by Davis Ashura ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
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
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by Rebecca Yarros ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2023
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
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SEEN & HEARD
by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
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New York Times Bestseller
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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