A smart, fast-paced series finale that ties up loose ends while providing all the action readers have come to expect.
The concluding installment of Harkness’ YA fantasy series pits young soldiers against a new kind of enemy.
The fifth and final book in the A War of Banes and Demons series finds demon slayers Garet and Salick back in the city of Shirath after their dangerous trip to the Far North, where they discovered that the demons they’d been fighting were being created by a powerful enemy. What they find on their return shocks them both: Already weakened by continuous demon attacks, the city will face a final onslaught on the spring equinox, which is worryingly close. Trax, king of Shirath, is also showing signs of losing his grip on his people and his sanity. Soldiers, for example, refuse to perform unlawful executions on his orders, exacerbating the sense of fracture within the city walls. Soon, the Fifth Ward’s Maze, where “the dregs of the city” reside, finds itself under attack by the arrival of a new type of demon—one created using humans: “As expected, since the demon had spread no fear as it approached, he found silkstone plates fixed to its skull with small iron nails….Its face was no longer even vaguely human, but bore a fully toothed beak, eyes as black as a starless night, and a helmet-like crest that stretched from just above the stone plates to the back of its head.” Alongside the rich descriptions and brisk action are explorations of larger themes: good versus evil, the weight of power, and what it means to be human. A bittersweet ending—complete with a shocking banishment and slightly less shocking wedding—provides a fitting conclusion to a saga that still contains the potential for many more adventures.
A smart, fast-paced series finale that ties up loose ends while providing all the action readers have come to expect.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations.
Magic, mystery, and love intertwine and invite in this newest take on the “enchanted circus” trope.
Sisters raised by their abusive father, a governor of a colonial backwater in a world vaguely reminiscent of the late 18th century, Scarlett and Donatella each long for something more. Scarlett, olive-skinned, dark of hair and attitude, longs for Caraval, the fabled, magical circus helmed by the possibly evil Master Legend Santos, while blonde, sunny Tella finds comfort in drink and the embraces of various men. A slightly awkward start, with inconsistencies of attitude and setting, rapidly smooths out when they, along with handsome “golden-brown” sailor Julian, flee to Caraval on the eve of Scarlett’s arranged marriage. Tella disappears, and Scarlett must navigate a nighttime world of magic to find her. Caraval delights the senses: beautiful and scary, described in luscious prose, this is a show readers will wish they could enter. Dresses can be purchased for secrets or days of life; clocks can become doors; bridges move: this is an inventive and original circus, laced with an edge of horror. A double love story, one sensual romance and the other sisterly loyalty, anchors the plot, but the real star here is Caraval and its secrets.
Immersive and engaging, despite some flaws, and destined to capture imaginations. (Fantasy. 14 & up)Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-09525-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
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