An airy, humorous aviation tale with appealing infusions of myth and history.
A Greek deity helps the Wright brothers invent the airplane in this debut fantasy.
Polyhymnia is a Muse. A literal one—from Mount Olympus—tasked with overseeing humans working in her areas of expertise: the peculiar trio of Geometry, Agriculture, and Sacred Hymns. Not many people believe in the Muses at the turn of the 20th century, but Polyhymnia and her sisters are still plying their trades, directing humanity through a combination of subconscious inspiration and direct intervention. Feeling dissatisfied with her bailiwick, the listless Polyhymnia strikes a deal with her sister Urania, the Muse of Astronomy and Prescience. Polyhymnia will get humans focused on flying, thereby paving their way to the stars, and in exchange, Urania will teach her to see into the future. Polyhymnia starts with the more obvious candidates—a glider pioneer; the secretary of the Smithsonian—before landing on an unlikely pair of bicycle-designing brothers from Ohio, Will and Orv Wright. Flying has been a daydream of Will’s for a number of years, and Orv is a man who can fix any machine. Polyhymnia sneaks into their Dayton circle disguised as a friend of their sister, Kate, helping Will crack the code of bird flight. But is Polyhymnia betting on the wrong inventors? And if she is, can she manage to shape them into the right ones? Kaiser’s prose is crisp and witty, filled with puns and winks at history. Here Polyhymnia discusses the selection of a launch site with her sisters: “ ‘Yes,’ said Polyhymnia. ‘He’s dead set on testing their glider on some Gods-forsaken strip of sand on the North Carolina coast—’ ‘There’s more than one Carolina?’ Urania interrupted. ‘Since when?’ ‘Since they were colonies, dear,’ Calliope said. ‘Do keep up.’ ” The novel has the requisite historical cameos—including Polyhymnia’s favorite agricultural scientist, George Washington Carver—and it brings the Dayton shop of the Wright brothers to colorful life. Despite its fantasy elements, the book is essentially a lighthearted retelling of one of humankind’s most impressive achievements. Though hardly a page-turner, the author has constructed endearing characters, and by the end of the story, readers will have a much better sense of the Wright brothers’ unlikely rise—pun intended.
An airy, humorous aviation tale with appealing infusions of myth and history.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-088-01314-4
Page Count: 252
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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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SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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