An exceptional series opener with memorable characters and simple but enticing worldbuilding.
In this debut fantasy, humans and other beings try to prevent the release of an imprisoned god who could destroy the world.
Young blacksmith Thornton Woods works with his father, Olson, in the village of Highglade. While traveling to the town of Lusk, Thornton and his friend (and possible romantic interest) Miera Mi’An face a trio of assailants. There’s another attack on the way home, but this time, the two receive assistance from Kethras and his sister, Ynara, who are Kienari—stealthy, catlike creatures. The attackers are Khyth, capable of Breaking, which consists of manipulating energy. They’ve unmistakably targeted Miera, and the others cannot prevent her eventual capture. As Ynara goes after Miera, Thornton and Kethras track the now-missing Olson and his apparent abductors. It’s soon evident the Khyth are determined to liberate the Breaker, a world creator imprisoned in the enigmatic Otherworld. Thornton and the others hope to stop the Khyth, as the Breaker’s release would be catastrophic, and fortunately, they’re not alone in their fight. The Khyth’s mortal enemies are the Athrani, who received the gift of Shaping from the Shaper of Ages, one of the goddesses who chained the Breaker in the Otherworld. Jennings writes in a plain language that benefits his epic series opener. For example, atypical fantasy creatures, like the Kienari or the Gwarái, a beast that feeds on the blood of Shapers, are well defined. And notwithstanding the plethora of characters, motivations are distinct and consistent (for example, the Khyth are fixated on freeing the Breaker). The drawback to the story’s hefty cast is the ever shifting narrative perspectives. There is no discernible protagonist, as every character’s role, including Thornton’s and Miera’s, seems to be a supporting one. Regardless, the steady action entails an exhilarating battle, a glimpse of the Otherworld, and a clear setup for the sequel.
An exceptional series opener with memorable characters and simple but enticing worldbuilding.Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-948080-72-9
Page Count: 458
Publisher: Indigo River Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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