A mythical, disturbing tale with impressive worldbuilding and a memorable cast.
A queen and her people fight back against oppressive, beastly warriors that have seized their city in this debut fantasy.
Queen Nahar rules the desert city of Samandal alone, having lost her parents by the time she was 18 years old. This prosperous city resides on crucial trade routes that unite various regions. So Samandal’s Great Council is understandably worried when massive, “semi-human” raiders, the Mrrrg, overtake a neighboring town—a “major nexus” for the trade routes. Despite its efforts, the Samandal army can’t stop the Mrrrg’s mighty Dragon Horde from seizing the city. Paramount chieftain and warlord Timur sets his sights on Nahar even before his Dragon Horde reaches Samandal. As is typical for a savage Mrrrg, Timur forces himself on Nahar only to feel something beyond physical pleasure. Nahar, too, senses a deep connection while shamefully enjoying sex, even when other men rape and, at one point, whip her. Meanwhile, the captive citizens plot an escape, and Bahadur, the leader of the city’s temporarily useless Household Guard, spearheads a rebellion to retake Samandal. He starts by disrupting the profitable trade routes, which Timur has been exploiting. But the paramount chieftain also faces dissension within the Dragon Horde; his love for Nahar is a sign of weakness that some Mrrrg will take advantage of. As battles against the Mrrrg and humans increase, Nahar discovers an unusual way to acquire power. She must nevertheless choose a side—take back her throne or love an enemy of both Samandal and the human race.
Templeton’s epic story teems with melodrama, sporadic action, and eroticism. Many readers will be put off or deeply troubled by the explicit sex scenes, as they involve a woman aroused by rape. Although Timur and Nahar aren’t the only characters who are featured, the sex scenes can be repetitive. But the author does skillfully portray this tale’s intriguing world, from the lands surrounding Samandal to the myriad characters. For example, Samandal’s women, who oversee the city’s politics and finances, plan the escape from Mrrrg control using “bribes and seduction.” In the story, good and evil aren’t easily defined; not everyone is innocent in Samandal, which has a dark underbelly where killers and thieves thrive. While Templeton rarely misses an opportunity to describe Nahar’s somatic beauty, the author proves adept at portraying various characters, including Kashi, a wizard: “Mustachios curled under his hawk nose, and his beard, black but streaked with white, reached nearly to his waist.” The narrative’s action comes in bursts, which are often effective and a further display of the sharp prose: “The steeds of both warriors, well trained and tried in war, fought as well, each sensing from the shifting of his rider’s weight where and when he meant to strike, and swerving to place him at best advantage without need for direction.” The final act takes an odd but not entirely unexpected turn, and the story ends on a surprisingly lyrical note.
A mythical, disturbing tale with impressive worldbuilding and a memorable cast.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2022
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 433
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 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
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
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
