A rich, dreamy tale that’s infused with spirituality.
In Huddles’ fantasy novel inspired by South Asian culture, an abused princess finds love in the arms of a traveling musician and later undertakes a quest to achieve inner peace.
Twenty-one-year-old Asha is the last Raajakumaaree born to Palace Isha, a house that, by the decree of the royal Shaasak, sits in the subpolar forest 800 miles north of the Shaasak’s seat of government. However, she’s ceded her hereditary title to her abusive husband, Cabaan, whose only love is money. As Cabaan uproots the forest for profit, clearing it to plant the grotesque and deadly kuroop trees that feed on mineral deposits and harden into priceless wolfram-wood, Asha takes a substance known as dava to endure his marital attentions. When Asha isn’t numb, she’s miserable; it was she who instigated the marriage, and now she blames herself for the forest’s destruction. Then, on the eve of her 22nd birthday, she meets and falls in love with Ilarô, the royal geetakaar, or poetry singer. Their time together is soon cut short, but Ilarô’s influence on Asha is lasting. She sets out to petition the Shaasak to get a divorce, but will she survive the 800-mile journey and find the closure that she so desperately seeks? Huddles’ omniscient narrative frames Asha’s life as a fable told in the far future. This conceit effectively allows for a fairy tale–like melding of the real and the unreal as well as occasional breaking of the fourth wall. As a result, events feel heightened throughout; the characters—with the exception of Asha’s inventor cousin, Omala—tend toward familiar archetypes, and the second half of the book takes on a mystic bent that adds gravitas and slows the pace. The prose style is accomplished and often unrestrained, with simple dialogue but descriptive flourishes and lengthy musings on meanings and motivations: “the forces of impossibility and inevitability were working evenly on her, leaving no remainder.” The result is immersive and beautiful—a tragic romance that will appeal to lovers of diverse, original storytelling.
A rich, dreamy tale that’s infused with spirituality.Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-73585-352-9
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Notable Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A satisfying, powerful conclusion.
The conclusion to the Raven Rings trilogy sees the brewing of a war 1,000 years in the making.
Hirka crossed over from contemporary Earth into Dreysíl and hopes to finally meet her blood family in the land of her father, Graal. In the place where the deadborn live in a strict, hierarchical society, she must once again carve a place for herself while her relatives plot an invasion of her home world in search of the Might. Meanwhile, Rime makes his way back to Ym only to find everything changed, his position as Ravenbearer compromised, and his few allies diminished in number and power. As Rime struggles to stop Graal and his invading horde and Hirka seeks a peaceful solution as well as a way to save Rime’s life, they desperately forge a path toward one another. This fantastic follow-up to The Rot (2021), translated from the original Norwegian, delves further into the mythology of its parallel worlds, the power of the Might, and a character-driven exploration of the intersections of power, identity, and belonging. Moments of repetitive internal monologue seep into an otherwise strong narrative in which the two protagonists experience significant growth as they find their footing in an unforgiving world during their search for answers, peace, and, ultimately, love. The main characters are White.
A satisfying, powerful conclusion. (glossary) (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64690-002-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Arctis Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
A bloody, intriguing bildungsroman with a fascinating plunge into the mythology of Mexico’s original inhabitants.
A gender-flipped Zorro figure with magical powers struggles to find her path in an alternate Mexico a few decades after Cortés’ conquest.
Lady Leonora is the illegitimate daughter of the late viceroy of New Spain and a Nahua woman of the Mexica people. As a child, she stumbled into the realm of the gods known as Tamoanchan, where she was known by the Nahua name Tecuani and trained in martial arts and sorcery, including the ability to shapeshift into a panther. Evicted from paradise after 10 years, she dons a black mask, calls herself Pantera, and uses her powers to help the Nahua fight Spanish rule. Now, Lady Leonora is betrothed to Prince Felipe of Spain, unexpectedly shipwrecked on their shores, and trading barbs with the annoyingly attractive Andrés de Ayeta, a Nahua man attached to the Spanish military. Like Leonora/Tecuani/Pantera, neither Felipe nor Andrés is entirely whom he appears to be, and a variety of dark secrets will be revealed once the loose confederation of Nahua rebels known as La Justicia move toward open warfare with the Spanish. In these challenging times, Leonora needs to figure out who she is and what she owes to herself and to others on various sides of the conflict. The book soon darts away from merely being a reimagining of the Zorro story, which is both a strength (because it allows the plot to travel into much more original territory) and a weakness (in that we never actually learn about the feats that gained Pantera her reputation). Pantera is mostly there as an established part of Leonora’s identity crisis and a source of conflict; she mainly has the best of intentions, but her need to keep secrets and defend herself in a hostile world, as well as some entirely understandable mistakes she makes, have devastating consequences that she’s forced to reckon with. Despite her fantastical circumstances, the resulting character is not a stereotypical high fantasy hero but a real person whom readers can believe in.
A bloody, intriguing bildungsroman with a fascinating plunge into the mythology of Mexico’s original inhabitants.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780063254312
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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