An extraordinary cast of otherworldly heroes fuels this ongoing saga.
Magic-wielding teen girls act as divine vessels while fighting off the bad guys in Owens’ fantasy sequel.
Not long ago, Annabelle, a privateer in the world of the Seven Kingdoms, learned that she’s an avatar for the Goddess of Chaos. She and fellow avatars Sophie, Regina, and Lisa have each met their respective goddesses in visions; the girls’ purpose is to carry out divine will on Earth with aid from Brother Marcus, who’s part of an Order that protects avatars. They travel aboard the Stormfang, which comes with a captain and a crew. The avatars travel to the Kingdom of Verdantia, where Lisa reunites with her governor father and wealthy family, who are decidedly skeptical about the girls’ connections to goddesses. Meanwhile, assassins have targeted Sophie and Annabelle, and members of Regina’s family have gone missing. Marcus is certain “the conspiracy” is behind all or most of these events, but he can’t work out exactly what the mysterious organization’s endgame is. (“The conspiracy’s actions were troubling. It was clear they had targeted both Miss Sophie and Miss Annabelle, either for capture or assassination. But what about Lisa?”) Owens’ sophomore series installment shows evolution among the girls, who’ve gone from butting heads to genuinely caring for one another. They have unique qualities, from their unusual hair and eye colors to their individual magical abilities (unlike the others, Nexus Mage Regina can learn and wield any magic system she chooses). The narrative moves at a leisurely pace once the Stormfang docks at Verdantia, though it’s fun to watch the avatars’ various reactions to the kingdom’s ultraconservative citizens (the sheriff, in particular, irks Lisa). The latter half of the story picks up considerable steam as the ship hits the ocean waters again and the crew’s troubles at sea spawn exhilarating sequences. Readers encounter assorted villains, including some who return from the preceding book, and a surprising ally or two. Copious questions remain unanswered by the end, leaving readers to anticipate further books and adventures.
An extraordinary cast of otherworldly heroes fuels this ongoing saga.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2025
ISBN: 9798993224046
Page Count: 427
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in this frightful medieval epic about an orphan girl with visionary powers in plague-devastated France.
The year is 1348. The conflict between France and England is nothing compared to the all-out war building between good angels and fallen ones for control of heaven (though a scene in which soldiers are massacred by a rainbow of arrows is pretty horrific). Among mortals, only the girl, Delphine, knows of the cataclysm to come. Angels speak to her, issuing warnings—and a command to run. A pack of thieves is about to carry her off and rape her when she is saved by a disgraced knight, Thomas, with whom she teams on a march across the parched landscape. Survivors desperate for food have made donkey a delicacy and don't mind eating human flesh. The few healthy people left lock themselves in, not wanting to risk contact with strangers, no matter how dire the strangers' needs. To venture out at night is suicidal: Horrific forces swirl about, ravaging living forms. Lethal black clouds, tentacled water creatures and assorted monsters are comfortable in the daylight hours as well. The knight and a third fellow journeyer, a priest, have difficulty believing Delphine's visions are real, but with oblivion lurking in every shadow, they don't have any choice but to trust her. The question becomes, can she trust herself? Buehlman, who drew upon his love of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in his acclaimed Southern horror novel, Those Across the River (2011), slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn't scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face of unspeakable horrors. The power of suggestion is the author's strong suit, along with first-rate storytelling talent.
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937007-86-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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