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
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.
In this long-awaited fifth installment of Shannon’s Bone Season series, the threat to the clairvoyant community spreads like a plague across Europe.
After extending her fight against the Republic of Scion to Paris, Paige Mahoney, leader of London’s clairvoyant underworld and a spy for the resistance movement, finds herself further outside her comfort zone when she wakes up in a foreign place with no recollection of getting there. More disturbing than her last definitive memory, in which her ally-turned-lover Arcturus seems to betray her, is that her dreamscape—the very soul of her clairvoyance—has been altered, as if there’s a veil shrouding both her memories and abilities. Paige manages to escape and learns she’s been missing and presumed dead for six months. Even more shocking is that she’s somehow outside of Scion’s borders, in the free world where clairvoyants are accepted citizens. She gets in touch with other resistance fighters and journeys to Italy to reconnect with the Domino Programme intelligence network. In stark contrast to the potential of life in the free world is the reality that Scion continues to stretch its influence, with Norway recently falling and Italy a likely next target. Paige is enlisted to discover how Scion is bending free-world political leaders to its will, but before Paige can commit to her mission, she has her own mystery to solve: Where in the world is Arcturus? Paige’s loyalty to Arcturus is tested as she decides how much to trust in their connection and how much information to reveal to the Domino Programme about the Rephaite—the race of immortals from the Netherworld, Arcturus’ people—and their connection to the founding of Scion, as well as the presence of clairvoyant abilities on Earth. While the book is impressively multilayered, the matter-of-fact way in which details from the past are sprinkled throughout will have readers constantly flipping to the glossary. As the series’ scope and the implications of the war against Scion expand, Shannon’s narrative style reads more action-thriller than fantasy. Paige’s powers as a dreamwalker are rarely used here, but when clairvoyance is at play, the story shines.
Though it falters a bit under its own weight, this series still has plenty of fight left.Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9781639733965
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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