A stripped-down fantasy that’s as verbose as it is heartfelt.
Straatman’s (A Fallible Goddess and the Enduring Sorrow, 2016, etc.) fantasy novella explores the unflagging bond between two women, one of whom is immortal.
Lorio is a beautiful and loquacious former queen, and Issisdris is a scarred, taciturn warrior. Together, they’ve journeyed through the Antiquated World for 30 years, battling misogyny and seeking no other company but each other. Lorio, of the wandering Lamia tribe, died during the Emerald Enchantress War only to be resurrected by Myrhia, Mother of Iniquity. This rendered Lorio immortal and the subject of legends, which she prefers to disregard. Issidris grew up on the island of Ciprite, where her father and brothers raped and beat her as a child. She grew up into a life of crime, eventually becoming a professional assassin. She ran afoul of Lorio on the road to Dizar Kor, capital of the nation of Fairmarch. Initially, the two hated each other and sparred ruthlessly. Then, after Issidris suffered a personal tragedy, Lorio asked the smaller woman to be her companion and “conscience.” She agreed, and the pair began traveling the nations of Emercia, Anangrast, and elsewhere, often finding and helping women and children in brutal subjugation. Now, however, Issidris is considering retirement; how will Lorio react? In this short, dark piece, Straatman attempts to distill all that’s precious between the two main characters by offering their lengthy histories. His dialogue can be a bit wry, as when Issidris says to Lorio, “You may be a queen and an immortal, but I sincerely doubt that either can survive without a head.” In general, however, the prose is overly wordy, which sometimes suffocates the drama: “Beneath the exceptionally beautiful fall sky, Issidris was on her hands and knees....Lorio's acute visual acuity registered the eviscerating details of Issidris’ dire situation.” Epic-fantasy fans will likely take the Antiquated World’s misery in stride, but more casual readers might find the bleak tone gratuitous. Laudably, however, Straatman’s characters desire a world where men and women are equal, which adds power to an elegant finale.
A stripped-down fantasy that’s as verbose as it is heartfelt.Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-977914-06-4
Page Count: 264
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
PROFILES
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