Jumbo fantasy, the first of a series entitled Tyrants and Kings, from newcomer Marco. Arkus, Emperor of Nar, has ordered Prince Richius Vantran of Aramoor and his army into Lucel-Lor to assist the autocratic Daegog against a popular uprising led by Tharn, a magic-wielding warrior-priest. But neither supplies nor reinforcements arrive, and Richius’s campaign seems lost—until cavalry sent by the emperor gallops to the rescue. Richius intervenes, however, when their commander, the cruel, arrogant Baron Gayle, attempts to rape the comely young Dyana. Promised in marriage to Tharn, spirited Dyana has rejected the union and fled. Furious, Tharn uses magic to grab Dyana and defeat all his enemies, despite the gods’ injunction that the magic be used only to heal and help. Richius sadly goes home, learning there that his father is dead. The emperor’s spymaster, Count Biagio, instructs Richius to attack Lucel-Lor again: the ancient, dying emperor will stop at nothing to obtain Lucel-Lor’s magic to make him immortal. Biagio warns of horrid consequences if Richius refuses, and gives him the lovely Lady Sabrina for his bride. Though Richius loves Dyana, he dares not refuse Sabrina. Later, Tharn persuades Richius to meet with him in Lucel-Lor. While Richius is away, Biagio deposes him and gives Sabrina to Gayle; the latter, horribly mutilated in the war, hates Richius more than ever. The gods, Richius discovers, have ruined Tharn’s body as punishment for misusing the magic. Yet though Dyana has married Tharn, her daughter is Richius’s. Gayle sends Richius Sabrina’s broken body. Finally, when Richius learns that his father was treacherously murdered, he sides with Tharn to help defend Lucel-Lor against the renewed imperial assault led by the monstrous Gayle. An absorbing, deftly plotted, forgivably overlong debut with promising character developments and a well-rounded, satisfying end.
Pub Date: March 9, 1999
ISBN: 0-553-37984-4
Page Count: 784
Publisher: Spectra/Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Categories: FANTASY | EPIC FANTASY
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
An almost-but-not-quite-great slavery novel.
12
GET IT
The celebrated author of Between the World and Me (2015) and We Were Eight Years in Power (2017) merges magic, adventure, and antebellum intrigue in his first novel.
In pre–Civil War Virginia, people who are white, whatever their degree of refinement, are considered “the Quality” while those who are black, whatever their degree of dignity, are regarded as “the Tasked.” Whether such euphemisms for slavery actually existed in the 19th century, they are evocatively deployed in this account of the Underground Railroad and one of its conductors: Hiram Walker, one of the Tasked who’s barely out of his teens when he’s recruited to help guide escapees from bondage in the South to freedom in the North. “Conduction” has more than one meaning for Hiram. It's also the name for a mysterious force that transports certain gifted individuals from one place to another by way of a blue light that lifts and carries them along or across bodies of water. Hiram knows he has this gift after it saves him from drowning in a carriage mishap that kills his master’s oafish son (who’s Hiram’s biological brother). Whatever the source of this power, it galvanizes Hiram to leave behind not only his chains, but also the two Tasked people he loves most: Thena, a truculent older woman who practically raised him as a surrogate mother, and Sophia, a vivacious young friend from childhood whose attempt to accompany Hiram on his escape is thwarted practically at the start when they’re caught and jailed by slave catchers. Hiram directly confronts the most pernicious abuses of slavery before he is once again conducted away from danger and into sanctuary with the Underground, whose members convey him to the freer, if funkier environs of Philadelphia, where he continues to test his power and prepare to return to Virginia to emancipate the women he left behind—and to confront the mysteries of his past. Coates’ imaginative spin on the Underground Railroad’s history is as audacious as Colson Whitehead’s, if less intensely realized. Coates’ narrative flourishes and magic-powered protagonist are reminiscent of his work on Marvel’s Black Panther superhero comic book, but even his most melodramatic effects are deepened by historical facts and contemporary urgency.
An almost-but-not-quite-great slavery novel.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-59059-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | HISTORICAL FICTION | FANTASY | HISTORICAL FANTASY
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.
12
GET IT
After 1,000 years of peace, whispers that “the Nameless One will return” ignite the spark that sets the world order aflame.
No, the Nameless One is not a new nickname for Voldemort. Here, evil takes the shape of fire-breathing dragons—beasts that feed off chaos and imbalance—set on destroying humankind. The leader of these creatures, the Nameless One, has been trapped in the Abyss for ages after having been severely wounded by the sword Ascalon wielded by Galian Berethnet. These events brought about the current order: Virtudom, the kingdom set up by Berethnet, is a pious society that considers all dragons evil. In the East, dragons are worshiped as gods—but not the fire-breathing type. These dragons channel the power of water and are said to be born of stars. They forge a connection with humans by taking riders. In the South, an entirely different way of thinking exists. There, a society of female mages called the Priory worships the Mother. They don’t believe that the Berethnet line, continued by generations of queens, is the sacred key to keeping the Nameless One at bay. This means he could return—and soon. “Do you not see? It is a cycle.” The one thing uniting all corners of the world is fear. Representatives of each belief system—Queen Sabran the Ninth of Virtudom, hopeful dragon rider Tané of the East, and Ead Duryan, mage of the Priory from the South—are linked by the common goal of keeping the Nameless One trapped at any cost. This world of female warriors and leaders feels natural, and while there is a “chosen one” aspect to the tale, it’s far from the main point. Shannon’s depth of imagination and worldbuilding are impressive, as this 800-pager is filled not only with legend, but also with satisfying twists that turn legend on its head. Shannon isn’t new to this game of complex storytelling. Her Bone Season novels (The Song Rising, 2017, etc.) navigate a multilayered society of clairvoyants. Here, Shannon chooses a more traditional view of magic, where light fights against dark, earth against sky, and fire against water. Through these classic pairings, an entirely fresh and addicting tale is born. Shannon may favor detailed explication over keeping a steady pace, but the epic converging of plotlines at the end is enough to forgive.
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63557-029-8
Page Count: 848
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | FANTASY | EPIC FANTASY
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2021 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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.
