A grand epic that delivers exceptional characters, magic, and romance.
A young woman in a convent falls for an elf in a world rife with fiendish sorcerers in this debut fantasy.
Nineteen-year-old Kalea Thridmill, a novice vestal in the Hallowill convent, is devoted to the One Creator. One day, she witnesses residents of the town of Tintilly attacking an elven thief. On the Kaihals continent, elves are prohibited from most places outside of the elven country of Norr, though this mob punishment is severe. Kalea helps him escape but the elf, Dorhen Sufferborn, has no home to return to. Sixteen years ago, his father, Daghahen, seemingly murdered his mother, and fairy Arius Medallus has acted as Dorhen’s surrogate father. Kalea’s religion makes her wary of the elf’s physical attraction to her, especially because it’s mutual. While Dorhen sticks close to the convent and Kalea, Daghahen searches for a way to kill his hated twin brother, Lamrhath, kingsorcerer of the Ilbith faction. This group of sorcerers ultimately attacks the Hallowill convent and abducts the novices while Dorhen disappears. Luckily, Kalea was not at the convent during the assault. As she believes a mysterious sword will lead her to her elf, she hunts for this weapon that Daghahen stole from his brother long ago. Hartcarver undoubtedly aims her fantasy series opener at adult readers, with concepts like Lamrhath’s unquenchable lust and instances of men forcing themselves on women. But the author loads her tale with ingredients that genre fans will savor, from pixies and magic spells to romance and strange, unknown lands. The story’s swift pace comes courtesy of myriad subplots and characters, including Gaije, an elf from a clan in Norr, and Chandran, a sorcerer Lamrhath sends to recover his sword. Despite the final act introducing additional players and clearly setting up a sequel, there’s still some resolution before the cliffhanger ending. The proficient author also provides illustrations—stark, boldly lined renditions of notable scenes, such as Kalea and Dorhen’s first meeting.
A grand epic that delivers exceptional characters, magic, and romance.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9982104-5-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Dorwik Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2020
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
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
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