Readers who share the novel’s views will welcome this apocalypse.
The Jannusches’ novel, the first in the End of Time Chronicles, explores life after the rapture.
The husband and wife authors urge readers to be prepared for what is sure to come: The fulfillment of a biblical prophecy of apocalypse. “It isn’t a matter of if, but a matter of when,” the epigraph states. The novel has a captivating beginning, as Alexander Mancini, aka Lex Baxter, runs from the police in a stolen car. He’s been known to charm his way out of trouble, and after he meets an elderly Irish couple, Dorothy and John O’Malley, he’s ready to keep it up. But just as John is probing Lex’s background, the O’Malleys are “raptured.” The rest of the novel follows Lex and a cast of unique characters as they struggle through the aftermath of what has become known as “the vanishings.” Readers will be intrigued by the characters’ divergent paths that cross amid the post-apocalyptic chaos, while the people of Earth consider their connection to God. The clear but basic prose doesn’t particularly help heighten the story’s suspense or emotional effects as the writing does in, say, the Left Behind series, and when introducing characters, the authors jump a bit too quickly to physical descriptions and piling on back story. The novel also takes a strong political stance: “For the first time ever, a Non-American born, Muslim President had risen to power, on a platform promising change and moving forward in history….[T]he changes the new President planned to bring would ultimately be fatal to the country that he loved so dearly.” (The story takes place just as “the President had started his second term.”) Despite the action and ample suspense, some readers may struggle to reconcile the strong political and religious views of the book, which the authors seem to conflate.
Readers who share the novel’s views will welcome this apocalypse.Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2012
ISBN: 978-1478368144
Page Count: 234
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Dark magic, romance, and divinity.
What do you do when the voice in your head is real?
Lore, Bastian, and Gabe are all still alive following the events in The Foxglove King (2023), despite a ritual meant to take Lore’s life and usher in a new age for the god Apollius. But Lore, determined to live despite—or perhaps because of—her deep and unyielding connection to the magical death force Mortem, is unwilling to be used as a tool. Now that Bastian is no longer prince but Sainted King, Gabe is Priest Exalted, and Lore is the king’s deathwitch, her safety should be secure. The court, however, distrusts Lore and her uncanny powers, and even more dangerous are the gods, leaning ever closer and perhaps not so separate from the world as a thwarted ritual might imply. Bastian has been changing, able to control Spiritum, Mortem’s mirror image, in new and powerful ways, but also acting more erratic and strange. Meanwhile, the voice in Lore’s head is growing louder. To make matters worse, Gabe and Bastian can hardly look at each other, while Lore feels torn between the two of them and in need of both. In the second volume of the Nightshade Crown series, things go from bad to much worse, while a familiar gothic atmosphere looms oppressively around the characters. As Lore strives to keep as many people as safe as possible, others scheme with sinister forces and powerful magic. In a tense and atmospheric installment, Lore moves quickly between heart-pounding romantic encounters and adrenaline-filled moments facing danger and death.
Dark magic, romance, and divinity.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780316435291
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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