A hero travels the darkest roads in this effectively unsettling fantasy series opener.
This dark fantasy debut thrusts a young knight into an unforgiving world of monsters, politics, and racial tension.
In the kingdom of Drussdell, Mario Deschamps has just graduated from Knight College. He must now complete his first deed to cement his place in the royal order. But the long shadow of his father, Sir Pablo Deschamps, haunts him. Five years ago, Pablo ended the Elven Uprising at the behest of King Dryden III of Drussdell. Then Pablo disappeared. Though Mario’s best friend, Tiberius, is half elf, he’s yet to experience the depth of hatred from a humanity that treats elves like second-class citizens. On the road, Mario finds the town of Eulway devastated by plague and gripped by the Golden Sun cult, which maintains that humanity is greater than all of the nonhuman races. With a local guard named Hamish, Mario proceeds through the cursed Eeragwia forest. After battling a plant creature, Mario and Hamish find themselves at the mercy of an enclave of elves. Deidre, a ferocious female archer, escorts them from the hidden village. But when the group discovers bandits selling elf girls into slavery, Deidre vows to help track them down. Meanwhile, Emperor Vesuvius Vladimir Valerius plans to consolidate power by pitting kingdoms against one another. Lukas Aurelius, his best spy, is there to help. Rettger churns up the knotty roots of racial tension and puts his characters through an emotional wringer in this first installment of a fantasy series. Mario begins his quest fresh-faced and naïve. Battle scars and nightmares featuring those he has slain soon make him doubt the knightly virtues of honesty, integrity, loyalty, and bravery. Creatures like wyverns and the hideous “obzen” add horror flourishes to the story. Even vampires arrive in all their finery and civilized blood-draining to make the murdering, raping humans seem more awful. Along with a glowing penchant for gore, the author consistently provides excellent reveals for characters who aren’t what they seem. But he does dispatch some players rather quickly. The whispering voice that Mario occasionally hears will tantalize readers until the last paragraphs, and the finale itself ensures a satisfyingly chaotic sequel.
A hero travels the darkest roads in this effectively unsettling fantasy series opener. (maps)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5255-8923-2
Page Count: 300
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A masterful debut from a must-read new voice in fantasy.
Twin princesses—one fated to become a queen, the other a martyr—find themselves caught up in an unexpected battle of dark magic and ancient gods.
Four hundred years ago, a Valleydan princess facing a loveless betrothal sought refuge in the Wilderwood with her lover, the Wolf. The legendary Five Kings—including her father and her husband-to-be—pursued them only to be trapped in the Wilderwood. Now, according to legend, the only hope of restoring the Five Kings to power lies in the ritual sacrifice of every Second Daughter born to Valleyda's queen. There hasn't been a second daughter for 100 years—until now. On her 20th birthday, Redarys accepts her fate and walks into the Wilderwood to become the Wolf's next victim only to find that the stories she grew up on were lies. The handsome man who lives in a crumbling castle deep in the forest is not the original Wolf but his son, and he wants nothing to do with Red or her sacrifice. Afraid of her wild magic abilities and the danger they pose to her sister, Neverah, Red refuses to leave the Wilderwood. Instead, she clings to the new Wolf, Eammon, who will do whatever it takes to protect her from the grisly fate of the other Second Daughters. Meanwhile, in the Valleydan capital, Neve's desperation to bring her sister home sets her on a path that may spell disaster for Red, Eammon, and the Wilderwood itself. Whitten weaves a captivating tale in this debut, in which even secondary characters come to feel like old friends. The novel seamlessly blends "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Beauty and the Beast" into an un-put-down-able fairy tale that traces the boundaries of duty, love, and loss.
A masterful debut from a must-read new voice in fantasy.Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-59278-9
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
Absolutely superb.
Leaders of Britain’s abolitionist movement join forces with a veteran of the Haitian revolution to push back Napoleon’s deadly forces in Parry’s second Shadow Histories novel.
Napoléon Bonaparte isn’t a particularly talented magician, but his potential as a general and conqueror attracts the attention of the same mysterious figure who manipulated Robespierre to set off the Reign of Terror in A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (2020). When Bonaparte summons a kraken to serve the French navy and later finds a dragon hidden in the sands of Egypt, it’s only a matter of time before France and Europe fall at his feet. William Pitt, meanwhile, is growing weaker by the day as he works to keep a deadly and dangerous magical secret from his enemies. William Wilberforce continues to fight for abolition but is stymied at every turn. Fina uses her magic to help Toussaint Louverture keep hold of Saint-Domingue, but she eventually makes the journey to London and meets Pitt and Wilberforce. With a first-rate blend of political drama and magic battle–action, Parry manages to inject tension and stakes into a historical drama where average readers will know at least the broad strokes of the ending. Effortlessly switching from France to England to Egypt to Saint-Domingue, Parry folds in show-stopping new characters like Kate Dove, a commoner weather mage dead-set on avenging her brother’s death by kraken, and Lady Hester Stanhope, who would become one of the most famous explorers of the 19th century. When the three main characters, Fina, Pitt, and Wilberforce, finally face off with the stranger, the resulting conflict brings the series’ meditations on idealism, the fight for human rights, and the necessary limits of institutional power to a head.
Absolutely superb.Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-45915-0
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Redhook/Orbit
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
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