Vibrant characters populate this rewarding, otherworldly tale.
Citizens hoping to peacefully reunite countries in their ravaged world face sinister forces in this fantasy series opener.
Centuries ago, a plague called the Blight devastated the world of Messano. Arts and particular skills were lost, and trade between nations broke down entirely. But Tavi and Arran, the brothers of King Nical of Estneva, have big plans. Tavi has learned the lost craft of forging iron while Arran helps a builder complete a giant boat so that trade across Messano can open again. Meanwhile, some citizens, believing Nical will wage war against the country of Bregasso, aim for a royal alliance—a marriage between the king and Bregasso’s princess. Unfortunately, Silvana, who owns the Orphanage filled with children she eventually sells as slaves, would just as soon grab the Bregasso throne for herself. Now the iron that Tavi forges can be turned into weapons for a war that seems imminent. Playing a significant role in this epic tale is Devian, a Vacillian, whose gender changes indiscriminately. He had to flee his hometown, where the villagers stone all known Vacillians to death. As Devian travels to Messano, he gets entangled in its unrest and its motley inhabitants. Burgo’s story teems with effervescent characters. Arran, after smoking a leafy plant, discovers he can fly and becomes the Domus, whom others hold in reverence. This unmistakably adult fantasy is often as grim as the title suggests. For example, some atrocities are committed against children, and, in a striking supernatural turn, a dead man enters and takes control of a woman’s body and mind. The author employs simple but expressive language. Here, Burgo describes a man named Sandro, a stranger Devian meets on the road: “In the early morning hours after awakening, lying alone in his tent, the taste of this life was bitter upon his lips. What might he do that he had not already done before? What new flavors awaited him?” The author ends the novel on a relatively minor cliffhanger—but it’s vivid enough to leave readers eagerly anticipating the sequel.
Vibrant characters populate this rewarding, otherworldly tale. (map)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9975920-5-4
Page Count: 515
Publisher: New Rise Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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