A fun, amusing, and innovative fantasy.
In this debut fantasy, two friends seek revenge after a tragedy.
Stephen and his half-elven friend Angelo live in the safe and beautiful town of Springsboro. But they leave on a casual hunting trip and when they return, the entire town is burned to the ground. There are no survivors. While hunting, Stephen and Angelo had taken cover from a mysterious storm that blew in. This was no ordinary tempest; it was magic, the workings of Asmodeious, a master sorcerer. Asmodeious is the one who torched Springsboro. Stephen and Angelo want to punish the culprit who killed their friends and family, and the two set out on a quest to find the murderer. What they don’t know is that Asmodeious and his half-orc apprentice, Diablo, live on the edge of a volcano and that the sorcerer knows more about Stephen’s latent power than the hero himself. For a novel hinging on retribution, this is a surprisingly funny book. If naming the sinister sidekick Diablo wasn’t enough of a clue that the villains would be over the top, the sorcerer is unapologetically evil, shouting things like “No one gets killed by Asmodeious and lives!” While the backdrop isn’t as melodramatic as the villains, Owens’ world is a refreshing take on elves and orcs. The inventive realm blends modern living with traditional fantasy elements. Stephen answers the door in his boxers before donning his hunting armor. And when Diablo casts a cauldron spell, the pot displays “a menu with three options: security, alarm, and browse.” The humor seems effortless, and each discovery of how modernity fits into the conventional fantasy landscape is a delight. Still, the story has some tonal problems. Owens is at his best with two extremes: humor and a more solemn tone that’s standard for a traditional fantasy. He employs the latter in this vivid description of mountains: “Passes were designated early in the history of civilization, and indeed even a few cities sprang up amongst the jagged peaks, clinging to the very rock like a lichen, every bit as sensitive.” But these extremes affect how readers view the characters’ emotions. It’s hard to take Stephen’s and Angelo’s grief over Springsboro’s destruction seriously and yet their deep sorrow is the tale’s catalyst. This is the first installment of a series, so perhaps the tone will even out in the sequel.
A fun, amusing, and innovative fantasy.Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-66413-988-6
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Xlibris US
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A wonderfully enjoyable series opener.
YA giant Clare makes her adult debut with a whirlwind epic fantasy featuring secret plots, ancient magic, and hidden identities.
The nobility of Castellane know Kel only as Prince Conor’s aristocratic cousin and closest confidant, but a select few know the truth: Kel is an orphan plucked from obscurity because he bears a passing resemblance to Conor and proved able to handle being trained as Conor’s “Sword Catcher.” A Sword Catcher has all the typical duties of a bodyguard, but Kel’s responsibilities also include wearing a magical amulet that makes people think he’s Conor, allowing him to take the prince’s place at public events when the palace head of security deems it too risky for the prince himself. But when Conor becomes old enough to consider marriage, Kel learns that it will take more than hidden daggers to protect his charge. On the other side of Castellane society is Lin, a young woman who is a member of the Ashkar, a small community that's forbidden from living outside their walled community. The Ashkar are the only people who can still use magic, and even though using or even learning about most kinds of magic is banned, they are still feared and discriminated against by the rest of the world. Lin has worked hard to be allowed to study medicine even though she's a woman, but when her medical talents aren’t enough to help heal her best friend, she wonders if the answer lies in the study of forbidden magic. The tangle of political disputes and shadowy plots that leads to Kel and Lin crossing paths is not only thick enough to make the several hundred pages fly by, it will leave readers eager for a series full of twists and turns. Clare expertly balances the needs of a satisfying plot with dropping tantalizing hints of what’s to come in future installments. Her worldbuilding is instantly immersive, and the many characters are all detailed and memorable, so swapping between storylines flows easily for the reader.
A wonderfully enjoyable series opener.Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780525619994
Page Count: 624
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
