Die-hard fantasy fans will probably enjoy this uneven tale more than general readers.
A sword-and-sorcery novel that features alternative universes, characters in medieval-esque garb, magic, and heroic, cataclysmic struggles.
The hero for most of the book is Aeven Lionrose, though some chapters feature August Lor’odin and Arma Lionrose, his supposed siblings. Aeven, a knight-turned-mercenary, is on the trail of a thief named Aneiyerin for a simple contract job. But Aneiyerin turns out to be Secladrin Gauge, a very bad piece of work indeed, and the plot, as they say, thickens. Gauge carried out the unjust hanging of Aeven’s putative father, Sir Anthrim, and as a result, it turns out that the whole future of the planet hangs in the balance—and the only warriors who can save the planet are Aeven and his doughty band. Even though they pick up stalwart allies as they slog on with their quest, they’re still outnumbered. (Readers may think of Star Wars, with its similarly impossible odds.) There once was a race called the Aor’sii, a virtuous people, but that was in the past, and the characters now deal with a fallen world, a common theme in sword-and-sorcery books (and in all epic literature). Now the heroes must defeat the evil enemies and safeguard the infant Princess Lacretia, who will carry on the line when justice is restored and the world set aright. During all of this, Scott offers timequakes, magic orbs (“Sky’UnGrael”) that can harness the energies of the cosmos, and other devices beyond imagining. In this novel, his first outing, he shows a thorough understanding of the genre. The characters are appropriately motivated, and there are a slew of them by book’s end; it’s epic, for sure. He also tries hard to make his characters appealing and often succeeds. However, the prose is simply not up to snuff, with poor word choice (including an overuse of the word “very”), clichés, and relentless, overheated drama. Readers may sometimes find themselves too overwhelmed by characters, devices, and back story to keep things straight.
Die-hard fantasy fans will probably enjoy this uneven tale more than general readers.Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-68164-808-8
Page Count: 476
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A tantalizing, otherworldy adventure with imagination that burns like fire.
The third installment of this fantasy series (The Bone Season, 2013; The Mime Order, 2015) expands the reaches of the fight against Scion far beyond London.
Paige Mahoney, though only 19, serves as the Underqueen of the Mime Order. She's the leader of the Unnatural community in London, a city serving under the ever more militaristic Scion, whose government is based on ridding the streets of "enemy" clairvoyants. But Paige knows the truth about Scion's roots—that an Unnatural and immortal race called the Rephaim, who come from the Netherworld, forced Scion into existence to gain control over the growing human clairvoyant community. Scion’s hatred of clairvoyants now runs so deep that Paige is forced to consider moving her entire syndicate into hiding while she aims to stop Scion's next attack: there are rumors that Senshield, a scanner able to detect certain levels of clairvoyance, is going portable. Which means no Unnatural citizen is safe—their safe houses, their back-alley routes, are all at risk of detection. Paige’s main enemy this time around is Hildred Vance, mastermind of Scion’s military branch, ScionIDE. Vance creates terror by anticipating her opponent’s next moves, so with each step that Paige and her team take to dismantle Senshield, Vance is hovering nearby to toy with Paige’s will. Luckily, Paige is never separated for long from her Rephaite ally, Warden, as his presence is grounding. But their growing relationship, strengthened by their connection to the spirit world, takes a back seat to the constant, fast-paced action. The mesmerizing qualities of this series—insight into the different orders of clairvoyance as well as the intricately imagined details of Paige’s “dreamwalking” gift, with which she is able to enter others’ minds—fade to the background as this seven-part series climbs to its highest point of tension. Shannon’s world begins to feel more generically dystopian, but as Paige fights to locate and understand the spiritual energy powering Senshield, it is never less than captivating.
A tantalizing, otherworldy adventure with imagination that burns like fire.Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63286-624-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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