An entertaining, kinetic supernatural tale with surprises and a genial hero.
A college student’s journey to see his romantic interest sends him on a terrifying, otherworldly detour in this dark fantasy.
This may be the last summer break for San Diegan Martin Brown, who plans to graduate from college next year and start his career. Having just lost his prospective summer job, he takes friends’ advice and sees a woman at a Los Angeles production company. This ultimately puts Martin in front of Chloë Setreal, who works at Alienopolis, a company specializing in fantasy books and games. Martin instantly falls for Chloë, and, it seems, the feeling is mutual. So he’s excited when Chloë later calls him for a job interview—mostly for the chance to see her again. Unfortunately, car trouble strands Martin in San Diego in the midst of a severe rainstorm. And that’s only the start of his mishaps. Seeking shelter or access to a phone (as his cell rarely has a signal), he finds himself entangled with everything from crazed murderers to vampires and maybe aliens as well. As authorities eye Martin for a serious crime and someone steals his ID, he desperately tries making it to Chloë, preferably alive. Argo excels at pacing, as his story begins leisurely and becomes increasingly frantic and unpredictable. By the novel’s latter half, some of these seemingly random events connect. This sparks a mere hint of something much larger unfolding, but the author wisely keeps it simple and doesn’t distract from Martin’s purpose. While the protagonist is certainly sympathetic, readers learn very little about Chloë other than her attractive physical details. As a consequence, signs of romance, even Martin’s daydreaming of their potential time together, aren’t convincing. Still, Martin traverses a hellish underworld so startling that reaching Chloë is a goal worth cheering for.
An entertaining, kinetic supernatural tale with surprises and a genial hero. (dedication, acknowledgement)Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-0-7433-2048-1
Page Count: -
Publisher: Clocktower Books
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2020
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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