An enthralling epic of mortals, immortals, and endless battles.
In Feuerstack’s debut fantasy series-starter, angels and demons wage war for millennia to win dominance over Earth.
Brothers God and Satan, after conquering the Titans together, now fight each other for control of the overlapping Celestial and Mortal Realms. This epic novel tells a story of thousands of years on Earth, primarily through the lives of angel Zinc and demon Schizophrenia, or “Schitz.” They’re entirely different types of students at their respective celestial schools: Schitz struggles to do well, unlike Zinc, who’s the teacher’s pet. However, in combat, the two are equally formidable. Per God and Satan’s signed agreement, angels and demons can only battle where mortals are also at war—or immersed in “war-like violence.” The celestial beings possess humans’ bodies when they fight; as such, Zinc and Schitz join others of their kind in conflicts throughout the world and its history. Not all enemies, however, are on opposing sides; Zinc and Schitz also suffer treachery and betrayals from within their own ranks. Despite this novel’s massive scope, Feuerstack wisely simplifies the plot; throughout, celestial beings are either fighting or preparing to do so. At the same time, he makes sure that Zinc and Schitz are fully developed characters, who experience love and grief. They do atrocious things, as well, and not just when they’re at war. Although the author takes his subject matter seriously, the cast boasts gleefully flashy character names; most angels are named for chemical elements, such as Uranium, and demons are named after a signature disease or disorder, which they’re each responsible for cultivating among humans, such as Mumps or Vertigo. This richly historical narrative takes readers from the land of the Babylonians to the New World, but it’s nowhere near completion in this volume, which leaves plenty of character secrets to be unveiled in a sequel. Tedmon’s stellar artwork mostly comprises razor-sharp black-and-white illustrations of weaponry, though her sublime portraits of characters, such as angel Hydrogen, effectively grace full pages.
An enthralling epic of mortals, immortals, and endless battles.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-956019-27-8
Page Count: 588
Publisher: DartFrog Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A fantastic duology ender.
“Hope is as slippery as memory.”
In the aftermath of a devastating betrayal by the rebellious Whispers, Renata Convida—a magic wielder with the power to steal memories—chooses to leave everything behind to travel alongside the infamous Prince Castian, her oldest friend and her greatest enemy. Together they go in search of the Knife of Memory, a mystical weapon they hope will be the answer to defeating Castian’s father, the tyrannical King Fernando, and bringing peace to their kingdom, which has been torn apart by the oppression of Renata’s people, the magical Moria. The more the duo traverse the world, over land and across seas, making enemies and friends along the way, the more they realize that the bonds between history and memory are intrinsically connected but hopelessly severed. As Renata’s mental clarity starts to fall apart under the weight of so many minds whose memories she has stolen, her turmoil increases: If she loses herself, can she accomplish what needs to be done to save her people? Adventure, romance, and magic entwine in this fierce sequel infused with assured writing, lovable characters, and a taut plot that merges multiple threads about accountability, surviving trauma, and building a new life as well as a new nation. A breathtakingly romantic plotline that speaks of survival, forgiveness, and friendship is the cherry on top of a story full of brown-skinned people in a world inspired by Spain.
A fantastic duology ender. (map) (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5603-4
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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