A jovial, action-oriented tale that has much to say about modern life in the United States.
This fantasy series starter tells of a band of heroes trying to prevent the return of a vanquished deity.
The orphan Aleister is the most talented student of magic in the kingdom of Mystas. One day, as the High Council of Wizardry upbraids him for destroying a valuable golem, Princess Silveron of Lamoria appears for a visit. After the council privately meets with Silveron, they tell Aleister that his punishment is to return with her and serve under King Aldon. Aleister’s roommate, Brayden, shares the rumor that the royal adviser, Delmar, may be manipulating the king. In the Lamorian capital of Boerune, Aleister joins a mission sparked by a letter from the powerful—yet supposedly mythical—Chronomancer. Alongside Cameron, a “fallen paladin of Alhaszi”; Lady Ardath, a Samidin priestess; and Droma, a Moravian worshiper of lawlessness, Aleister must find four missing pieces of the god Rael. Speed is essential because other adventurers also hunt for the pieces, hoping that the reassembled Rael will reward them with power. As Cameron and Droma explain, Rael will eliminate all other gods upon his return—and those gods comprise the Shimmering, a force field that currently protects the various kingdoms of Zarethea from one another. Aleister and his band thus plan to destroy the artifacts, lest the world plunge into war. Meadows mixes traditional fantasy elements, such as monsters and spellcasting, with politics in this series opener. Alethea, a traveling lute player who isn’t quite what she seems, stars in a framing sequence that depicts Zarethea as a world on the edge of chaos. Each hero represents an outlook that’s typical of their kingdom and deity; Droma, for example, is a priest of Xansees, the god of Freedom, while Cameron’s Alhaszi is the god of Order. Meadows offers pointed, if on-the-nose, critiques of American politics in lines such as “The government is divided among elected officials from one of two parties; all more interested in furtherin’ their own personal agendas...than actually helpin’ people.” Overall, the tone is light until the heroes come together in the final third of the novel, battling in the strange city of Cockaigne. A closing revelation about the lute player will guide readers toward the planned second volume.
A jovial, action-oriented tale that has much to say about modern life in the United States.Pub Date: Dec. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-67189-389-4
Page Count: 217
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PROFILES
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
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
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