A rousing adventure that leads readers into a grim, magic-infused world they won’t want to leave.
A young man’s new life in a small town teems with hardships and magical misadventures in this first fantasy novel of a trilogy.
After Niles and Lyon’s sister, Vyla, dies by suicide after a broken engagement, Niles commits a shocking crime that puts the brothers on the run. They flee their homeland of Lakadia and head south, ultimately stopping in the small town of Singing Cove. But before they get there, Niles befriends Hob, a wolf who’s able to communicate with him telepathically. Both brothers settle in Singing Cove, where Niles quickly falls for Nomya, a reputed witch who has the power of second sight and sells much-desired talismans and sea-charms to fishermen. Things go wrong for Niles, however, when he angers the wrong person and begins using and selling a mind-altering substance. To earn some gold, he joins a group as a professional tracker and hunter, using skills he’s honed during hunts with Hob. Niles’ unpredictable journey puts him in the company of dangerous individuals, including human killers and dark elves. Where that journey leads him is to a place he never thought was possible to reach—and where he may find himself lost. Handforth subtly weaves in common fantasy elements, including spells and mythological beings, while developing his characters: Hob’s bond with Niles feels organic, and Niles readily accepts Nomya for who she is. There’s nothing lighthearted about this opening installment, though, and it delivers one of a handful of violent sequences within the first several pages. Niles is an easy hero to sympathize with, despite his flaws, including an occasional inability to hold his temper. The author’s prose is engaging throughout; a description of a whip, “made from the thick, tough hide of a huge grey monster,” is particularly terrifying: “This vicious thing tears strips of flesh from the bone with even the lightest of strokes.” A startling final-act turn leads to an ending that makes continuing the series a necessity.
A rousing adventure that leads readers into a grim, magic-infused world they won’t want to leave.Pub Date: Oct. 26, 2018
ISBN: 9780993814761
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Psychopomp Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.
A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.
Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378538
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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