Good fantasy fiction with first-rate worldbuilding.
In Ashura’s debut novel, Rukh Shekton—a dedicated young member of his world’s warrior caste—fights for the survival of his people.
Most of the world’s human population was killed thousands of years ago by storm-goddess–demon Suwraith. Now isolated pockets of humanity live in caste-based city-states within Oases of magical power, which can hold back Suwraith but not her vast hordes of nonhuman Chimera warriors. To protect the future of all human beings, warriors like Rukh must attain their full maturity and enter the Wildness between the Oases to battle the Chimeras. Despite his great talent and long training, Rukh is apprehensive, and the forays he joins are bloody, vicious battles. His devotion to the traditions of his culture sustains him, but he’s tested when he learns the real character of the Chimeras’ leaders, the dark plans of Suwraith and how the two are not as aligned as he’d once thought. And when Rukh begins to question the way things have always been, he changes his destiny forever. The characters, dialogue and action are mature enough to satisfy readers at the older end of the YA range, and the author weaves them all into an attention-sustaining tale. Pacing and description are also strong in what is clearly the opening novel of a series. The culturally diverse fantasy world borrows from real-world societies and places ranging from India to Europe and beyond. The somewhat racially based nature of the castes is a little troubling at first glance, though the castes are also focused on innate talents, personality traits and abilities. The novel’s hero, Rukh, is (refreshingly) a member of the warrior stratum of society and not a born leader. Although the set bears enough resemblance to J.R.R. Tolkien’s universe and World of Warcraft so readers won’t feel utterly lost, the milieu is markedly original. And with a full-color map and an eight-page glossary, the novel offers readers easy references to answer any questions that might arise.
Good fantasy fiction with first-rate worldbuilding.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-9911276-0-3
Page Count: -
Publisher: DuSum Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.
Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.
The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three. Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.
Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-307-88743-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Absolutely superb.
Leaders of Britain’s abolitionist movement join forces with a veteran of the Haitian revolution to push back Napoleon’s deadly forces in Parry’s second Shadow Histories novel.
Napoléon Bonaparte isn’t a particularly talented magician, but his potential as a general and conqueror attracts the attention of the same mysterious figure who manipulated Robespierre to set off the Reign of Terror in A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (2020). When Bonaparte summons a kraken to serve the French navy and later finds a dragon hidden in the sands of Egypt, it’s only a matter of time before France and Europe fall at his feet. William Pitt, meanwhile, is growing weaker by the day as he works to keep a deadly and dangerous magical secret from his enemies. William Wilberforce continues to fight for abolition but is stymied at every turn. Fina uses her magic to help Toussaint Louverture keep hold of Saint-Domingue, but she eventually makes the journey to London and meets Pitt and Wilberforce. With a first-rate blend of political drama and magic battle–action, Parry manages to inject tension and stakes into a historical drama where average readers will know at least the broad strokes of the ending. Effortlessly switching from France to England to Egypt to Saint-Domingue, Parry folds in show-stopping new characters like Kate Dove, a commoner weather mage dead-set on avenging her brother’s death by kraken, and Lady Hester Stanhope, who would become one of the most famous explorers of the 19th century. When the three main characters, Fina, Pitt, and Wilberforce, finally face off with the stranger, the resulting conflict brings the series’ meditations on idealism, the fight for human rights, and the necessary limits of institutional power to a head.
Absolutely superb.Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-45915-0
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Redhook/Orbit
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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