An engaging fantasy series opener that readies a capable hero to tackle whatever comes next.
This epic fantasy debut features a squire’s journey to knighthood during a crusade against monstrous forces.
In the kingdom of Lortharain, 17-year-old Godfrey squires under his older cousin and knight, Sir Fallard. Godfrey’s parents are Duke Ulric and Duchess Regana of Bastogne. One day, as Godfrey acknowledges that he’s ready to be tested for knighthood, he and his training contingent stop in the town of Harv for the night. A rash of disappearances has struck the town, and Bishop Clovis presents Godfrey with the mission of destroying a vampire. Godfrey succeeds in the brave act and looks forward to being knighted by his father at their home, Fuetoile Keep. But King Wilhelm arrives at the keep with suspicious haste so as to knight Godfrey himself. The young man sees an avaricious glint in the king’s eyes and remembers his father’s words: “Some monsters are easy to see....Other monsters look like men.” Meanwhile, orcs and Nordsmen have combined forces to the north, intending to take over Azgald, Duchess Regana’s homeland. Godfrey joins a crusade drawn from many kingdoms to stand against this enemy. As war looms, two duplicitous figures filled with ugly ambitions hatch a sinister plot. Alvir of Clan Black Dragon and the sorceress Nera plan to resurrect the dragon Vozzab in their mad quest to rule all. Howard’s series opener introduces a determined, gallant protagonist who wouldn’t be out of place at King Arthur’s Round Table. Godfrey is chaste, dreaming of a girl he’s destined to court rather than hounding just anyone who might walk past him. After being wounded in battle, he meets Madeline, the daughter of Duke Tancred, and their chemistry is potent. Later, Godfrey has a dreamlike encounter with his primary deity, the sun god Loxias. He wakes with a prophecy on his lips, saying, “The crusade is for naught if the dragon now is slain not.” Though the author works with familiar elements, his rich prose renders them vibrantly, as with his orcs with “orange molten gems set in deep pits for eyes.” While this volume offers a complete, satisfying adventure, a strong foundation invites further installments.
An engaging fantasy series opener that readies a capable hero to tackle whatever comes next.Pub Date: July 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-08-798204-5
Page Count: 414
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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