A well-written but uneven tale about the struggles of a powerful mage.
In this novel that blends elements of fantasy and romance, a 21-year-old woman with rare supernatural abilities attempts to find her place in a realm that persecutes magic.
Ren’wyn’s future isn’t bright—it’s more like a nightmare that she can’t escape from. Able to access the Void (the realm of the dead) and communicate with spirits, Ren’wyn has had to hide her powers as a dark mage from most of the world as the empire and its imperial regiments ruthlessly hunted down and murdered anyone with magic ability. But attending an academy that secretly embraces and teaches those with supernatural powers has helped Ren’wyn realize that she’s not alone in her struggle (“It was here she learned to wield her magic of death alongside hundreds of other students in the six magical disciplines”). Yet, soon to graduate, she finds her life is all but over as she is betrothed to a masochist who delights in torturing her. A fleeting love affair with a druid named Esrin gives her some semblance of hope. Unfortunately, after she leaves the academy, his promise to save her goes unfulfilled and she is forced to attempt a desperate escape from her husband-to-be on her own. A former imperial soldier and secret “berserker” (a magic user who wields “fire and strength”) named Fael helps her evade capture. Together they begin a quest to somehow overthrow the empire. This series opener’s noteworthy elements include a strong romance undercurrent, a dynamic love triangle, and some genuinely steamy sequences. But while Vander Stelt’s story is well written, the major concern here is the lack of original or particularly memorable narrative aspects. The worldbuilding is a bit superficial; the characters are adequately developed but still stereotypical (a “prophecy” about a chosen one that will rise against a tyrannical empire); and the quest thread never gains traction as it is essentially setting the table for a much larger and more intriguing storyline. Lastly, introducing a major villain at the very end of a 400-plus-page book may not sit well with some readers as the plot seed could have been subtly planted much earlier.
A well-written but uneven tale about the struggles of a powerful mage.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 433
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 11, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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