An ambitious but clunky fantasy epic.
An empire devolves into a war of succession in Khan’s debut fantasy novel.
The Emperor of Kristianborg has been assassinated in his own bed. There will be few tears shed for the tyrannical Severus Valentinian, but even so, his death sends ripples of anxiety throughout the realm. It seems that Severus never named an heir before his death, and now his four sons—each the child of a different consort in the Imperial Harem—are all vying for the throne. There’s the gluttonous, well-connected Commodus; the handsome, cultured Leo; the politically savvy Andronikos; and the bookish but determined Zeno. Each of them has a wily mother’s guidance behind the scenes. Zeno’s mother, Eleonora, is particularly ambitious, having lifted herself from the minor ranks of nobility with the single-minded desire to bring glory to her line. The would-be heirs will have to win the favor not only of Council or Archons, but also of the powerful Yeneceri—the slave army known as the deadliest fighters in the land. Meanwhile, outside the borders of the empire, the Kingdom of the Vampir is stirring, waiting to bring Kristianborg under the shadow of its blood-drinking faith. Do Zeno and his mother have what it takes to outmaneuver the others in time to protect the empire from a horde of vampires? Khan’s pulpy prose creates some fun and thrilling moments, as here where the Vampirs send their undead cavalry against the Kristianborg army: “Their cloaks swayed in the wind, and their faces could not be recognized by even those with the best eyesight. It appeared as if they were faceless warriors with the skeletal outline of bones evident through their cloaks, and they wielded terrifying weapons.” The character development is shallow, however, and the world is hastily drawn. The novel features a grab-bag of distracting references to history and other works, such as characters named Harald Hadrada and Vercingetorix, and a dynasty called Van Helsing. Khan is clearly going for a Game of Thrones-esque epic, but this is a pale, wooden reflection.
An ambitious but clunky fantasy epic.Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781039179042
Page Count: 258
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2023
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
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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