An imaginative work that weaves fantasy and social commentary into a scathingly funny revenge tale.
In this fantasy, a bitter keyboard warrior must confront some hard truths when he finds himself magically transported into one of the medieval novels that he savaged online.
Milton Smith loves nothing better than to tear people down on the internet—especially authors who specialize in medieval fiction, like Anna DeMarco. After leading a smear campaign that nearly destroyed her first book, Milton is readying his attack on Anna’s new release when he is suddenly transported to a strange realm. Now, Milton finds himself trapped in the world of Anna’s first novel, Love in a Time Faraway. Captured by knights and thrown into a dungeon, Milton discovers sections of the novel mysteriously delivered to him on parchment scrolls. With nothing better to do, he finally finds the time to actually read the book instead of simply judging it—and much to his chagrin, he becomes desperate to know what comes next. As Milton escapes prison and makes an unexpected friend, he slowly works his way toward the queen’s castle and the end of the novel. Will he finally concede that Anna has some real talent? Or will his stubbornness curse him to a lifetime of being trapped in his own hostility? Prater gleefully leans into the stereotype of the overweight, basement-dwelling incel who lives with his mom and only feels powerful by anonymously hurting people. This makes Milton’s eventual emotional reckoning—and realization that he was simply jealous of both Anna and her heroic knight characters—all the more satisfying (if sadly fantastical). The dissonance between modern and medieval dialogue sometimes comes across as hokey, but also adds to the fun. After accusations by Milton of being a gym rat and using steroids, for example, a knight responds: “I feel this statement is derogatory and expect you to explain what this steroid and gym is.” Prater has ultimately crafted an amusing, inventive, and timely foray into the perils of authorship.
An imaginative work that weaves fantasy and social commentary into a scathingly funny revenge tale.Pub Date: April 5, 2025
ISBN: 9798306677422
Page Count: 304
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
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
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
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