Mordant, thrilling, all tangled up in heavy knots of double-crossing and magic.
The grand conclusion to a fantasy two-parter about a knight with the soul of a teenaged boy.
In The Knight (2003), Wolfe sent an American teenager into another world, a multitiered fantasy universe divided into seven different planes of existence. There, he became known as Sir Abel of the High Heart, a powerful knight with a sword, Eterne, that your average hero would kill for. Now, we find Abel having recently come back to the land of Mythgarthr. Although he’s aged some 20 years in the realm of Skye, the passing of time there doesn’t really seem to follow the standard rules, and, while he doesn’t seem very mature, he definitely isn’t a kid anymore. A seasoned warrior, Abel is in the midst of a struggle between the realm of King Arnthor against a race of Frost Giants intent on raiding south into the hotter lands to capture human slaves to work their fields. The Wizard’s first half allows Abel to tell about his struggles in this conflict, and he’s an engaging narrator, though given to the prolix. When Wolfe shifts the action away from Abel, though, and turns to the diplomatic efforts of his squires Svon and Toug (and Mani, the speaking cat: less gimmicky than it sounds) in their effort to stop the giant-human fighting, the action shifts into high gear and the comprehension factor (despite the upfront list of dramatis personae) begins ratcheting dramatically downward. Wolfe likes to spin spiderwebs of plot and counterplot inside his impressively constructed universes, and fortunately his innate sense of humor keeps matters from getting impossibly dense. Even as he trots out the fantasy tropes (elf-like beings, a battle with a dragon, jousting matches, honorable peasants, arrogant royalty), he both undercuts expectations and fulfills them in each and every page.
Mordant, thrilling, all tangled up in heavy knots of double-crossing and magic.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2004
ISBN: 0-765-31201-8
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2004
An offbeat, engaging tale by a talented and original newcomer.
Debut fantasy features an intriguing, well-drawn mythology.
At first glance, the basic plot may seem standard: A young woman, narrator/protagonist Yeine Darr, is named heir to the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which plunges her into a power struggle with two rival cousins. But Jemisin’s world-building and attention to detail raise this story to another level. In the novel’s complex but well-defined universe, a war between the gods took place in the distant past. The losing divinities were punished severely and forced to become the slaves of mortal humans. Yeine’s life becomes increasingly entangled with these subjugated gods as she navigates royal politics and tries to uncover the truth about her family history. Jemisin lavishes considerable care on her fictional universe, but she also creates a subtle, emotionally complex character in the thoughtful Yeine. Readers will definitely look forward to future installments of the projected Inheritance Trilogy.
An offbeat, engaging tale by a talented and original newcomer.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-316-04391-5
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Orbit/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2009
Another Psy/Changeling page-turner from the brilliant Singh.
After saving a woman from a serial killer, a wolf changeling will do anything to keep her safe, but the stakes get higher when her unique powers may signal the worldwide rise of aggressive rogue energy.
Nearing the first anniversary of his brother’s death, Alexei Harte picks up an overwhelming psychic broadcast of grief and discovers an empath imprisoned in an underground bunker. When he rescues her, at first her only emotions seem to be rage and grief for her recently deceased cat. But as Memory begins to trust Alexei and the world he helps her enter, her conflicted, negative emotions begin to calm. The other empaths she meets help her understand that her gifts are unique and powerful and reframe them beyond her violent past which forced her to use them to help a psychopath. The more they work with her, the more they come to believe that she might be particularly positioned to help strengthen the complicated PsyNet, the vast psychic network on which the Psy depend to keep them connected and healthy. Alexei, meanwhile, is wrestling with the death of his brother, who went violently rogue one year earlier. He’s definitely interested in making Memory his mate but worries he carries the rogue genes that threaten her even as he’s trying to keep her safe from a variety of other dangers. The Psy/Changeling Trinity series continues with another complex, fascinating angle to the fall of Silence and its manifestations. Alexei’s family represents the rogue component in the Changeling world, while Memory both represents and acts as the first line of defense against a rising rogue element within the Psy. Favorite alpha characters weave through the story, meeting the new challenge with their typical intelligence, flexibility, and collaboration.
Another Psy/Changeling page-turner from the brilliant Singh.Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0359-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
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