Telepathic dogs, flying dragons and clairvoyant bears abound in Purpus’ (Dragon Magic, 2014, etc.) new YA fantasy novel.
The fourth book set in Draconia introduces 15-year-old Aster, a headstrong young lady who is seeking purpose in life. Her father is a carpenter, and Aster is slated to start an apprenticeship that will train her in the same art. She has other ideas, though, and enters the Pathfinder Academy, a program designed to help youngsters find their true callings. It is quickly apparent that Aster possesses strong dragon magic and the gift of telepathy. She is also drawn to the history of Draconia when she discovers information about the nation’s past that was doomed to be forgotten. In the middle of her research, Aster uncovers facts pertinent to the future survival of Draconia and the magic that inhabits her world. She befriends a dragon named Jasmine, who has chosen to live in isolation following the loss of her dragon rider. Jasmine and Aster form a powerful bond and become a team, encountering unexpected allies with unique gifts, including a powerful mage, a gryphon and a seer who happens to be a bear. Along the way, Jasmine begins to heal from her loss and helps Aster come to terms with a betrayal in her own family. Meanwhile, dark magic threatens Draconia, and only Aster and Jasmine possess the strength and knowledge to save the country. Purpus has the material for an engaging magical tale focused on family and forgiveness. Her characters are appealing and relatable, modeling behavior that Purpus’ young audience will hopefully find attractive. However, Purpus spends too much time hashing out Aster’s family problems and Jasmine’s angst over her lost rider, failing to build adequate suspense around the existence of dark magic. The possible presence of a black magician is revealed nearly two-thirds of the way through the book, leaving only 100 or so pages to find the culprit and bring about a resolution. As a result, the climax feels unfortunately rushed.
An on-trend fantasy novel that may please fans of Purpus’ previous work, though it lacks a wider appeal.
Pub Date: July 9, 2014
ISBN: 978-0692221259
Page Count: 292
Publisher: Purpus Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
BOOK TO SCREEN
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