A thoughtful fantasy that pairs classic adventure beats with a shrewd concern for the moral price of miracles.
A young man’s search for his lost brother becomes an odyssey through myth and memory in Mason’s sweeping fantasy debut.
In a remote village untouched by war or decay, Abram lives a simple life—until his grandfather’s ritual of the “Skyward Lights” unravels the illusion of safety. When Abram’s brother, Levi, vanishes after the ceremony, the young farmer sets out to find him, armed with little more than faith, a pendant of strange power, and an unshakable promise: “I’m coming, brother.” Mason builds this premise into a sprawling, spiritually charged journey that blends the emotional clarity of a coming-of-age story with the grand design of mythmaking. As Abram ventures beyond the valley, the world reveals itself as a maze of forgotten magic and corrupted relics. Joined by Fleck, an impulsive thief, and Sarai, a young woman scarred by tyranny, he travels through ruined villages, illusions, and realms ruled by deceptive forces. Battles against monstrous foes—one sneering, “Do you know what your brother did to me?”—test not only his courage but his understanding of what his brother has become. Dialogue carries much of the book’s momentum and tone; pragmatic lines sit comfortably beside far darker intimations of guilt and retribution. The worldbuilding is muscular without being merely ornamental; the author describes monsters and enchanted artifacts with vivid clarity. A miraculous cure is treated with suspicion rather than easy relief; after a healing, one character warns, “the crystals do tell me that your healing is dark in nature,” while another defends the healer: “Layla is kind and courageous. I see her taking no part in something heinous.” The prose is direct and serviceable, with brief lyrical flashes that lift key moments. The pacing occasionally slows to unspool mythic backstory, but the book’s emotional throughline keeps readers invested. By balancing gritty encounters with humane reflection, Mason crafts an immersive tale that will appeal to readers who like their epic fantasy threaded with ethical dilemmas, steadfast friendships, and the quiet persistence of hope.
A thoughtful fantasy that pairs classic adventure beats with a shrewd concern for the moral price of miracles.Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2024
ISBN: 9798317378226
Page Count: 270
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
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
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
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