A crowded but lively and sophisticated fantasy tale.
A complex first novel in a fantasy series set in a world of advanced technology and brutality.
In the first chapter of Sprague’s multilayered adventure, Lumen Hadamard is collecting data on unusual battle simulations in a place called the Netherdome, an important center for fine-tuning sophisticated military operations in the land of Theia. He’s developing new weaponry to defend against Theia’s enemies, some of whom are using advanced technology, as noted in the book’s prologue. He sends his apprentice, Vey Lancer, on a new assignment to Fort Abandon. Her mission seems simple enough: Speak with Fort Abandon’s vice-regent about the Treaty of Nature, which puts strict limits on new tech and is a relic of a time when humanity was nearly annihilated. Specifically, there are concerns that some have been violating its limits. Before long, however, Vey has a dangerous interaction with an aged shaman called Akrylla, who wields the power to manipulate others and has a vast knowledge of potions that makes her a formidable enemy. Suddenly, Vey’s mission, as well as her life, is in serious jeopardy. Right from the opening pages, readers may find themselves overwhelmed by the dense worldbuilding, which goes on to extensively detail such things as the workings of the Netherdome, Akrylla’s background, and zero-gravity transportation tech, which hardly makes for light reading. Indeed, this density extends all the way to the sentence level, as when a character explains that “Bitterhelm’s leviathan—Asph the Tempting—is in the process of changing gender in anticipation of breeding with Sinfon, of the Dim Sea.” But although such passages sometimes require a close reading for full comprehension, the effort is not without its rewards. Although Vey’s journey is anything but straightforward, it’s never boring, as it takes her from a spa to some truly brutal environments, one of which involves an unpleasant creature called a Wulver. This book, for all its complexity, does allow the reader to fully grasp the fictional world’s many peculiarities and characters, which effectively sets the stage for more intricate developments in future installments.
A crowded but lively and sophisticated fantasy tale.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-988363-10-3
Page Count: 424
Publisher: GaleWind Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2021
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
A unique concept that promises readers will find at least one, if not three, entwined but different narratives to enjoy.
When Vis is copied into two other realities, he must stop a god from repeatedly culling almost everyone back home.
Thousands of years ago, to prevent the Concurrence from enslaving everyone, the world was split into three near-identical copies: Res, Obiteum, and Luceum. To exist in all three worlds, to wield Will there, is to achieve synchronism. After the events in The Will of the Many (2023), which cost Vis his arm and the life of his friend, Vis achieves Synchronism. While Res-Vis must continue to play Hierarchy politics to find his friend’s killer, Obiteum-Vis finds a ruined world, where the dead are reanimated and used by Ka, the Concurrence, and the only other person to exist in synchronism. Meanwhile, Luceum-Vis is forced into a dispute between druids, their High Council, and their kings—with one king intent on killing him—and Vis has no idea why. On all worlds, Vis is as shrewd as ever, weighing his options, planning ahead, and doing what he must to survive. However, he, too, slowly diverges, doing things he swore he never would: cede his Will, use Will to control someone else, and reveal his true name. If at least one Vis cannot use his synchronism and power of Will to kill the Concurrence, no Vis will be safe, and another Cataclysm will cull those he loves on Res. Book Two of the Hierarchy series is a speculative fantasy that is at once Egyptian post-apocalyptic, Celtic medieval, and Roman dystopian, thanks to the multidimensional setting. Although the sprawling narrative at times overextends itself, Islington rewards patient readers with a compelling story, a cast of complex and diverse characters, and a glimpse into how far a good man can go before he’s lost. A symbol at the start of each chapter delineates which world and Vis it’s about. Readers should read The Will of the Many before attempting this volume, or they may be confused for the first several chapters and beyond.
A unique concept that promises readers will find at least one, if not three, entwined but different narratives to enjoy.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781982141233
Page Count: 736
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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