Fallon brings a fair quota of wit and a healthy dose of realism to rather predictable material: nothing earthshaking, but...
Another Australian fantasy import from Tor, which seems to have cornered the market.
The story’s set in a typical quasi-medieval world, with the twist that the rulers of the central nation of Medalon have expelled all worshipers of the pagan gods and now run the state on rational, atheist principles. Fallon follows three main characters: R’shiel is a Probate of the Sisters of the Blade, the group from which Medalon’s governing council, the Quorum, is drawn; her older half-brother, Tarja, is a captain in the Defenders, battle-tested and canny. Both are independent, and often at odds with their domineering mother Joyhinia, a leading member of the Quorum. The third major presence is Brak, a half- human descendent of the legendary Harshini, a magical race expelled from Medalon. When the gods ask Brak to find the mysterious “demon child,” a half-human destined to lead the fight against the evil god Xaphista, the trail leads him inevitably to the two young Medalonian rebels—who, by the time of his arrival, have joined forces with peasants fighting against Joyhinia’s attempt to enforce the ban on religion. Several adventures and reverses ensue. R’shiel and Tarja are captured, tortured, imprisoned, rescued, and betrayed in a whirlwind plot that leaves little time for reflection. Brak manages to enlist various of the gods (for whom he has little respect, knowing them all too intimately) to the cause of the young atheists; the demon child’s identity is revealed; the forces of Xaphista are for the nonce defeated; and the stage is set for the two likable young Medalonians to set forth again in the next installment.
Fallon brings a fair quota of wit and a healthy dose of realism to rather predictable material: nothing earthshaking, but engaging overall.Pub Date: May 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-765-30986-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2004
A promising page-turner from a poised newcomer who’s well worth keeping tabs on.
This doorstopper epic fantasy and trilogy opener was originally self-published in 2014.
The details that give this ingeniously plotted yarn its backbone emerge gradually—and are not always entirely clear. Twenty years ago, a war swept away and annihilated the tyrannical Augurs when their formidable magic inexplicably faltered. Their servants, the Gifted, whose lesser magic derives from Essence (Islington has an irritating habit of capitalizing things), were forcibly constrained to obey the Four Tenets, meaning they can no longer use their magic to cause harm even in self-defense. At a school-cum-sanctuary-cum-prison for the Gifted, three 16-year-old friends, Davian, Wirr, and Asha, face their final tests. Though an excellent student, Davian cannot use Essence and faces a cruel exile. He decides to abscond. Wirr believes Davian’s an Augur whose higher-order magic blocks his ability to channel Essence, and he insists on joining him. Ilseth Tenvar, a seemingly sympathetic Elder, gives Davian a mysterious magic box to guide his progress. The next morning Asha wakes to a nightmare of her own. On the road Davian encounters the strange, scarred Gifted Taeris Sarr, who three years ago saved his life (Davian doesn’t remember the incident) and supposedly was executed for his pains. In the far north an ancient evil stirs, while in a related development, Caeden wakes in a forest to find himself covered in blood and with no memory of anything. So, in time-honored fashion, nobody is what they seem to be, everybody has a secret agenda, and the key players all lack pivotal memories. And while there’s nothing much new here, Islington’s natural storytelling ability provides incessant plot twists and maintains a relentless pace. The characters have well-rounded personalities and don’t make decisions or errors merely to advance the plot, even if they all sound and act the same youngish age.
A promising page-turner from a poised newcomer who’s well worth keeping tabs on.Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-27409-8
Page Count: 704
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A somewhat fragmentary nocturnal shadows Jim Nightshade and his friend Will Halloway, born just before and just after midnight on the 31st of October, as they walk the thin line between real and imaginary worlds. A carnival (evil) comes to town with its calliope, merry-go-round and mirror maze, and in its distortion, the funeral march is played backwards, their teacher's nephew seems to assume the identity of the carnival's Mr. Cooger. The Illustrated Man (an earlier Bradbury title) doubles as Mr. Dark. comes for the boys and Jim almost does; and there are other spectres in this freakshow of the mind, The Witch, The Dwarf, etc., before faith casts out all these fears which the carnival has exploited... The allusions (the October country, the autumn people, etc.) as well as the concerns of previous books will be familiar to Bradbury's readers as once again this conjurer limns a haunted landscape in an allegory of good and evil. Definitely for all admirers.
Pub Date: June 15, 1962
ISBN: 0380977273
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1962
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