An expansive saga that’s slow to start but ultimately intriguing.
Debut author Gennari presents an epic fantasy novel that focuses on a gifted young man who’s destined for legendary greatness.
Areus is a muscular 20-year-old Torian; his people can live for thousands of years, and most generally enjoy their lives. All has not been well for Areus, as he’s been plagued by a dream of a great king in pain, but he’s also a talented athlete who competes in an event like wrestling called Lúkari. His fighting abilities come in handy when he later faces enemies in the realm of the mortals while accompanied by a wise man named Santia, who’s a member of a celestial order called the Assembly of Light. When the two meet, Santia tells the young man that a powerful evil has returned to the world after a long time away and that “There is more to you than you would like to believe.” Meanwhile, in a land called Denkari, a rebellious young woman named Belvara is troubled by her own dreams of terrible anguish; she’s the niece of a senator and longs to know more about her birthparents. When circumstances bring her into contact with Areus, the two realize that they can communicate telepathically—one of many discoveries they encounter in a vast quest to come. Events move slowly in this saga’s initial pages; the first chapter, for instance, provides readers with the backstory of Hydroland, the largest landmass of Aureus’ planet, which seems irrelevant at first but comes into play later on; later, extraneous details regarding Areus’ Lúkari competitions adversely affect the narrative momentum. Although the stage takes time to set, the introduction of compelling creatures will maintain readers’ interest, including brutal monsters called rifas and a helpful shape changer. That said, some descriptions feel lacking; for instance, one cave is guarded by a “monstrous cave troll and his vicious thylacine pets,” but little detail is provided about them. Still, intriguing information is revealed about Areus, and this, coupled with other discoveries—regarding, for example, the dangers of solar flares—will keep readers engaged.
An expansive saga that’s slow to start but ultimately intriguing.Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-6454948-0-8
Page Count: 833
Publisher: Star Rise Publications
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
Reasonably involving while you’re reading it but ultimately disappointing and incomplete feeling.
A feud between two powerful witch families heats up, thanks to two pairs of star-crossed lovers and an ambitious middle son, in this stand-alone by the author of The Atlas Six (2022).
In New York City, Lazar Fedorov, aka Koschei the Deathless, trades in illicit magical items, fantastical creatures, and expensive favors extended to the desperate. His three sons—Dimitri, Roman, and Lev—aid him in his dealings. Meanwhile, Marya Antonova, aka Baba Yaga, and her seven daughters sell high-end beauty products and illegal magical hallucinogens. As Yaga prepares to extend her drug sales to nonmagical buyers and her eldest daughter, Marya, also called Masha, discovers that the Fedorovs are interfering with their business, both sides plot to finish off their rivals. Matters head toward a tragic direction as Masha and Dimitri reignite the embers of their long-ago love, Masha’s youngest sister, Sasha, becomes romantically entangled with Lev, and Roman makes his own violent plans to gain his father’s approval. What appears to be an unholy magical cross between The Godfather and Romeo and Juliet leads to an expected high body count—and that’s only halfway through the book. Since this is a fantasy novel, Blake throws in a twist that initially feels like a shocking swerve, but we’re soon headed in a similar, but potentially even more destructive, direction. Several characters exhibit deep and interesting emotional growth (some based on a clever use of magic drawn straight from the Russian fairy tales the book references), but others are never fully fleshed out. In addition, the plot unfortunately coalesces predictably (and not nearly as intricately as the scheming characters, and probably the author, imagine it does), and the denouement seems less inevitably tragic than sadly pointless. Meanwhile, many opportunities for intriguing worldbuilding (how magic works, how witches govern themselves to hide their magic from nonwitches, where magical creatures come from, what non–New York witch societies are like) are never picked up.
Reasonably involving while you’re reading it but ultimately disappointing and incomplete feeling.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-25-088485-5
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
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