A vibrant, deliberately paced, and enthralling fantasy.
A small group of allies in a faraway world battles oppression and seemingly indestructible fiends in this fantasy sequel.
Democryos was once a master “voider” in the Northern Kingdom. He honed magiclike abilities from an otherworldly plane called the void, an act he renounced after learning that trapped souls powered the voidstones wielded by voiders. The secret to stopping voidance may now lie in his lover Chimeline’s vivid dream-visions of Temberlain, the first effulgent, who died generations ago. (Effulgents belong to a religious sect that doesn’t believe in relationships or ownership.) But Dem and Chimeline have trouble deciphering events and figures in her recorded dreams, including exactly what that silver-armored “azureman” is. Meanwhile, Dem and his friend Blythe work to free countless souls stuck in an impossibly large voidstone. But danger looms. The king unleashes an enigmatic plan to round up effulgents, and someone kills voiders and steals their pocket-sized voidstones. Dem, Blythe, Chimeline, and others soon realize that people are disappearing in the Northern Kingdom, and azuremen (like those in Chimeline’s dreams) are suddenly showing up. The dreams may prepare the companions for facing both these never-speaking, startlingly durable beings and quite likely an even greater enemy. Wozniak’s effective, unhurried pace guides readers through dense worldbuilding. This second installment, for example, touches on events from the preceding novel and spotlights intermittent dream episodes with Temberlain that confuse even Dem and Chimeline. Nevertheless, beautifully detailed scenes fill the pages, most notably of the void—a “colorless darkness” in which voices of souls or voiders “weave in and out like braids in a rope.” The story zeroes in on an indelible cast, from foulmouthed friend Colu, perpetually guzzling the alcoholic beverage sugarcanex, to Chimeline, continually doubting her ability though she may prove more powerful than skilled voiders. All the while, a slow-burn mystery plays out and a revealing final act answers questions surrounding the blue-faced azuremen and Chimeline’s “voidreaming.” Although a third volume is certainly possible, this tale ends with a thorough and satisfying wrap-up.
A vibrant, deliberately paced, and enthralling fantasy.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2022
ISBN: 9798986681818
Page Count: 591
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 14, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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
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