Well-dressed, sure, but underneath, it’s the same old, same old.
A new fantasy series kicks off with a coming-of-age yarn, from the popular author of Red Country (2012, etc.).
Among the royalty of Gettland, only strong, fearless, cold-eyed warriors have value. So Prince Yarvi, born with a withered hand, had only one option: to train as a minister (counselor). After years studying under Mother Gundring—luckily, he’s a more-than-capable apprentice—Yarvi is ready to take the ministry’s test when news arrives that his father and elder brother have been treacherously murdered by neighboring rival King Grom-gil-Gorm. While Yarvi’s uncle Odem offers sad encouragement, his mother, Laithlin, master of the treasury and expert business negotiator, remains her usual supercilious self. With no alternative, Yarvi must take the Black Chair and swear an oath to avenge his father’s death. So, donning unfamiliar armor and carrying weapons he can barely lift, he leads a raid against Grom-gil-Gorm—only to be betrayed by those around him. Rather than accept death meekly, he leaps into the Shattered Sea. He survives, only to be captured and sold as a galley slave. Again, he must endure cruelty, enormous hardship and tests of his mettle. Somehow he must use his wits and knowledge to escape enslavement, avenge his father and regain the throne he never expected or wanted. There will be, of course, surprises along the way. To fantasy regulars, this backdrop will sound familiar, with the few embellishments (some elf-ruins and artifacts, an ancient war of the gods) largely irrelevant. The story is well-handled, the characters have personalities, and the plot moves briskly and plausibly, but nothing stands out or grabs the attention; it's somewhat reminiscent of Dave Duncan but without the originality and swagger.
Well-dressed, sure, but underneath, it’s the same old, same old.Pub Date: July 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8041-7832-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
