A complex and occasionally grotesque series opener with elements that will be familiar to genre fans.
In Nelson’s epic-fantasy series-starter, a group of monks tries to find a kingdom’s lost heir to stave off government corruption and monsters.
In the world of Tesseris, four continents meet in a city called the Crux—a massive realm that’s full of foul and manipulative people. Long ago, before a cataclysmic event, the Kai’loth royals ruled. A sect of monks called the Patient established the Order of Drake Knights to find that royal family’s young heir. Miles is a Knight of Drakes who’s been searching for 10 years. Accompanying him on his quest is a wise elder, Alcwyn; a tough bar worker named Kendra; and a mountainous woodsman called Sig. Meanwhile, in the jungles of southern Tol’thuran, the elf ranger Qel searches for his older brother, Qerym, and any lost knowledge that might be worth bringing back to his people in Tol’gorul. When he does finally find his sibling, Qel becomes enmeshed in the fellow ranger’s transgressions. Also in play is the pirate ship Leviathan, which is run by Capt. Hakaan; he and his men set out from the Snakepit, a secret enclave of pirate vessels tethered together. The captain’s reckless cruelty sets a 14-year-old crewmember known as Sea Rat on a transformative journey. Meanwhile, back in the Crux, Damien is a reluctant pentarch representing the Kai’loth. He deals with morally bankrupt men, such as Pasaan, who want slavery to be legalized.
Over the course of the novel, Nelson follows the epic-fantasy formula of a tracking multiple characters in various locations to express the world’s breadth. Politicians such as Damien reveal aspects of the wealthy echelons of society, while those such as the half-elf seamstress Fei illustrate the lives of those who struggle. The most intriguing moments are when plot threads darkly connect, as when Qerym lies about knowing the fate of Miles. Readers who are searching for more profane medieval tales, such as that found in the genre’s most popular series (including George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire) will find lines like this: “And I been pirating since ’fore your gran’m’ther spread ’er legs for whichever man made yer own whore of a mum.” The story also revels in instances of savage comeuppance, though occasionally, as when Fei giggles while killing, the effect is ghoulish. The stately prose effectively depicts the Crux’s politics, as when one character suggests that one should “do a little wrong so you could see the right thing done in the end.” Sometimes, however, simpler prose would serve the narrative better (“He was not unhandsome, rather quite the opposite”). Overall, this series opener is a bulky fantasy buffet. Giant creatures and elves recall classic works such as Dune and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Yet here, as in many modern narratives, children and teenagers suffer the worst, apparently for emotional effect. Whether this strategy will translate into memorable character arcs in future installments remains to be seen. A complex and occasionally grotesque series opener with elements that will be familiar to genre fans.Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2021
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 415
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2022
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
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
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