A somewhat predictable but still inventive fantasy-series opener.
This fantasy debut tells the story of a mercenary who’s forced from retirement by an evil horde, warlike kingdoms, and an ancient prophecy.
In the world of Wrae-Kronn, a warrior named Alaezdar has outrun his violent past and settled in Valeland. For nearly a year, he’s worked the farm of Tharn, the village’s founder. Although he’s still considered an outsider, Alaezdar is acquainted with Morlonn the Hunter, and Aaelie, the washerwoman’s daughter. He lives in fear, however, that members of Rager’s House of Renegades—his former employers—will track him down and exact vengeance for his murder of the villainous Red Blade. Also problematic is the nearby Kingdom of Triel, for which Tharn has agreed to mine iron ore that’s used to produce toxic “Goblin Touched” steel. When Ambassador Krostos demands higher productivity from the village, Tharn agrees. But to assure production, the ambassador wants to take a hostage who would live in Triel—specifically, the lovely Aaelie. Meanwhile, the prophecy of Dar Drannon, a godlike, elven being who was wounded by a fallen star, weighs heavily upon the land; Tharn believes that Dar “is in human form, but he doesn’t know who he is yet and he has not been awakened.” In this start of a new series, author McDaniel lays strong groundwork, filled with rousing concepts, such as Alaezdar’s magical sword, Bloodseeker, which can heal the hero’s wounds, and the witch Fyaa, who arrived in Wrae-Kronn via a magical gate at the supposedly defunct elven tower, Aaestfallia Keep. The dynamic between Aaelie and Rivlok, a young man who loves her dearly, adds to the tension after she confesses that Alaezdar “brings a newness, and change, and possibly adventure” to their cloistered lives. McDaniel does enjoy telegraphing plot maneuvers, as when Gartan the Dark of the Watchers Guild warns, “The 89th Bloody Fang Goblin tribe has called upon their dark god,” which will leave readers less than surprised at a later development. However, solid pacing, consistently fun inventions, and the hero’s desire to resist the “prophecy game” result in an entertaining journey.
A somewhat predictable but still inventive fantasy-series opener.Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68433-114-7
Page Count: 338
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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