A marvelous, lively fantasy tale of faraway lands and dashing heroes.
In Morea’s fantasy novel, bandits threaten the peace of nations when they launch an assault at a summit.
Following a devastating war, the Kingdom of Regulus and the Gudarian Confederation have finally signed a peace treaty. They now hold an annual summit; this year it’s being held at Tartarus, a decommissioned fortress on the border between Regulus’ grasslands and Gudar’s desert. Bandits suddenly attack, prompting Tartarus’ magic-empowered Caretaker to engage the fortress’ defense, a “crimson cocoon” that prevents anyone from entering or exiting. Persephone, a knight and one of the kingdom’s royal guards escorting Princess Seles, is unable to intervene when the bandits abduct Seles and the Gudarian chancellor. They want access to the Vault, where a dark, mysterious secret lies. To rescue the hostages, Persephone must rely on her own skills as well as magic-infused crystals that allow her to communicate with Regulus’ forces outside; those forces fortunately include the retired general Magnus, who led the war-ending battle against Gudar. He and Persephone desperately work in tandem to thwart the bandits’ plan, which has the potential to reignite the nations’ conflict. Though the characters and locales stem from Morea’s earlier works, this taut, riveting novel is a stand-alone. Intermittent flashbacks provide ample backstories for Persephone and others (including an enigmatic silver-masked bandit) without decelerating the steady pace. The first half suggests a curious take on the 1988 action film Die Hard—Persephone is a lone warrior with a communications device moving through Tartarus’ multi-floored central tower. The cast and their various linkages are endlessly enthralling, from Magnus butting heads with a Regulus prince to Persephone’s former membership in a mercenary group founded by the bandit’s leader, Plutonus. The author’s concise prose fuels a host of entertaining action scenes brimming with magic, clashing swords, and uncanny creatures. (“It was too late for her to raise her own weapon, so Persephone kicked her legs out and entered a slide, skidding by the animated suit of armor.”)
A marvelous, lively fantasy tale of faraway lands and dashing heroes.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9798877800588
Page Count: 309
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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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