A propulsive fantasy that brings revenge, raunchiness, and heroism to the forefront.
A singular hero rises to face both militaristic and demonic enemies in this epic fantasy series opener.
In the realm of Hanna, House Conrad rules Baroqia. But Duke Gerun Shiverrig, descended from Baroqia’s original conqueror, insists that Mortimer Conrad sits on a stolen throne. Further, Shiverrig believes that military might can keep the kingdom safer than entangled mercantilism, especially where barbarians are concerned. If court allies can’t help him overthrow Mortimer and House Conrad, then perhaps the sorcerer Maugris Hennerstrum and the Archdevil Sekka will. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Kasai Ch’ou is a monk of the Four Orders studying the mysteries of the Boundless under the Three Masters of Ordu. While Kasai seeks a life of balance, his 18-year-old friend Daku revels in displays of power. The Masters want all students to abide by the teachings of Aetenos, the monk who became a demigod. A prophecy says that Aetenos will return to Hanna as the Ever Hero, wielding a weapon called the Ninziz-zida, a “three-sectioned staff” with “ancient power.” Currently, the demigod is a captive on Gathos, Sekka’s home world. Sekka, inhabiting the form of a human seductress, plans her return to Hanna with the help of Maugris. With war imminent, where will Desdemonia, a Sunnese mage, go to start her new life? Pantanella pours a dark, cinematic foundation in this first volume of his series. Chapters that rotate through the sharply contrasting perspectives of Shiverrig, Kasai, and Sekka (Desdemonia joins the cast later) move the plot along. Vivid prose offers monkish philosophy, as in the line “The Path of Ease will ensnare the undisciplined mind.” The author is equally capable of portraying demonic sex and eerie abominations, such as the envoys of Maugris (“They were physically wrong as if their bodies had been stuffed into human skin a size too small”). Readers won’t have to wait long before war breaks out, and nicely rounded characters, like Daku, get satisfying arcs. Concepts like xindu energy and Sekka’s rivalry with the Red Devil, Zizphander, prove this series can only get wilder.
A propulsive fantasy that brings revenge, raunchiness, and heroism to the forefront. (map)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73560-250-9
Page Count: 518
Publisher: Ever Hero Productions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.
Book 2 of Hearne's latest fantasy trilogy, The Seven Kennings (A Plague of Giants, 2017), set in a multiracial world thrust into turmoil by an invasion of peculiar giants.
In this world, most races have their own particular magical endowment, or “kenning,” though there are downsides to trying to gain the magic (an excellent chance of being killed instead) and using it (rapid aging and death). Most recently discovered is the sixth kenning, whose beneficiaries can talk to and command animals. The story canters along, although with multiple first-person narrators, it's confusing at times. Some characters are familiar, others are new, most of them with their own problems to solve, all somehow caught up in the grand design. To escape her overbearing father and the unreasoning violence his kind represents, fire-giant Olet Kanek leads her followers into the far north, hoping to found a new city where the races and kennings can peacefully coexist. Joining Olet are young Abhinava Khose, discoverer of the sixth kenning, and, later, Koesha Gansu (kenning: air), captain of an all-female crew shipwrecked by deep-sea monsters. Elsewhere, Hanima, who commands hive insects, struggles to free her city from the iron grip of wealthy, callous merchant monarchists. Other threads focus on the Bone Giants, relentless invaders seeking the still-unknown seventh kenning, whose confidence that this can defeat the other six is deeply disturbing. Under Hearne's light touch, these elements mesh perfectly, presenting an inventive, eye-filling panorama; satisfying (and, where appropriate, well-resolved) plotlines; and tensions between the races and their kennings to supply much of the drama.
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-345-54857-3
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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