Fast moving and fun; a lively reimagining of quest fantasy.
In Pettway’s third installment of the Misplaced Mercenaries series, a novice sorceress struggles to take command of god magic while a deposed king fights for his city.
Continuing on from the events of Blow Out the Candle When You Leave (2020), Keane, the foulmouthed yet good-hearted mercenary-turned-king, has fled Greenshade with his pregnant wife, Megan. Seemingly already at the nadir of their fortunes, they are captured by the Free Hand—a small group of cutthroats led by Keane’s former boss and nemesis, Marshal Harden Grayspring. When Greenshade fell, it was due to treachery. To reclaim his throne and keep Megan safe, Keane must throw in his lot with Harden. But can he secure allies enough to retake Greenshade and then defend the city once again—this time from the remorseless invading army sent by Emperor Brannok of Tyrrane? Keane’s best friend Sarah, meanwhile, who is both a fearsome warrior and a sorceress in the making, finds herself trekking across a desert searching for the so-called Wailing Prison. Sarah pledged to find a weapon to use against an evil sorcerer whose immense power has corrupted Emperor Brannok. But even if Sarah can survive the screaming sands that surround the prison tower and successfully petition the goddess there interned, will she have the strength of mind to employ god magic—intricate spells that if miscast prove deadly to their wielder? Pettway devotes time not only to Keane and Sarah, but also to Brannok and to the story’s other antagonist, Hulda Hubrane, so the villains are afforded intriguing depth. This adds to the believability of the fantasy setting, as does the raft of strong female characters. The prose is breezy, and the story rattles along in a series of short chapters, sweeping the reader up with its camaraderie, action, foulmouthed banter, and irreverent celebration of the antihero. Manna for those who don’t take the genre too seriously.
Fast moving and fun; a lively reimagining of quest fantasy.Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-95-144518-8
Page Count: 406
Publisher: Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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
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