A smashing conclusion to an absorbing fantasy series.
In this final installment of Handforth’s fantasy trilogy, a wanderer defends his homeland against invaders.
After years of traveling the world as a vagabond, Nilesis finally back where he started in the land of Lakadia. However, all is not well at home; the late Lakadian king married a Kaalite princess, hoping for an alliance between the two peoples; instead, Kaalita has taken over Lakadia. In the course of his adventures, Niles killed The Baron, a Kaalite noble, so he’s now a wanted man. Now that he’s back in his homeland, he chooses to rid it of its enemy invaders, and he allies himself with several likeminded people to do so, including Simon, a Lakadian Army captain; Polena, a woman he rescues who’s skilled with a blade; and Kindle, a skilled fencer of stolen items who’s also an able horse thief. Niles and company attack bands of Kaalite soldiers and outposts, with hopes of dethroning Lakadia’s current, corrupt king (the late king’s son) and the dowager queen. Along the way, a few people from Niles’ past find their way back to him in unexpected ways. They include the half-elf spy and courier Leaf, who’s the son of two people whom Niles once knew, and Niles’ old acquaintance, Roger, who joins the fight and brings along inventions that seem magical, but are, in fact, merely alarmingly effective explosives. With his companions, and with his trusty enchanted bow Truesight at his side, he’s determined to liberate the land of Lakadia at last.
As with Handforth’s earlier book, A Halo of Vultures (2019), readers who are just joining the series may be perplexed by its many characters and locations, which receive little context. However, unlike the preceding volumes, in which narrator Niles wanders from one place to the next, this one features a more focused narrative, which befits a finale. It’s set predominantly in Lakadia, in which Niles, Simon, and Polena engage in seemingly endless, frenzied rounds of combat with occasional respites: “An oppressive pre-battle tension permeated the atmosphere. In the open market further away several thousand Kaalites sharpened their blades, played cards, and gossiped.” Niles himself remains sympathetic, in part because he’s suffered myriad tragedies. However, this book depicts a more cold-blooded protagonist—one who has ominous, violent dreams and nightmares, as well as visions of his late sister in happier moments. The supporting cast blends new and returning characters, and they frequently get time to shine; Handforth develops Simon’s and Polena’s backstories (highlighting his military background and her secret lover) and introduces a young orphaned girl who can’t remember her name. As the story progresses, signs of the end of the series become apparent; Niles’ advancing years lead to him to consider the idea of settling down and finally retiring Truesight, for example, and several members of the cast meet untimely demises. The author proficiently ties up subplots for a gratifying wrap-up. Overall, Niles’ perilous excursion across a trio of novels makes for a worthy read.
A smashing conclusion to an absorbing fantasy series.Pub Date: March 22, 2020
ISBN: 9781999532703
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Truesight
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
© Copyright 2026 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.
