Epic fantasy that struggles to grab the reader.
Cox (Zenith’s Spy, 2014) returns to the world of noble Zenith Lord and the evil Dark’s Source in this epic fantasy that begins with a murder.
Jarod Greatstone, the Zenith Lord, has a good life: not only is he lord of the Seven Realms, he’s also surrounded by friends and happily married, with his first child on the way. But when his wife, Zenith Lady Maress, is poisoned and dies—though their child is safely born—Jarod comes to realize that both ordinary human enemies and the dark spirits scheme against him. Jarod and his friends—the guardsman, the spymaster, etc.—track down the source of this evil, which readers already know from the first chapter: High Lord Mountglen opposes Jarod, motivated both by his greed and by the dark spirit–master Shadure. Meanwhile, Shadure and the other evil spirits of Dark’s Source have their own reasons for destroying the Greatstone family—especially since the newborn Greatstone may play an important part in the epic battle. This epic battle of good vs. evil is the major connective tissue between this sequel and Zenith’s Spy: characters are largely new, so first-time readers will find this volume accessible without having read the first. Unfortunately, while this stark good-vs.-evil fantasy can be thrilling, the evil never quite seems threatening, robbing the story of much of its suspense or interest. While we see the good characters collect their forces and figure out who the culprits are, the few evil characters don’t do much at all. The mystery of the Zenith Lady’s poisoning leads to some compelling scenes—e.g., the guardsman testing her food—but since this isn’t a mystery to readers (and not a mystery long for Jarod, who’s told all about Mountglen’s sinister history), the storyline doesn’t engage much interest. The writing is generally pleasant, though readers may balk at the occasionally awkward line: “Enmity bathed both the tones of Shadure’s words in Mountglen’s mind and the sound that eerily floated to his ears.”
Epic fantasy that struggles to grab the reader.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-0996006323
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Lezen Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
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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