Robust worldbuilding and a millennia-spanning romance make this fantasy series finale a compelling read.
This final volume of an epic fantasy trilogy spans thousands of years and features a multitude of characters.
Julia O’Brien and her husband, Domhnall, are holed up in a cabin in Saskatchewan, hiding out while they lick their wounds. Ronan Gallagher, the man Dom thought of as a brother and someone Julia considered family, betrayed them and is now working with their greatest enemy—Marcus Cassius Longinus. Cassius has been alive for over a millennium, and Julia and Dom have spent countless lives trying to defeat him. Julia, the victim of a curse, is reborn every time she dies. Dom chose to be cursed so he could regenerate and find her again. At one point, Julia recalls: “To him, our love had always been a cause worth dying for.” Now, after so many rebirths, she’s noticed that her memories of her past lives have been deteriorating. There’s something about this life cycle that might end the curse. Julia wants to have a normal life with Dom—to start a family—and the only way to do that is to ensure Cassius’ demise. Julia must develop and fully control her magic. With the help of her friends, found family, and a collection of Druids, Wielders, and Knaves, she must annihilate the evil Cassius and his army of Wraiths. In this third volume, Gateley delivers the epic ending that readers are surely clamoring for. The novel relies heavily on the audience being familiar with the previous books, since characters are known by multiple names and titles that are used interchangeably. For example, Cassius is also called “the Sorcerer” and “the Child of Rome,” with Julia and Dom having similar titles. But despite the work’s heavy backstory and use of multiple names, Gateley skillfully weaves an enthralling tale starring remarkable players on a dangerous mission. The author’s fantasy world is rich and varied, with different types of magic users, including Druids, Bearers, and Wielders, to name a few. These elements, combined with Julia and Dom’s engrossing love story, will please fantasy and romance fans alike.
Robust worldbuilding and a millennia-spanning romance make this fantasy series finale a compelling read.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 289
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
SEEN & HEARD
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