An action-packed tale of valiant heroes and vibrant, unforgettable monsters.
Canadians with extraordinary abilities battle otherworldly creatures in this debut paranormal novel.
Chinese Canadian real estate agent Anna Lin steps outside late one night to boot some pesky raccoons off her family’s property. But apparently the noise she heard is a tentacled, serpentine beast hiding in the garage and flashing razor-sharp teeth. She reacts instinctively and takes the monster out with “xhen” energy, a formidable power she hasn’t used in years. (A bolt “burns a streaking hole straight through the creature’s mouth and out the back of its head.”) She learned how to use xhen as a child alongside her twin brother, Jason, and their Anishinaabe best friend, Dave LaRoque Montcalm. Soon, much bigger creatures menacingly fly over Toronto, and Anna doesn’t hesitate to combat these “skyworms.” Jason, now an emergency room doctor, and former CEO Dave quickly join her side as more skyworms appear. Their xhen teacher, Kalos, guides them as an inner voice and sometimes takes over one of their bodies. Apparently, this isn’t the first time the massive, shiny-scaled beasts have attacked the world, and the three xhen-wielding “Xenthians” may be humanity’s only chance at surviving. In this series opener, Williams aptly develops this trio of protagonists. The twins, for example, begin the story estranged, having had dramatically different responses to their mother’s chemotherapy and subsequent death. The author is unmistakably paving the way for future volumes, merely hinting at such subplots as the skyworms’ origin and the heroes’ past training with Kalos. Still, there’s a wealth of exhilarating action scenes brimming with bright energy pulses as well as powers like teleportation and telepathy. The novel’s latter half rarely slows down, as even the Xenthians’ taking a breather retains the intensity of an active battlefield. Williams’ descriptions run through an array of colors, from slithering orange skyworms and human soldiers’ military green to the glowing blue light that Anna’s xhen generates. Readers may want some answers in the sequel but will surely look forward to more superpowered clashes.
An action-packed tale of valiant heroes and vibrant, unforgettable monsters.Pub Date: June 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1778064517
Page Count: 356
Publisher: Circle Star Publishing
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.
In this long-awaited fifth installment of Shannon’s Bone Season series, the threat to the clairvoyant community spreads like a plague across Europe.
After extending her fight against the Republic of Scion to Paris, Paige Mahoney, leader of London’s clairvoyant underworld and a spy for the resistance movement, finds herself further outside her comfort zone when she wakes up in a foreign place with no recollection of getting there. More disturbing than her last definitive memory, in which her ally-turned-lover Arcturus seems to betray her, is that her dreamscape—the very soul of her clairvoyance—has been altered, as if there’s a veil shrouding both her memories and abilities. Paige manages to escape and learns she’s been missing and presumed dead for six months. Even more shocking is that she’s somehow outside of Scion’s borders, in the free world where clairvoyants are accepted citizens. She gets in touch with other resistance fighters and journeys to Italy to reconnect with the Domino Programme intelligence network. In stark contrast to the potential of life in the free world is the reality that Scion continues to stretch its influence, with Norway recently falling and Italy a likely next target. Paige is enlisted to discover how Scion is bending free-world political leaders to its will, but before Paige can commit to her mission, she has her own mystery to solve: Where in the world is Arcturus? Paige’s loyalty to Arcturus is tested as she decides how much to trust in their connection and how much information to reveal to the Domino Programme about the Rephaite—the race of immortals from the Netherworld, Arcturus’ people—and their connection to the founding of Scion, as well as the presence of clairvoyant abilities on Earth. While the book is impressively multilayered, the matter-of-fact way in which details from the past are sprinkled throughout will have readers constantly flipping to the glossary. As the series’ scope and the implications of the war against Scion expand, Shannon’s narrative style reads more action-thriller than fantasy. Paige’s powers as a dreamwalker are rarely used here, but when clairvoyance is at play, the story shines.
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781639733965
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Doesn’t entirely hang together but still manages to hit the spot.
In an alternate early-20th-century Montreal, sparks fly between the operator of a cat shelter and a reclusive magician.
Agnes Aubert is not kindly disposed toward magicians, especially not after a magical duel blows a hole in the building that housed her and her cat shelter. Unfortunately, finding another spot isn’t easy, so she’s happy to take the reasonably priced location on the Rue des Hirondelles. But that’s before she discovers the building’s owner secretly living in the basement: Havelock Renard, the world’s most powerful magician, who also happens to be allergic to cats. As this decidedly odd couple work out a system for cohabitation, Agnes develops some uncomfortable feelings for Havelock; she also can’t deny her attraction to the police detective who thinks (not entirely incorrectly) that the shelter is a front for the illegal sale of magical Artefacts. In comparison to the carefully constructed universe of her Emily Wildeseries, Fawcett’s worldbuilding and plotting are a bit sloppy; the magical system is not laid out as clearly as more pedantic readers might wish, and there’s one part of Agnes’ quandary that gets resolved in a rushed, not truly believable, way. The book also implausibly suggests that an allergy to cats is curable by exposure (rather than managed by a magical antihistamine, perhaps?). But one has to admire the author’s acumen in finding the absolute sweet spot for a cozy fantasy, after all the other ones set in cafes and adorable little shops. It could seem either twee or a cynical grab at the market, but it’s neither; Fawcett clearly understands the complicated but rewarding relationship between humans and cats. It is also charming to set a story in Montreal, where both brioches and bagels are on offer.
Doesn’t entirely hang together but still manages to hit the spot.Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
ISBN: 9780593973257
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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