An impassioned fantasy tale but one that’s too dense with characters.
In the second installment of Shepherd’s (Fall from Grace, 2014) mythical fantasy series, demons wage a mortal war against elves while an exiled goddess makes a bid for a throne.
Exiled angels and demons are no longer welcome in the Sixty Realms, so they govern their own societies. So when it’s clear that demons have breached the elves’ borders, something needs to be done. Iykva, like other demons, craves war with angels’ “earthen children” as the first step in a fight against the angels themselves. Hence, the king of the angels, Wisterian, works out a truce with the king of the demons (and the first vampire), Jamiason; they agree that vampires and demons may drink the blood of whomever they please, but only after giving the elf prince, Iladrul, 15 summers to mature and build an army. The truce unfortunately doesn’t last long, and soon the fairy God Aiken must choose a side. Meanwhile, Lady Lucias makes a deal with Loki at Lucias’ cottage: she offers to bear his children, as she can breed archangels. Her true agenda, however, is to assemble a Quorum of archangels in an attempt to grab a currently open position next to Noliminan, the king of lords. As the war rages on, Lucias’ son, Ishitar, makes a decision that will change everything. This novel is tightly packed with characters, many boasting lofty back stories. There’s also plenty of melodramatic tension; even the archangel of death, Azrael, who can only be seen and heard by Ishitar, isn’t immune from powerful emotion, as he ultimately reveals his love for someone. There are few action scenes, but this is the essence of Shepherd’s tale, as Lucias equates what she’s doing to the chesslike board game kings’ castle; similarly, what matters in this book aren’t the battles (which are typically shown in their aftermaths) but the moves that characters make to get to them. That said, there’s so much happening that some characters get lost; for example, Lucias and Loki’s children—who have fascinating, instantly familiar names such as Gorgon and Djinn—don’t hold much significance. Nevertheless, this series is far from over, and someone’s bound to take the narrative reins in a later book.
An impassioned fantasy tale but one that’s too dense with characters.Pub Date: June 12, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-692-02340-2
Page Count: 388
Publisher: Mythos Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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