Good characterization and well-described superpowers strengthen this series opener.
In this YA fantasy debut, a teenage girl has powers that could save or destroy her homeland as a centurieslong war reaches its climax.
In the land of Kinderra, in the province of Kin-Deren, 15-year-old Mirana Pinal is a magical Trine. Some of her people possess a single gift, called an Aspect, in Healing, Defending, or Seeing, but Mirana has all three powers. In two years, she’ll choose an amulet to focus her Aspects and aid the war against the Ken’nar, the ancient enemy of the Fal’kin people. Her father is Kaarl Pinal, Kinderra’s greatest warrior, and her mother is Desde, the governing prime in the capital. They don’t let on that they know that Mirana is a Trine, because public knowledge of that fact would pull the girl into war early. Ain Magne, a Dark Trine who leads the Ken’nar, aims to rule all of Kinderra. A prophecy from the Book of Kinderra describes a battle between Light and Dark Trines, and that “one of the Trines would come to destroy, the other to rebuild.” When Mirana has contradictory visions of soldiers and carnage at the Two Rivers Ford, she questions whether she’s the Light or Dark Trine of the prophecy. Can guidance from Trine Lord Tetric Garis make her future clearer? Donnelly vigorously describes his characters’ emotions and also explores the pitfalls of first love in this first book in a planned series. Mirana and 16-year-old Teague Beltran are fiercely loyal to each other; the boy, however, is has no powers, which the adults say dooms their romance. The fact that Mirana was born two months prematurely and is physically small adds complexity to her story of trading childhood for war. Donnelly clearly describes each Aspect as having numerous properties, for good or ill, as Ain Magne demonstrates by stripping his soldiers’ wills, creating battle-slaves who’ll fight until thoroughly butchered. Donnelly’s scenes of gore aren’t excessive, but when they appear, they’re effective. More impressive is the well-calibrated tension in the run-up to a single battle that begins in the minds of psychic characters long before the first sword falls. The finale promises a grand, devastating sequel.
Good characterization and well-described superpowers strengthen this series opener. (maps, glossary)Pub Date: July 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73505-180-2
Page Count: 346
Publisher: Kibbe Creative Media, LLC
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer.
Even a war driven by gods can’t sever communication between journalist lovers Iris and Roman in this steampunk-adjacent romantic adventure.
A prologue sets the scene: Dacre, a god strummed to sleep by magic in Divine Rivals (2023), will not slumber forever. His willingness to wage war to acquire more powerful magic leads him to lay waste to entire towns, and Inkridden Tribune journalist Iris Winnow and war correspondent Roman Kitt can no longer be assured the other is safe—or even still alive. In Iris’ world of cigarette smoke, copper pipes, and driving goggles, colleagues affectionately call each other by their last names, watch each other’s backs, and face danger on the front lines. Though Underling Correspondent Roman is traveling with Dacre’s army, he questions why he was healed of his grievous wounds, while at the same time, he gradually recovers memories of Iris and recalls that she was special to him. Their magically connected typewriters allow for the rediscovery of their love and for communicating potentially deadly information about the invasion of Hawk Shire. The story primarily unfolds from Iris’ and Roman’s viewpoints, and while the prose occasionally uses well-worn phrases, Anglophiles will particularly enjoy the worldbuilding, and returning readers will welcome appearances from Capt. Keegan Torres; her wife, Marisol; and Dacre’s archnemesis—and wife—the goddess Enva. Main characters present white.
The well-paced romantic tension is a highlight of this enjoyable duology closer. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250857453
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
Truly fantastic.
This dark fantasy duology opener has a magic school, a death, and five students who find themselves stranded in the wilderness.
Ren Monroe is a promising student wizard at Balmerick, a private school in the city of Kathor. Along with her best friend, Timmons, Ren is one of the few welfare students attending on a scholarship, and despite being one of the most accomplished people at the school, finding a placement in one of the top houses is proving difficult and is a hurdle in the way of the secret mission Ren has set out to accomplish. When a portal spell goes awry and Ren, Timmons, and four other students from different walks of life are thrown together into the Dires, an uncharted land where the last dragons lived, one of them ends up dead and the rest need to learn to work together to make their way back home before they succumb to the harsh environment or the terrifying revenant following them. This may well be the chance Ren was looking for to prove her worth. Placing elements of a locked-room mystery and an original magic system within the familiar trappings of a school for magic, this is a no-holds-barred tale of revenge, atonement, and the pursuit of justice set in a world diverse in skin color and social classes. Ren is a protagonist for the ages: equal parts smart, calculating, and ruthless, forming a lethal package as an avenging angel.
Truly fantastic. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: March 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-66591-868-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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