A compelling, imaginative story about the transformative power of love.
Mayo offers a glimpse into a fictional world in which avian society governs all aspects of the afterlife.
Spizella Andromeda Pusilla Rochelle, known as “Spiz” to her friends, is a sparrow whose species is tasked with the conveyance of souls who haven’t yet crossed over to the world beyond. When Spiz is assigned to retrieve the soul of William Eduardo Compostela Estes, a philosophy professor who died in pursuit of his daughter’s killer, Spiz finds herself emotionally connected to him, to her surprise. Empathizing with William’s desire to avenge his child, yet fearing for the fate of his soul should he succeed, she allows him to remain in the mortal realm and even assumes a human form to assist him. But her growing, mutual love for William has a price, marking her as an enemy of her own avian society and ultimately drawing her into a war between free and enslaved birds. Meanwhile, with every passing moment in the mortal realm, William’s soul grows weaker and threatens to fade away for good. When Spiz is presented with a magical path that could prolong William’s soul-life by giving him part of her own, she faces an impossible decision: protect the person she loves and confine him to her world or risk losing her connection with him to the ravages of time. Mayo’s work is full of heart, and readers will quickly find themselves immersed in its vivid, magical landscape. It also has some clever details, such as the aviaries’ use of famous fast-food arches as the passage between two worlds “because they [are] plentiful.” However, it’s not the differences between the realms of the living world and the avian-centered afterlife but the similarities between them that will resonate with readers. Love, pride, courage, and unity reverberate throughout both worlds, positing that humans aren’t so different from their animal, or even otherworldly, brethren. The tale ends with an inspiring revelation about the future of one of its endearing characters that will leave readers eager for the next installment in the Hidden Aviaries series.
A compelling, imaginative story about the transformative power of love.Pub Date: April 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73-689941-0
Page Count: 292
Publisher: Elwin Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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