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
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
An engaging, imaginative narrative hampered by its lack of subtlety.
The Medusa myth, reimagined as an Afrocentric, feminist tale with the Gorgon recast as avenging hero.
In mythological Greece, where gods still have a hand in the lives of humans, 17-year-old Medusa lives on an island with her parents, old sea gods who were overthrown at the rise of the Olympians, and her sisters, Euryale and Stheno. The elder sisters dote on Medusa and bond over the care of her “locs...my dearest physical possession.” Their idyll is broken when Euryale is engaged to be married to a cruel demi-god. Medusa intervenes, and a chain of events leads her to a meeting with the goddess Athena, who sees in her intelligence, curiosity, and a useful bit of rage. Athena chooses Medusa for training in Athens to become a priestess at the Parthenon. She joins the other acolytes, a group of teenage girls who bond, bicker, and compete in various challenges for their place at the temple. As an outsider, Medusa is bullied (even in ancient Athens white girls rudely grab a Black girl’s hair) and finds a best friend in Apollonia. She also meets a nameless boy who always seems to be there whenever she is in need; this turns out to be Poseidon, who is grooming the inexplicably naïve Medusa. When he rapes her, Athena finds out and punishes Medusa and her sisters by transforming their locs into snakes. The sisters become Gorgons, and when colonizing men try to claim their island, the killing begins. Telling a story of Black female power through the lens of ancient myth is conceptually appealing, but this novel published as adult fiction reads as though intended for a younger audience.
An engaging, imaginative narrative hampered by its lack of subtlety.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593733769
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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