Doorstopper new fantasy from the author of the Book of Words trilogy (Master and Fool, 1996, etc.). Tinnitus sufferer Tessa McCamfrey finds a remarkable barbed ring. When she puts it on, its points pierce her finger—and the pain transports her to another world. Here, Tessa will meet new people and enjoy various adventures involving the cruel and insanely ambitious King Izgard of Garizon: He wears a magic crown, the Barbed Coil—a larger version of Tessa's ring!—that helps its wearer win wars. In this world, too, illustrations—complex illuminations like those of medieval manuscripts—exert magic effects. Amid various subplots, the old scribe Ederius paints illustrations that transform Izgard's harras troops into relentless beast-warriors. Fortunately, Tessa's own scribing talents help counteract Ederius. Both crown and ring, she learns, are ``ephemera,'' magical objects that tumble in and out of reality. An ancient and mighty illumination binds the crown, preventing it from falling away into another world. So, somehow, Tessa must scribe an even mightier unbinding illumination to free the Coil and allow it to vanish, thus frustrating Izgard's dreams of conquest. Sparkling ideas embedded in vast swathes of conventionally inflated mediocrity: Fans of the previous trilogy should feel right at home. (Author tour)
Pub Date: Sept. 8, 1997
ISBN: 0-446-52109-4
Page Count: 624
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
A new edition of the by now classic collection of affiliated stories which has already established its deserved longevity.
Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1963
ISBN: 055338256X
Page Count: -
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1963
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
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.
