An emotionally rich tale that’s sweeping despite its brevity.
A duplicitous ruler keeps an evil force at bay while lying to his kingdom in Armstrong’s fantasy debut.
King Magnus rules Evlontus, where, nearly 30 years ago, the monarch banned citizens from using and inevitably abusing magic. He also enforces a sense of unity by stoking fears that his brother, Cassius, is at war with Evlontus. Soldiers attack the realm, critically wounding Evlontus’ heroes, such as Capt. Japheth; however, the warriors are all part of Magnus’ ruse. In reality, Cassius is not a renegade warlord; he lives in the Shadow Wood Forest in a temple known only to Magnus and his prophet, Basil. Cassius holds an evil force within his body to keep it from harming anyone else. Complicating matters, however, is Basil’s prophecy that Ellendarra, a talented warrior who’s replaced Japheth in the field, will end Magnus’ rule. The king, meanwhile, plans to rescue Cassius from his fate as a vessel for evil; he orders Basil to create an enchanted dagger to drain away the darkness from Cassius’ heart. Magnus hopes to transfer the evil to Japheth, whose ruination he finds more palatable. In order to get close enough to Cassius to stab him and quickly heal him with a potion, the king sends Ellendarra to seduce him. Armstrong knows exactly where to place the dramatic twists in this condensed epic fantasy. Despite the presence of clashing armies, which would suggest a sprawling narrative, this tale focuses tightly on its core cast. The dialogue style creates an atmosphere of vicious intimacy, as when Basil tells Ellendarra that she’s a “flawed and damaged mortal whose past deeds have fed the darkness like poison to the veins.” The prose also occasionally conjures the magic of nature: “The forest was beautiful, the sunlight seeping in through the tall trees in a way that made the leaves glimmer.” The nuanced portrayal of Magnus provides a philosophical counterpoint to Japheth, who believes that “A king should serve his people,” not manipulate them. After true romance blossoms between Cassius and Ellendarra, the plot accelerates and offers satisfying surprises. It’s likely that the characters will travel an even bumpier road in a sequel.
An emotionally rich tale that’s sweeping despite its brevity.Pub Date: May 2, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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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