were to be performed.” The descriptions of these rites are dense with dialogue, instructions, and poetry. They also include multicolored text that is not always in English. Different signs of the zodiac make appearances as well as a flute-playing serpent. There is a banquet with Jupiter and a “Mistress oV—the NIGHT! oV—the Woodland GOD!” It all culminates in an appeal directly from the author on the importance of eccentricity. For readers, piecing the tale together is a bit of a challenge. Aside from text that is at times indecipherable, some spelling and word choices make for a difficult read. For instance, it is proclaimed at one point that “COLORED beyond!—DAEMON-Z’I’ON’z Portal, Crowned oV Many Colored leaves, S=HE Stands.” This line, like many others, requires careful reading to ascertain just what is going on. Yet the outlandishness of it all is far from bland. The work, when examined patiently by the uninitiated, is even thought-provoking. Gaia should be upset. When people attempt to perform rites for her on AIA, the action is interpreted as madness. But who are the truly mad? The ones fouling the water or the ones trying to honor the sacred? As the text points out, “Cannot we cease such shallow dramas wading in childish depths…within the DREAM POOL?” Perhaps readers should listen to the flute-playing serpent’s tune.
While difficult to decipher in places, this wild tale about a goddess delivers surprising insights.Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2021
ISBN: 979-8456529961
Page Count: 207
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.
A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.
Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378538
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© 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.
