A fitting conclusion to a series of historical novels set in pre-contact Micronesia.
A vengeful orphan seeks to rid his homeland of a cannibalistic despot in Knight’s historical novel, the final volume in a series.
Just off the island of Pohnpei rises the greatest architectural feat in all Micronesia: the “stone village” of Nahn Madol, a city of canals and artificial islets built of basalt crystals. For centuries, the city has been ruled by the Saudeleurs—dynastic kings of Pohnpei—but by the early 17th century, things have started to change for the worse. The reigning Saudeleur has just initiated a new law allowing cannibalism as a form of capital punishment. Ijokelekel, a fatherless boy raised to believe he was sired by a thunder god, flees the island in a stolen boat following the murder of his priestess mother. He hopes to find the legendary Ḷainjin, a foreigner who once visited the island, to convince him to come back and challenge the rule of the Saudeleur. He believes that having a divine father must mean that some great destiny is before him, even if he suffers from a general lack of experience. Ijokelekel survives storms, the open ocean, and the disputes of various island clans he meets along the way, eventually making it to Lae Atoll, where Ḷainjin lives. He immediately falls in love with Ḷainjin’s daughter, Kāmeto, and so he asks Ḷainjin for two things: help in bringing down the Saudeleur, and Kāmeto’s hand in marriage. Ḷainjin, for reasons he keeps to himself, refuses both of Ijokelekel’s requests, but when Ijokelekel and Kāmeto leave the island anyway, intent on launching a rebellion against the Saudeleur with other allies, Ḷainjin has no choice but to follow along and prevent his child from getting killed in the fray. Though it may indeed be Ijokelekel’s destiny to change the course of his home island’s history, it may not be his destiny to survive the encounter.
Knight’s prose glitters with Micronesian words, each explained in the book’s comprehensive glossary. While the terminology and familial relationships are at first difficult to parse, they help the reader acclimate to the rhythms of the setting: “Ijokelekel and Kāmeto planned their adolescent destinies, and thus, they strode hand in hand up to her mother’s house as her brother-cousin gathered a group that first carried the kapwor shell with a pole and then carried the proas and beached them on the strand.” The author isn’t afraid to make his readers work a little bit—seemingly 80 percent of the characters have names that start with the letter L—for the sake of achieving verisimilitude. As in the previous books of the series, the novel has an almost Homeric feel as it features small boats on long voyages, encounters with new peoples and customs, and stories of brutal battles and myths told at length around campfires. Knight forsakes some of the urgency of modern storytelling to set the mood for this far-off world, but that is hardly a bad thing (by this point in the series, readers will have decided what they think of Knight’s storytelling style). The book makes for a satisfyingly epic capstone for an ambitious and highly immersive cycle of historical fiction.
A fitting conclusion to a series of historical novels set in pre-contact Micronesia.Pub Date: June 1, 2023
ISBN: 978-1771806350
Page Count: 326
Publisher: Iguana Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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