A measured but absorbing tale of grit, camaraderie, and preternatural abilities.
Victor’s first installment of a planned fantasy series tells a tale of superpowered 20-somethings in a competition to become royalty in a faraway land.
Friends Eibo, Kiru, Janeen, and Yahri left their loved ones behind to live and compete for the posts of king or queen of the country of Ehre. There’s already trouble at the orientation when a fight breaks out involving some other entrant; also, Yahri is a nowhere to be found, and one of the three remaining friends is accused of a crime. In order for Eibo and the others to make it to Induction, a mere few days away, and earn a necessary sponsorship, they’ll have to track down the perpetually late Yahri and survive encounters with hostile fellow entrants, such as the Sprague brothers. They have skills and special abilities that allow them to excel at one particularly crucial competition: Kiru, for example, can control wind, and Janeen is psychic. But after they stumble onto a sinister plan someone has brewing for the competition, they realize they’re all in unavoidable danger. This book’s likable cast of Black characters speaks in a distinctive dialect that the author describes as a mix of “American English, African American Vernacular English, Haitian Kreyol, and French”; it pairs sublimely with Victor’s lyrical prose describing trees “opting for suits of red, orange scarves, and bright yellow garments” and a post-storm aroma as “earthy, fresh, and tinged with a comforting familiarity.” Despite its succinct chapters told from various points of view, however, this opening installment moves at a slow pace, with relatively few opportunities for superpowered action. In fact, before the story begins, the friends spent 18 months tackling missions in the wilderness, and readers sadly get only a taste of these apparently death-defying missions. Still, they’re part of a dense, meticulously detailed backstory that sequels may expand upon. The artwork by Fulmore and Ebengho features beautifully muted tones, as in an image of a winding staircase and the silhouetted friends standing abreast.
A measured but absorbing tale of grit, camaraderie, and preternatural abilities.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781954125018
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Tiny Cup Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
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