An eerie and imaginative melding of history and fantasy.
History, trauma, and folklore intertwine in a Ukrainian immigrant’s American dream in Gomel’s novel.
Alyona “Ally” Morris is a recently married Ukrainian immigrant determined to live the American dream upon escaping the violence and instability she faced during the fall of the Soviet Union. She’s convinced that she can be the golden-haired, youthful counterpart to her middle-aged, wealthy husband, Carl. Ally navigates her new life, feeling alienated as an immigrant while pondering the mysterious death of Carl’s first wife and her own tragic past. She also seeks to familiarize herself with the endless, shadowy landscape of redwoods. One night, her husband is abducted by forces beyond her understanding. Her home of Berkeley, California, is revealed to be intertwined with Nightwood, a land where folklore and fairy tales collide with real-life history. Time is controlled by what appear to be ominous Red, White, and Black Horsemen, and Ally finds herself enslaved by Little Mother, a tiny being with “gossamer-thin hair” whose farmyard contains grotesque creatures. As she navigates Nightwood, armed only with three magic items that look like ordinary objects (a comb, matches, and a handkerchief), Ally meets people from the past and present, including figures from her own life, who are trapped in the strange land as darker, more troubled versions of themselves. Ultimately, she must confront the terrifying ruler of Nightwood, the Ogre in the Castle With No Windows, as well as her own demons. The key theme of Gomel’s novel is that “All fairytales had been history once,” and to that end, it effectively combines classic tropes of fantasy and folklore, such as talking human-animal hybrids and a hero on a quest, with characters affected and motivated by very real present and historical traumas, ranging from the Holocaust to the trafficking and abuse of Nigerian girls. The inclusion of a large cast of characters in increasingly convoluted situations can make the work a confusing read at times. Despite this, the novel is unquestionably an intensely creative, hard-hitting work with a suspenseful storyline and empathetic yet critical deliberations on human suffering.
An eerie and imaginative melding of history and fantasy.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 340
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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