Uninspired.
Set in the same pseudo-medieval European world as some of his previous works, the first installment in Hamilton’s (The Blood Debt, 2017, etc.) Dragonslayer series is a fantasy adventure chronicling one man’s redemptive journey that involves slaying a mythic beast—and quite possibly changing the course of history for all the kingdoms in the entire Middle Sea realm.
Lord Guillot—who is the Seigneur of a small village of Villerauvais—was once a great swordfighter. He is, in fact, the last surviving Chevalier of the Silver Circle, a legendary fighting force that protected the kingdom from its enemies. But after the tragic death of his wife, Gill, as he is called, has become a drunk, seeking solace at the bottom of a bottle. Five years of almost constant inebriation has turned Gill into a shadow of the man he once was. But when a dragon starts terrorizing nearby settlements and killing its inhabitants—though the beasts were believed to be extinct—Gill is forced out of his alcoholic stupor. When he is told by the king to kill the creature, he accepts the mission—but is unaware that he is a pawn in a much larger game being played by an evil Prince Bishop who is secretly plotting for magic use to become legal and culturally acceptable again. The addition of Solène, a young woman persecuted because of her innate magical abilities, introduces another layer to the story. But while the writing is certainly fluid, the storyline is banal and filled with numerous sequences that come off as contrived (like Gill’s stumbling across a rare artifact that just happens to be monumentally significant to the story). Additionally, the characters are all stereotypes with no emotional connectivity. The novel feels like a story that fantasy fans have read countless times before; two-dimensional characters, a predictable plot, and an unsurprising ending make for a forgettable read.
Uninspired.Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30672-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
A new series starts off with a bang.
A queen and her young daughter are forced to separate and go into hiding when a corrupt politician tries to take over the kingdom.
Queen Cressa of Weirandale is worried about her 8-year-old daughter, the “princella” Cerúlia. The people of Weirandale worship a water spirit, Nargis, who grants each queen a special gift called a Talent. Cressa herself is able to meddle with memories, for example, and her mother possessed supernatural strategic abilities that served her well in battle. Cerúlia, however, appears to have none, because surely her insistence that she can talk to animals is only her young imagination running wild. When Cerúlia’s many pets warn her about assassins creeping into the royal chambers, the girl is able to save herself and her mother. Cressa uses her Talent, which actually extends to forcing anyone to tell her the truth, to root out traitors among the aristocracy, led by the power-hungry Lord Matwyck. Fearing for her daughter’s life and her own, Cressa takes Cerúlia and flees. Thinking Cerúlia will be safer away from her mother, Cressa takes the girl to a kind peasant family and adjusts their memories so they believe Cerúlia is their adopted daughter. Kozloff’s debut is the first of four Nine Realms books, and Tor plans to publish them over just four months. Luckily, the series opener is a strong start, so readers will be grateful for the short wait before Book 2. Kozloff sets a solid stage with glimpses into other characters and nations while keeping the book together with a clear, propulsive plot.
A new series starts off with a bang.Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-16854-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, Bardugo’s compulsively readable novel leaves a portal ajar for equally...
Yale’s secret societies hide a supernatural secret in this fantasy/murder mystery/school story.
Most Yale students get admitted through some combination of impressive academics, athletics, extracurriculars, family connections, and donations, or perhaps bribing the right coach. Not Galaxy “Alex” Stern. The protagonist of Bardugo’s (King of Scars, 2019, etc.) first novel for adults, a high school dropout and low-level drug dealer, Alex got in because she can see dead people. A Yale dean who's a member of Lethe, one of the college’s famously mysterious secret societies, offers Alex a free ride if she will use her spook-spotting abilities to help Lethe with its mission: overseeing the other secret societies’ occult rituals. In Bardugo’s universe, the “Ancient Eight” secret societies (Lethe is the eponymous Ninth House) are not just old boys’ breeding grounds for the CIA, CEOs, Supreme Court justices, and so on, as they are in ours; they’re wielders of actual magic. Skull and Bones performs prognostications by borrowing patients from the local hospital, cutting them open, and examining their entrails. St. Elmo’s specializes in weather magic, useful for commodities traders; Aurelian, in unbreakable contracts; Manuscript goes in for glamours, or “illusions and lies,” helpful to politicians and movie stars alike. And all these rituals attract ghosts. It’s Alex’s job to keep the supernatural forces from embarrassing the magical elite by releasing chaos into the community (all while trying desperately to keep her grades up). “Dealing with ghosts was like riding the subway: Do not make eye contact. Do not smile. Do not engage. Otherwise, you never know what might follow you home.” A townie’s murder sets in motion a taut plot full of drug deals, drunken assaults, corruption, and cover-ups. Loyalties stretch and snap. Under it all runs the deep, dark river of ambition and anxiety that at once powers and undermines the Yale experience. Alex may have more reason than most to feel like an imposter, but anyone who’s spent time around the golden children of the Ivy League will likely recognize her self-doubt.
With an aura of both enchantment and authenticity, Bardugo’s compulsively readable novel leaves a portal ajar for equally dazzling sequels.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-31307-2
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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