A doleful, entropic, and engrossing vision of a near-future America.
A young militiaman undergoes a life-changing ordeal after a run-in with the aging populace of a dilapidated town in this dystopian novel.
The year is somewhere beyond 2031. Warrentown is a run-down, almost deserted ex-logging town in Southwest Washington state. The only business that survives is the tavern kept by Rachel and Jimmy, ageless personifications respectively of the raven and the coyote. Rachel and Jimmy look after the remaining townsfolk. They steal medical supplies from Rainier, the larger, more prosperous neighboring town. Regular patrons of the tavern include Valerie, the kindhearted older woman who tends bar and takes in stray animals; Charlie the Poet, a meditative widower in his twilight years; Crazy Mary, a cackling schizophrenic; and Old Man and his equally old dog, Angie. Life is tough, but Warrentown clings to its sense of community—a fragile existence that is threatened when four off-duty militia soldiers from Rainier come looking for trouble. Of these, only Baylor is uncomfortable with throwing his weight around. Baylor is an unhappy young man but not without empathy. While the other militia members draw Rachel and Jimmy’s ire, Baylor is offered a chance at redemption. Stranded in a supernatural wilderness between towns, he quarrels with his fellow soldiers and sets out alone. Will he find his way back to the precious sanctuary of Warrentown? Koerber writes in the third person, past tense from multiple character viewpoints. The chapters are short, lending a sense of movement to what is essentially a mood piece. The residents of Warrentown are well drawn and sadly evocative of a future in which the most vulnerable members of society have been left to fend for themselves. Baylor is an unlikely three-dimensional protagonist. He is flawed and in many ways unlikable, yet in becoming the focus of the story, he takes readers on an unexpected journey. The author’s writing is concise and rendered with pathos, the dialogue and narrative shifting believably with each character. Though the novel overall verges on being depressing, it has personality, and the dismal future it depicts is offset by inherent human kindness. The deep magic of nature, though broken, lies waiting to be revitalized—or so readers may dream.
A doleful, entropic, and engrossing vision of a near-future America.Pub Date: Dec. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1946044969
Page Count: 170
Publisher: Who Chains You Books
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.
A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.
Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378538
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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