Ultimately, this is more flash and over-the-top drama than substance.
Destiny. Vengeance. Glory.
Anlei has spent much of her young life fighting the shadow spirits plaguing her village and imagining herself as the Warrioress of legend. When Viceroy Kang visits, he makes the villagers an offer: In exchange for the protection of his bronze dragon army, he will take one girl to be his latest wife—but he also wants their enchanted River Pearl. The bride he selects is Anlei. Though her thirst for vengeance and hunger for adventure and personal glory have not been sated, she resigns herself to this exchange for the sake of her people. Before the ceremony, however, the pearl is stolen by the Masked Giver, a young man on his own quest to save his people from the Courts of Hell and Mowang, the demon king. Of course, Anlei joins him. A Chinese-inspired fantasy, mixing magic and science, cyborgs and magical swords, this story tries to incorporate many topics (some more successfully than others), including a commentary on womanhood and sacrifice for the community, destiny vs. self-determination, Chinese legends, and politics. The main character, who is prone to histrionics and makes a distracting number of oaths to the Gods of Heaven and Earth for vengeance and violence, seems to have dyslexia. Though full of action sequences and dramatic reveals, unfortunately the journey of self-discovery is lacking.
Ultimately, this is more flash and over-the-top drama than substance. (Fantasy. 14-17)Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-162414-733-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Without sparks to sustain it, the story fizzles.
She’s going back in time; he’s going forward; they meet in 1961.
Still raw from her grandmother’s death, 18-year-old Abbi takes comfort in the fact that she is starting her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. It’s the perfect place, one where the white narrator can make a fresh start and stay close to the memory of Grandma, who once walked the very same halls. But in her wildest dreams, Abbi never could have imagined just how close the two would be. For reasons she is desperate to understand, Abbi finds herself traveling backward through time, with each new stop providing clues to a mysterious family secret. To add to the intrigue, Abbi discovers she’s not the only time traveler. Will, a handsome white farm boy from 1927, is on his own journey forward through time, and Abbi gradually realizes that Will is not only linked to her family’s past, but also holds the key to her heart—past, present, and future. Though this may provide a quick fix for fans of time-travel romance, the novel fails to distinguish itself from the rest of the pack. While Abbi is a likable-enough protagonist, the story meanders, and the dialogue often feels stilted. However, the greatest disappointment is that a potentially delicious romance between Abbi and Will fails to gain any traction for the first two-thirds of the novel.
Without sparks to sustain it, the story fizzles. (Science fiction. 14-16)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63079-070-7
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Switch/Capstone
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2017
Fans of the first book and lovers of Norse legend may enjoy, but there’s better for fantasy-adventure lovers.
Can Signy solve the riddle that stands between her and her rightful place among the Valkyrie?
Ten years ago, when she was 7, Signy’s parents died in an accident. In her grief, during a visit to the New World Tree, she climbed the Tree and met Odin Alfather; he renamed her Signy Valborn, handing her her destiny: to become the next Valkyrie of the Tree, one of nine Valkyries who help run the United States of Asgard. The day after her 15th birthday, a riddle appeared on the trunk of the New World Tree; since she couldn’t solve it, Signy set out to find her answer. Two years of sometimes-homeless living later, she’s still looking…until she meets Ned Unferth, who says he can provide her the answer. He says that “The Valkyrie of the Tree will prove herself with a stone heart” means she must kill a troll and take its heart, which becomes stone in daylight. She trusts the truth rune she sees in his eye, and they set off to train and find a troll. Gratton’s follow-up to The Lost Sun (2013) is more entertaining and engaging than its predecessor, but the tale’s padded with so many complications it’s easy to put down. There’s such a surfeit of navel-gazing that Signy should be able to map her own spinal column.
Fans of the first book and lovers of Norse legend may enjoy, but there’s better for fantasy-adventure lovers. (Fantasy. 14-17)Pub Date: June 10, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-307-97751-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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