Tune in later this year for The Destroyer Goddess: In Fire Forged, Part Two.
The White Dragon was meant to be a sequel to In Legend Born (1998), but the manuscript grew so long that Tor had to divide and release it as one novel in two volumes.
With In Legend Born, Resnick abandoned the romance novel (eleven published as Laura Leone) for epic historical fantasy, which is much like giving up Cheerios for boiled oats—a heartier dish in the same food group. Various conquerors have crushed the people of the mountainous island of Sileria, a folk forever engaged in internecine quarrels. Now the murderous, genocidal Valdani Empire rules, but a Guardian and outcast sorceress named Mirabar arises, a figure who works fire magic and can talk with the dead in the spirit world and is told by the Beckoner that a liberator is coming. This is visionary swordmaster Tansen, who is joined by the rebellious peasant Firebringer Josarian to raise an army and, eventually, with waterlord wizard Kiloran (with whom Tansen has long feuded) and several other Silerian factions, to overthrow the Valdani. Though successful, all Silerians still have their bloody grouches, while shifting loyalties make for densely Byzantine plotting and a tintinnabulation of similar-sounding names. But for all their infighting, Silerians are spurred on by the active and volcanic Dar, the Destroyer Goddess who chooses Sileria as her home and herself is behind Josarian’s death by Kiloran’s white ice-dragon, while the Honored Society of waterwizards offers a worse future to Sileria than do the Valdani. Though the Silerians are free, civil war rules, and Tansen is up against not only vengeful enemies but also old allies. Dar alone knows why Tansen doesn’t kill the seductress Elelar, whose betrayal brought about Josarian’s death. Questions: Will Tansen, who killed his own father, be overthrown by his son Zarien? Will Elelar and Tansen bond?
Tune in later this year for The Destroyer Goddess: In Fire Forged, Part Two.Pub Date: July 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-312-89056-7
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
A terrifying new storytelling experience that affirms, even in our darkest moments, that love conquers all.
A female big-rig driver crisscrosses America searching for signs of the wife everyone else thinks is dead.
This spooky third novel by Welcome to Night Vale creator Fink (It Devours!, 2017, etc.) is similarly based on an original podcast and offers a more threatening but equally personal take on the horror genre. Switching from the podcast’s intimate first-person narration, delivered with powerful emotion by actress Jasika Nicole, allows Fink to stretch out into the more remote corners of his mythos while delivering the same scary beats. The main character is Keisha Taylor, whose wife, Alice, disappeared while working for the mysterious Bay and Creek trucking company: “No cause of death. No body. No certainty. There was a disappearance, and after a long and increasingly hopeless search, the presumption of death.” Now Keisha has taken a job with the company as a long-haul driver, which thrusts her firmly into the eerie mythology at work here. Keisha is a fascinating character partially because one of her defining characteristics is chronic anxiety, and it’s a potent imperfection for a character who battles literal monsters on a regular basis. Along the way, Fink unveils the strange universe that swallowed Alice whole, revealing an underground war between two secret societies, time-bending oracles, and other Lovecraft-ian horrors. He also gives Keisha a charismatic ally in Sylvia Parker, a teen on the run who becomes her “anxiety bro,” and a bloodcurdling enemy in the macabre, twisted police officer who stalks her across the span of the country. But the book also tempers its terrors with everyday humanity, portraying the mundane joys of love, the rich fabric of the American countryside, and surreal “Why did the chicken cross the road?” jokes that are a hallmark of the podcast. By the time Keisha learns Alice's fate, readers will realize that this marvelous character is more than the sum of her faceless anxiety or her very real fears.
A terrifying new storytelling experience that affirms, even in our darkest moments, that love conquers all.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-284413-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper Perennial/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A reasonable start, on the whole; let’s see where the series goes.
Liu’s stories have won most major critical science-fiction and fantasy awards. His first novel, inspired by the civil chaos stemming from the death of China’s first emperor, is poised to break him out to a more commercial audience.
The island nations of Dara only ceased warring with one another when King Réon of Xana conquered them and united them into an empire. But now the emperor is dead; his young, spoiled heir actively avoids ruling, and his power-hungry advisers are not up to the task, either. Old rivalries stir as various rebellions spring up. Chief among the rebels are two men of the old kingdom of Cocru: the sneaky, clever commoner-turned–able politician Kuni Garu and the deposed noble Mata Zyndu, an 8-foot-tall, double-pupiled warrior who values honor above all else. At first, Kuni and Mata are like brothers, but their ideological differences soon drive them apart. The epic fantasy genre can only be enriched by more novels drawing from non-Western traditions. Liu’s ambitious work expertly blends mythology, history, military tactics, and technological innovation (airships and submarines). There are plenty of excellent action scenes—the scene in which Kuni and his allies employ horned, scaled whales to attack an armada is particularly enjoyable. However, Liu’s characters could use a bit more texture; at times, they seem little more than puppets manipulated by Dara’s gods—or perhaps by the author: the novel is a door-stopper of an argument for the value of brains over brawn and flexible thinking over hidebound tradition. Liu’s plotting can also appear a bit thin and contrived; the outcomes of too many key battles hinge on one side contemptuously underestimating the other. Perhaps history bears Liu out on this point, but it doesn't make for convincing fiction.
A reasonable start, on the whole; let’s see where the series goes.Pub Date: April 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-2427-1
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
© 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.
