A bonkers fantasy that retains a sweetly human center.
In this fantasy adventure, a young woman explores her true potential while aiding a thief with otherworldly powers.
Madarena Rua, who is “young enough to be tried as a juvenile,” can’t sleep. Despite her father’s snoring, she hears flower pots breaking in the garden. From the doorway, she sees what must be a cat—yet it’s walking on hind legs. She chases it into the bushes only to discover that her quarry is a small, bald man. His name is Apophax, and he seems grateful for help getting out of the bushes. Madarena assumes she’s dreaming. When Apophax asks where a nearby cemetery is, she walks him there. He lends her his coat of hedgehog quills to keep her warm. Even more strangely, he then begins to fade away into the moonlight. As she tries to remove the coat, a creature that looks like a living statue of Anubis approaches. It says: “Apophax. You have broken the laws of Triskadeka Fair.” The dog-headed enforcer then takes her up a stairway of light to a court that’s bound to find her guilty. So begins Madarena’s entanglement with the trickster Apophax, who has a plan to steal the Aoede statuette from the Night Mayor of Triskadeka Fair. Once the Moirai Sisters Clothiers dresses Madarena in “Potential,” her real adventure kicks into gear. Burnett harbors a deep love for the absurd, using his imaginative skills to the hilt, as did L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Madarena’s ability to drive her own story begins when she’s in prison and draws a face in chalk on the floor. She then convinces the talking cell to release her. Such unexpected cleverness continues to gush like a geyser as the tale proceeds. The author’s appealing hero loves the dictionary and has a “deep fear of ennui,” which produces lots of wordplay. The Thanatons, for example—named after the Greek god of death—are a race of monsters that includes zombies and wights. Trying to find the person or thing that is named Aoede gives emotional stakes to a narrative that might have easily drowned in silliness. Madarena’s hatred of boredom could provide fuel for a sequel exploring the “quaquaverse.”
A bonkers fantasy that retains a sweetly human center.Pub Date: April 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7346642-2-5
Page Count: 226
Publisher: South Window Press
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A delightful, genre-defying debut.
Historical horror? Dark fantasy? Queer romance? All of the above!
“I was hundreds of years old before I ever met him, but that day we were both young.” While visiting his Florence offices in 2013, attorney Sebastian Grave unearths a bloodstained lambskin glove that belonged to a past lover—a man he’d met in the 18th century. Nestled within this frame narrative is a tale of desire, werewolves, and the French Revolution. In telling his story, Sebastian introduces Sarmodel, the demon with whom he shares a body, and a succubus named Livia contributes chapters in which Joan of Arc, her notorious ally Gilles de Rais, and the archangel Michael all make appearances. First-time novelist Sullivan wields the tools of multiple genres deftly, but what really makes this book special is its central character. Sebastian has powerful magic at his disposal, but he’s also human enough to fall hard for a hot young nobleman. When Sebastian goes hunting for the Beast of Gévaudan, he’s not looking for adventure. The first time, it’s because he can’t resist Antoine Avenel d’Ocerne. The second time, it’s because he dreams of a reunion with his love—even though he knows this is a hopeless wish against the advice of Sarmodel. Using Sebastian as a narrator keeps things light, in part because he has a droll, contemporary voice and in part because it makes the worldbuilding feel natural. There are footnotes, but there are no infodumps. The fact that Sebastian doesn’t know exactly what he is sets the tone for storytelling that leaves a great deal unexplained while providing enough detail to keep the reader engaged. Deploying Sarmodel as a sort of alter ego and allowing Livia to offer her own perspective on Sebastian also adds both depth and charm.
A delightful, genre-defying debut.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9781250362766
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
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
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