A gorgeous fantasy novel perfect for readers seeking dark romance, mystery, and magic.
In Foley’s fantasy novel, a troubled young woman unexpectedly travels to ancient Ireland, where her destiny is determined by her prodigious magical abilities.
Clíona Murphy has been crippled with guilt since the death of her brother Fionn, which she accidentally caused with magical abilities she calls her “curse.” When her curse claims another victim (this time, the mayor), Clíona flees and is on the verge of being arrested when she is suddenly transported to ancient Ireland—a world once known to her only through stories and folklore is suddenly real and filled with ever-present danger. Two warrior brothers, Rían and Caolann, begrudgingly take Clíona under their protection, and she and Caolann grow attracted to each other despite mutual suspicion. From him, Clíona learns that magic is quite common in their world (called Saoirse), and that her abilities could carry great power if she learns how to control them. Saoirse is haunted by a mysterious creature stealing young children by night. When a child Clíona has befriended is the next taken, Clíona decides to enter the Tuatha Dé Danann’s trials. If she claims victory, the gods will grant her one wish, and she intends to ask for their aid in finding the missing children. But is she prepared for the toil and bloodshed necessary to achieve her goal? This is a dark epic fantasy, rich with folklore and fascinating characters. Clíona’s combative demeanor and traumatic past are distinctive—she is no ingenue, but her deep (unacknowledged) compassion and courage make her journey a powerful one to follow. The trials are not introduced until the second half of the story, shifting the tone from brooding and character-driven to action-packed, but Foley handles the transition well. The world she creates is so well developed that it seems to live and breathe with the characters, highlighting Clíona’s growth: “Strange things were happening in this world. And yet something louder than a whisper or inkling told me I was only standing on the precipice of more than I dared to find out.”
A gorgeous fantasy novel perfect for readers seeking dark romance, mystery, and magic.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9781963029086
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Alex Parker Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in this frightful medieval epic about an orphan girl with visionary powers in plague-devastated France.
The year is 1348. The conflict between France and England is nothing compared to the all-out war building between good angels and fallen ones for control of heaven (though a scene in which soldiers are massacred by a rainbow of arrows is pretty horrific). Among mortals, only the girl, Delphine, knows of the cataclysm to come. Angels speak to her, issuing warnings—and a command to run. A pack of thieves is about to carry her off and rape her when she is saved by a disgraced knight, Thomas, with whom she teams on a march across the parched landscape. Survivors desperate for food have made donkey a delicacy and don't mind eating human flesh. The few healthy people left lock themselves in, not wanting to risk contact with strangers, no matter how dire the strangers' needs. To venture out at night is suicidal: Horrific forces swirl about, ravaging living forms. Lethal black clouds, tentacled water creatures and assorted monsters are comfortable in the daylight hours as well. The knight and a third fellow journeyer, a priest, have difficulty believing Delphine's visions are real, but with oblivion lurking in every shadow, they don't have any choice but to trust her. The question becomes, can she trust herself? Buehlman, who drew upon his love of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in his acclaimed Southern horror novel, Those Across the River (2011), slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn't scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face of unspeakable horrors. The power of suggestion is the author's strong suit, along with first-rate storytelling talent.
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937007-86-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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