A heroine’s trials make for a winding, bloody adventure with plenty of surprises.
An epic fantasy focuses on a brutal usurper and a princess on the run.
At the age of 15, Radia inherits the throne of Tyrnael. Tyrnael has a long history of peace and tranquility, and it seems that Radia should be able to maintain this tradition. The people of Tyrnael rarely die of anything but old age. This all comes crashing down when Radia’s wicked brother, Zaibos, seizes control of the realm in a bloody coup. Radia has no choice but to flee with a loyal guard named Demacharon. But Zaibos is determined to see Radia destroyed. He goes so far as to task a reclusive assassin named Eros with bringing back Radia’s heart. So begins Radia’s journey as a hunted girl in a world that will hold some uncomfortable realities. She is no mere princess but an earthy, highly empathetic beauty who often sees little need for clothing and even less need for killing. In fact, Demacharon, though sworn to protect Radia, must also promise her he won’t kill anyone. Meanwhile, Zaibos is determined to expand his power while also crushing the spirit of anything breathing. He even makes use of simple, brutal subterranean creatures called bogrens. The bogrens, who have names like Grumblestump and Bloodsnot, seem to find nothing funnier than watching one of their own fall into underground magma. Don’t bother asking them if they know what the word “friend” means.
And so the forces of good and evil are pitted against each other in a story that includes extremes ranging from a child hearing a bedtime story to a number of ghastly forms of execution. If readers think this will be a simple tale of a kind princess (who says things like “If given a chance, people are generally good”) removed from power only to have her returned to glory after some cheerful hack-and-slash escapades, they are mistaken. Alimonos’ novel, his second book set in the world of Aenya, takes a number of unexpected, even wild turns, many of them involving combat, torture, or more information on the main players. The bad guys certainly have a lot of background. Zaibos establishes himself as a supreme villain, a tyrant who goes so far as to wear some elaborate, wartime headgear even in the comfort of his own throne room. Likewise, Eros proves a sophisticated part of the plot. With his deadly spiders and his love of his mother, he has more depth than readers might expect from a figure who makes his living by killing people. But some of the good guys are not quite as intricate. While Krow, an aptly named, speaking birdlike figure, may be a skilled sailor, his origins on the crew of an airship do not add much to the larger story. Nevertheless, the tale, with its many violent shifts, will have readers constantly wondering if there will ever again be peace in Tyrnael.
A heroine’s trials make for a winding, bloody adventure with plenty of surprises. (map)Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-578-61112-9
Page Count: 438
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
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