A captivating look at the intriguing figures in King Arthur’s golden realm.
After decades spent in obscurity, an ignored royal discovers how to make an impact late in life in this novel that reimagines the Arthurian legend.
Anna Pendragon has the misfortune of being the only full-blooded sister of Arthur Pendragon. Yes, that famous king. On the day Anna was born, sorcerer Merlin, the manipulator of Carelon, said of her: “Through all the ages, and in the hearts of men, you will be forgotten.” Anna is married off to the much older Lot of Orkney, bearing him three sons: Gawain and younger twins Gaheris and Gareth. Following Lot’s death, Anna returns home, surrendering Orkney’s crown to Arthur. She hopes she will be allowed to settle down with her true love, Bedevere. Instead, at Merlin's insistence, she is forced into an arranged marriage with Lanceloch, the knight who is Arthur’s current crush. Her exiled aunt Vyvian helps Anna to see the power inside of her, an ability to disappear in the shadows. Using a book of spells supplied by Vyvian, Anna creates Nimue, a comely young woman whose purpose is to seduce and entrap Merlin. The trouble is that Nimue develops a mind of her own: She isn’t ready to let go of her short life. Meanwhile, Anna starts to fade away while powering Nimue. Anna must get her creation back on track or perish. Barron, an established fantasy writer, appears right at home crafting this reinvention of Camelot. As the author unveils her new versions of well-known characters, it isn’t essential for readers to be familiar with Arthurian history and myth, but those who are will enjoy her twists. Her protagonist is ideal for providing an outsider’s perspective on the machinations happening in the Carelon court. But Anna’s curse keeps her from being as plugged in as she should be, having to rely on others—such as her half sister, Morgen, Merlin’s apprentice—for intelligence. The intricate narrative begins with Anna’s birth and then jumps forward. The story spans decades and feels a little draggy at times. But Anna’s righteous crusade to save her kingdom from Merlin’s schemes will propel readers past those slow spots.
A captivating look at the intriguing figures in King Arthur’s golden realm.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 325
Publisher: Vernacular Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
FANTASY | ROMANCE | EPIC FANTASY | FANTASY
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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