A visceral fantasy series opener that ultimately squanders an intriguing premise.
A god strives for cosmic and familial balance in this fantasy series starter.
Elysium is the throne planet where the angelic Order dwells—a group that seeks to guide mortals to enlightenment. Sitting upon the throne is El, the Almighty, whom the goddess Aphrodite calls “Big Cranky.” He’s rebooted the universe numerous times in an attempt to create balance between good and evil. His angelic House includes his son, Lucifer; his daughter, Calliope; and Lucifer’s wife, Lilith. When sentient life is mysteriously eradicated from six planets, El sends warriors Gabriel and Muerte to investigate. They encounter Cthulhu, the Tentacle King, and his army of shape-shifting minions; he’s been devouring souls to take revenge on El for a past betrayal. Lilith, meanwhile, has a vision in which Lucifer defeats his father for the throne. Members of the House of Cronus also covet power, including Poseidon, who was recently rejected by his wife, Posedia. As the angels take to the battlefield against Cthulhu, Poseidon and his father, Cronus, decide to stir up further chaos. El decides to personally deal with the Tentacle King, but doing so ages him noticeably; he steps aside to rest, allowing Lucifer to lead. Pyne paints his generational saga of deities in broad emotional strokes, mimicking tales from Greek and Norse mythology. The notion of placing many of humanity’s gods into a single epic is ripe with potential, and the novel’s first section builds great momentum toward a showdown with Cthulhu. Its often wry tone is enjoyable, as when El tells Lucifer, “I'll spank you over my knee, then flip you into Hell.” However, Pyne switches from grand to personal stakes abruptly, giving play to violent relationships (such as that between Calliope and Poseidon) and checking in with newly created humankind in short episodes. Various plot threads showcase familiar secondary characters, such as Apollo and Hercules, but they add to a sense of sprawl, dissipating the urgency established earlier in the work. The conclusion promises further confrontations in a sequel. Black-and-white illustrations by Spooner effectively add to the grimness of the proceedings.
A visceral fantasy series opener that ultimately squanders an intriguing premise.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-77739-551-3
Page Count: 518
Publisher: ISBN CANADA
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
A freewheeling, action-packed fantasy with a dash of romance.
Kova offers a fantasy novel set beyond the Nightgale Mountains in the walled fortress of Vinguard where citizens live in fear of the next deadly dragon attack.
Vinguard’s residents are always on guard against the threat of dragons, but they must watch more than just the skies. Living among them, hiding in plain sight, are the “dragon cursed”—people who, at any moment, may transform into terrifying winged beasts and destroy the city from within. For most of Isola Thaz’s life, she’s been told she’s the reincarnated savior of Vinguard. But just as she begins to suspect that she may be dragon cursed, she’s tossed into Vinguard’s Tribunal—a contest in which every 18-year-old competes in tests of skill and might to separate loyal citizens from the dragon cursed. As she’s sequestered for this rite of passage, Isola hesitantly allies herself with a handsome fellow competitor named Lucan. However, as the teens face such trials as fire-breathing automatons (“The silver beast comes to life with a swing. Its claws shear through the dim light”), starvation, and actual dragons while unarmed, Isola begins to feel that Vinguard’s traditions come at a cost that’s too steep. Meanwhile, Vicar Darius, Lucan’s father and the leader of Vinguard’s shadowy theocracy, the Creed, is desperate to take Isola’s powers for himself—and, to that end, he puts her into increasingly tortuous situations. However, neither he, nor Isola’s teenage rivals, are very compelling antagonists; instead, they come across as caricatures of cruelty. Still, the novel is fast-paced and action-oriented with a punchy prose that prioritizes movement over fantasy aesthetics. A sometimes-fraught romance between Isola and Lucan slowly blooms, but Isola’s relationship with her family forms the true emotional core of the narrative. Although the worldbuilding in fairly simple, the story sets up a massive mystery that promises big payoffs in a potential future installment.
A freewheeling, action-packed fantasy with a dash of romance.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781649377838
Page Count: 448
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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