A dense and emotionally charged fantasy that’s heavy on longing and lore.
Buckley’s fantasy novel, the second in a series, follows a princess who questions everything she thinks she knows about her kingdom as she’s being held hostage.
The story opens with an ambitious prologue in which two young lovers are separated by a cosmic ritual that sends one of them across realities and into a new life, sacrificing memories in service of an ancient conflict between Light and Shadow. The story then returns to the realm of Aerath in the aftermath of the previous novel: Princess Waenia of Thiros has been captured by the feared Luvian Veskar, “conqueror of the West, breaker of cities, heir to a stolen crown.” As Waenia’s allies, Darrion and the tracker Cae, pursue them across the countryside, Buckley shifts between multiple perspectives. With Waenia and Luvian, the uneasy relationship between captor and hostage oscillates between threats, arguments, revelations, and an attraction neither wishes to acknowledge. Even as Waenia reminds herself that Luvian is her enemy, moments of unexpected intimacy arise, and the pair find themselves circling each other with wit, hostility, and reluctant understanding. Luvian seeks answers about the woman in his custody and the strange powers she seems to wield over him, while Waenia struggles to conceal both her identity and the truths surrounding her past. Meanwhile, Darrion’s own complicated history with Luvian gradually emerges, revealing old loyalties and betrayals that further blur the line between enemy and ally. Political tensions surrounding succession, bloodlines, and long-buried oaths gather like storms in the background as the mythology surrounding the mysterious Whispering Fang and the fate of the Nine Kings slowly comes into focus. As the kingdom of Thiros begins to fracture from within and shifting loyalties unsettle even Luvian’s own camp, Waenia finds herself caught between competing claims on her future and the growing realization that the war consuming the kingdom may be only part of a much older conflict.
Buckley’s talents shine brightest in the simmering tension between Waenia and Luvian. Waenia’s inner monologue takes on operatic flair as she tries to stifle her burgeoning feelings: “He was a killer. A taker of crowns. A beautiful ruin with blood in its teeth. And she would be a fool to forget it again.” Likewise, Luvian’s perspective simmers equally hot in Buckley’s fervent prose: “The sound of her breathing was a wound he could neither close nor cauterize.” While the characters burn with conflicting emotions, the plot itself often feels stalled; the novel is more like a building block in the larger series narrative than a fully satisfying story in its own right. The author draws heavily from familiar fantasy and romance conventions, layering them with a dense mythology that will reward attentive fans while offering comparatively few footholds for newcomers or casual fantasy readers. Large stretches of the narrative prioritize atmosphere, lore, and emotional turmoil over narrative momentum, and those seeking a faster-moving adventure may grow impatient with the pace. Still, Buckley handles her central romance with conviction and sincerity, and fans of slow-burn, tortured romances will likely find much pleasure in the crackling chemistry between her leads. A dense and emotionally charged fantasy that’s heavy on longing and lore.Pub Date: May 1, 2026
ISBN: 9798195181338
Page Count: 468
Publisher: Independently Published
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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