A promising but underdeveloped series introduction.
Slack offers the first book in an imaginative fantasy series with a feline protagonist.
When Tailey is a kitten, his father tells him he has an important destiny involving fighting an ancient evil. Tailey’s instincts lead him to a little girl named Megan, and he becomes her devoted companion and protector. She’s sought by an entity known as Ichneumon, “the Possessor of Souls,” for her innate magical abilities. While out hunting one night, a magical cat’s-eye stone transports Tailey to a faraway planet called Katlyn. There, he’s quickly befriended by a panther named Klawed and a small, furry Neptunian named Nep. Klawed and Nep’s ancestors fought and defeated Ichneumon centuries ago, and it appears that he’s gaining power again. At the same time, a horde of creatures called the Animond were transformed into ghouls by “the evil of the ebony”sword and gain power deep within a mountain cavern. Meanwhile, Tailey, Klawed, and Nep are joined by a Greenwolf pup named Luna and a giant Animond named Yahmond Yah. They all come together to save their planet and help Tailey find his way home. The author attempts a lot of complex worldbuilding for such a brief novel, which makes the beginning feel overcrowded with exposition. Tailey is effectively made the center of the story, but there is so much going on around him that he almost gets lost amid reams of information. His bond with Megan drives his actions, but the two characters get little time together before they’re separated, and only one brief scene shows Megan’s sadness over Tailey’s disappearance. The supporting characters are intriguing, but their backstories are only briefly sketched out, and descriptions of the fictional planet of Katlyn are sometimes creative but often undermined by pedestrian prose: “The visual effect of this landscape was enhanced by the pale-blue of the sun. Colors were deeper, bolder, because of the tinted light.” Overall, there are wonderful ideas here, presenting an opportunity for an inspired series. However, the book’s rushed execution results in it having little of the whimsy or mysticism that readers might expect.
A promising but underdeveloped series introduction.Pub Date: June 9, 2022
ISBN: 9781039136519
Page Count: 210
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Devoted series fans will appreciate the added pieces to this expansive narrative puzzle.
After 500 years, the Grief of Ages is a distant memory—until dragons hellbent on destruction begin to wake again.
In this relatively brief prequel to the epic The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019), the kingdoms of Virtudom have experienced centuries of relative peace. Marosa Vetalda, the Princess of Yscalin, spends her days behind castle walls under the gaze of her overprotective father, awaiting the date when she’ll be wed to Aubrecht of Mentendon, her ticket to freedom. While the book’s main focus is initially on the political threads weaving the Western kingdoms together, the frailty of best-laid plans is exposed when evidence of the reemergence of draconic beings reaches castle ears. These tales often come from the cullers who make their living slaying these creatures, and who are often blamed for intentionally waking them for profit. No one alive remembers the Grief of Ages, so no one’s prepared when Fýredel, the great High Western dragon, surfaces from the volcanic mountain that towers ominously over Yscalin’s capital city of Cárscaro. What follows is the backstory of how the devoted Yscali kingdom comes to shift allegiance to Fýredel and his master, the Nameless One, a main catalyst to events in The Priory. Overall, this book reads more like history lesson than fantasy adventure, but the sheer terror that befalls the Yscali people as they face Fýredel’s pure evil is both powerful and relevant. Marosa’s plight further solidifies her as a hero worth remembering; her strength and defiance shine through as hope for the future she’s dreamed of slowly flickers out.
Devoted series fans will appreciate the added pieces to this expansive narrative puzzle.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781639736010
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 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.
