A lustrous tale for fantasy lovers that offers magic, intrigue, battles, and romance.
In this fantasy, a noblewoman gets sent by her family to a foreign court to spy under the guise of a betrothal.
Serae of Cavendaffe, rebellious and sharp-tongued, has never been a typical Inraen lady, much to her parents’ chagrin. After Serae’s family is devastated by a report of her brother Bale’s presumed death in battle, her father charges her with a mission. She is to be betrothed to the son and heir of the Rihtish ruler but only as a ruse. Once welcomed into Rihtlond, she will learn as much information as she can and send it home to her father in coded messages. Serae is horrified at the thought of living among people she has been told are savages, believing them responsible for killing her brother, and resents the risk her father is taking with her life. At first, she chafes at the vast cultural differences between Inra and Rihtlond and is greeted with hostility and abuse by the people. Gradually, she wins them over, begins to feel more at home, and is increasingly drawn to the brooding weapons master Wep (“He cut an impressive figure, and Creator was it annoying. He was all perfectly honed muscles and looming height. Worse, everyone in this room looked at him with more than just deference—they respected him”). Soon, she starts to doubt her commitment to her father’s plan. Yet Rihtlond harbors ancient magic and when a supposedly extinct dragon claims Serae for its own, her life is forever changed. Featuring a striking cast of characters, Le Fay’s vivid novel is the first in what will doubtless prove to be an eventful, intricately plotted series. The first half drags a bit, as much page time is devoted to Serae’s rigorous training, assorted challenges, and adjustment to life in Rihtlond. But in the second part, the various plot threads are deftly woven together to create a dramatic conclusion while setting up the next book. Fantasy fans will find much to enjoy in this rich, sprawling story, from the dragons and heart-pounding battle scenes to the spicy romance between Serae and Wep.
A lustrous tale for fantasy lovers that offers magic, intrigue, battles, and romance.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781964264578
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Page & Vine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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