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
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
A clever and inspiring reimagining of a little-remembered time and place.
Medieval history and Celtic mythology merge in an enchanting tale.
Arden, best known for her Winternight Trilogy, here turns from medieval Russia to Europe during the same period. Anne of Brittany—a real person—is 19 when the novel begins in the late 15th century, a sovereign duchess whose father, the duke, has been dead since she was a child. Described as “small and glossy as a cat in a dairy,” she’s desperately trying to avoid marrying Charles VIII, the king of France, which would mean the dissolution of her country. She conceives a plan to conduct a unicorn hunt in the ancient, haunted forest of Broceliande, thinking she will be able to secretly arrange a proxy wedding to Maximilien of Austria, heir to the Holy Roman Empire. While there, she encounters not only an actual unicorn but an evil enchanter who has designs on her kingdom. With the unlikely aid of the chivalrous (and undeniably attractive) Louis of Orleans, who has been sent by Charles’ sister Marguerite to betray Anne, as well as Anne’s spunky younger sister, Isabeau; a clever peasant girl, Elesbed; and a cat named Butter, Anne works feverishly to protect her people from sinister forces both political and supernatural. Arden takes her time immersing the reader in this thoroughly and intricately imagined world, where historical figures bump up against an enigmatic korriganed queen, at least one monstrous sea-dragon, a herd of undead “anaon,” and a whole Breton city that has been trapped in time. This is an alternate history in which the admirable Anne, freed from the confines of textbooks, gets to ask the question, “Shall we not write our own story?” Here, love and duty reach an understanding, and courtly romance makes friends with a steamier variety of physical contact. Fans of jousts, spells, dark magic, and brave women will find plenty of each here.
A clever and inspiring reimagining of a little-remembered time and place.Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9780593128282
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
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