Spotlighting stark characters, this focused fantasy will surely bring readers back for more adventures.
A debut novel follows a practitioner of black magic with a personal vendetta against a king, whose self-serving plans could precipitate a universe’s destruction.
Kaze Niss, a mortal in the New World, entered into a covenant with Shinigami (or Death God), Lord Aras Keep, 20 years ago. He believed it was the only way to save his father’s kingdom of Watir, which had been corrupted by power-seeking Frizas Kun. As part of Kaze’s deal with Aras, he’s become a blood magic–wielding necromancer and has a simple objective: destroy all blood tomes, books that the Shinigami originally gifted to mortals. If the Oak Gods from the dimension Oserin get a tome, they can open a portal to the Shinigami realm of Blacuir, which would end in devastation across Oar, the primordial universe. In the present day, Kaze evades Frizas, now the Watir king, who wants a tome so he can learn blood magic. Kaze hides out with old friend Ragui and his daughter, Aline. Unfortunately, Frizas unleashes ghouls that lay waste to Ragui’s village, and Kaze, in order to save Aline, makes another arrangement with Aras. The result is Kaze and Aline’s becoming linked so closely that if she dies, so will he. Both undergo yearlong training: Kaze now harnesses the power of the ghoul king while Aline is a necromancer. In the interim, Aras sends vampires and others to impede the Oak Gods from garnering strength with fresh blood and achieving their ultimate goal: to destroy the Shinigami and be the sole divine clan in Oar. Wain wisely centers this fantasy series opener on specific realms and characters, with the possibility of expanding the cast and locales in future volumes. For example, the first installment is set primarily in the New World and Blacuir. They’re only two of Oar’s four dimensions; little is revealed about Oserin or Renic, the demon world. Similarly, backstory is minimal but enlightening: Readers learn about Frizas’ scheme against Kaze’s royal family as well as the reason the protagonist harbors guilt. Though it’s clear Aline is a love interest for Kaze, she’s a dynamic supporting character; from the beginning, she yearns to practice magic in defiance of mortal laws prohibiting women from doing so. Her tie to Kaze is likewise enthralling, as any peril she’s in is a threat to both of them. Wain fills the pages with memorably bold colors, especially Kaze’s purple hair, which is complemented by his magic-infused—and scarlet red—Blood Katana. But the prose also fosters lasting impressions of myriad characters, mortals or otherwise. The ghouls’ initial appearance is particularly striking: “Hairless and with their grey skin filled with pustules and abscesses, they turned against the kneeling mage, gnashing their long, razor-sharp teeth as they walked towards him slowly.” Other characters include genre staples such as orcs, elves, and goblins along with fresher concepts: With all his powers, Kaze is the first demighoul. Meanwhile, the engrossing narrative hints at an impending war.
Spotlighting stark characters, this focused fantasy will surely bring readers back for more adventures.Pub Date: Nov. 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-973286-06-6
Page Count: 342
Publisher: Time Tunnel Media
Review Posted Online: July 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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