A violent fantasy story sure to excite action-oriented readers.
The last of a mighty race of warriors is one kingdom’s last hope in Garrett’s fantasy novel.
The Vultaikans were a great people, feared for their brutality and ruthlessness across the fantastical realm of Straifus. Now, all that is left of them is Kurzhon, known as the Life-Taker, who travels from place to place with only a desire for violence and his horse for company. Kurzhon discovers that he has been marked by a wizard named Zakariah; while this enrages him, he has no choice but to follow the wizard’s demands. When he first meets Zakariah, he is told of surviving Vultaikan artifacts, which Kurzhon can hardly believe; he had closed the mountain gate to Vultaika himself. If he wishes to retrieve the artefacts, he must travel to Zakariah’s kingdom of Resslayke. Unbeknownst to him, there is more at play than souvenirs from his homeland: The kingdom of Resslayke plans to use him in their war against the neighboring country of New Shenjen. Kurzhon may be one of the strongest in the land, but he’s made many enemies, and now they’re knocking at the front gate. The author has written an exciting fantasy yarn full of adventure—however, much of the violence, which is plentiful, feels repetitive and extraneous. The scenes in which Kurzhon refrains from overpowering and killing anyone he happens to come across are compelling and entertaining. While the plot is a slow boil, there is mature humor throughout the narrative and a range of other colorful characters to act as foils to Kurzhon’s ferocity (“ ‘Rolden…you…are a…FOOL,’ said Kurzhon, through gritted teeth, ‘but NOT…a fool…that is worth killing.’ Rolden looked up, now with some hope in his eyes. ‘Does this mean you’ll help us—’ ‘NO!’ Kurzhon bellowed”). Readers who enjoy stories heavy on combat will find this to be a fun read.
A violent fantasy story sure to excite action-oriented readers.Pub Date: June 25, 2021
ISBN: 9798510842678
Page Count: 569
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
A freewheeling, action-packed fantasy with a dash of romance.
Kova offers a fantasy novel set beyond the Nightgale Mountains in the walled fortress of Vinguard where citizens live in fear of the next deadly dragon attack.
Vinguard’s residents are always on guard against the threat of dragons, but they must watch more than just the skies. Living among them, hiding in plain sight, are the “dragon cursed”—people who, at any moment, may transform into terrifying winged beasts and destroy the city from within. For most of Isola Thaz’s life, she’s been told she’s the reincarnated savior of Vinguard. But just as she begins to suspect that she may be dragon cursed, she’s tossed into Vinguard’s Tribunal—a contest in which every 18-year-old competes in tests of skill and might to separate loyal citizens from the dragon cursed. As she’s sequestered for this rite of passage, Isola hesitantly allies herself with a handsome fellow competitor named Lucan. However, as the teens face such trials as fire-breathing automatons (“The silver beast comes to life with a swing. Its claws shear through the dim light”), starvation, and actual dragons while unarmed, Isola begins to feel that Vinguard’s traditions come at a cost that’s too steep. Meanwhile, Vicar Darius, Lucan’s father and the leader of Vinguard’s shadowy theocracy, the Creed, is desperate to take Isola’s powers for himself—and, to that end, he puts her into increasingly tortuous situations. However, neither he, nor Isola’s teenage rivals, are very compelling antagonists; instead, they come across as caricatures of cruelty. Still, the novel is fast-paced and action-oriented with a punchy prose that prioritizes movement over fantasy aesthetics. A sometimes-fraught romance between Isola and Lucan slowly blooms, but Isola’s relationship with her family forms the true emotional core of the narrative. Although the worldbuilding in fairly simple, the story sets up a massive mystery that promises big payoffs in a potential future installment.
A freewheeling, action-packed fantasy with a dash of romance.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781649377838
Page Count: 448
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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