An inventive but rambling tale with comical, often erotic escapades.
A young romance writer gets transported to a magical world of misadventure in this fantasy.
Blond, pale Harlette Tchuschiya is only 19 years old but has already published five erotic romance novels that betray a lack of real-life experience by using coy euphemisms like “johnson” and “lady parts.” Swallowed up by her bedroom mirror one day, Harlette is transported to an alien world called Ara, whose inhabitants include elves, huge insects, giants, and demons. (She has no idea that her adoptive parents and sister are responsible for this turn of events for mysterious reasons.) Harlette is taken to Karayan, the golden-eyed, black-skinned elven king of Nimrod, who resembles one of her romance heroes: “He was of a majestic and intimidating beauty, but there was something wild and passionate about him.” Though they bicker constantly, their mutual erotic attraction grows. Elves whose lands are threatened beg Karayan’s help, so he begins a long journey accompanied by Harlette and others. The travelers’ picaresque adventures bring them into fantastical locations such as Far-Flunga, a Jack-and-the-Beanstalk kingdom inhabited by giants and a large, talking chicken named Goldie. Everywhere they go, the travelers hear of Dwayne O’Connell, a brilliant but evil human scientist corrupting Ara. As they get in and out of trouble, Harlette begins writing another novel (The Glistening Elf) and is advised by an enigmatic Shadow, who promises to explain why it’s dogging her steps if she’ll give Karayan “a real sensual show of affection.” Harlette gets the opportunity when the elf king, having read her manuscript and recognized himself in the hero, criticizes the writer’s obvious inexperience; he’s happy to provide some editorial direction in the form of steamy, eye-opening heavy petting. By the end, the travelers have more questions than answers.
Gleem, who previously collaborated on the two-volume Deep in Love & War series (2017), now offers this first installment of a five-part series. The book’s greatest strength is the amusing premise, in which a virginal romance novelist who is completely inexperienced in love runs smack-dab into a hero embodying all the classic dark, brooding, masterful stereotypes. The erotic scenes cleverly demonstrate that it’s possible (if not for Harlette) to skillfully describe encounters that are hot and explicit while being neither coy nor crude. Also creative are the down-the-rabbit-hole plot, the worldbuilding, and the plethora of varied characters, such as Goldie, the sex-obsessed chicken. These virtues aside, the novel loses its sense of direction, meandering toward an ending that leaves nothing resolved. Though much is said to be at stake in Ara, with portals opening to other dimensions that are allowing in foul and corrupting influences, it’s difficult to take the threat seriously among all the random slapstick. Readers whose patience has already been tested may be unlikely to stick with four more volumes in the hope that all the dropped threads—Harlette’s family, her biological father, her Shadow, her true identity, and many more—will finally be tied together.
An inventive but rambling tale with comical, often erotic escapades.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-2-9601916-6-0
Page Count: 397
Publisher: AFNIL
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
FANTASY | ROMANCE | GENERAL FANTASY | FANTASY
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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