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
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
Prepare yourself for the long haul. This is expansive, emotionally complex, and bound to suck you in.
Magic, dragons, and prophecy are welcome threads in a fantasy that extols the power of motherhood, friendship, and self-love to change the world.
This prequel to Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019) has a similar scope to that 800-page fantasy, but dragon lore is less important here than the stories of people and events that become catalysts for The Priory's tale. Each chapter is grounded by a cardinal direction, lest you lose your bearings, with the four corners of the world home to central characters whom readers will get to know intimately. In the West lives Glorian, heir to the queendom of Inys. Her rule is based on the sacred Berethnet bloodline, whose power originates from the knight Galian Berethnet's banishing of the Nameless One, a giant fire-breathing wyrm birthed from the world’s core. In the East, Dumai lives on a mountain peak and trains as a godsinger, someone who harbors a human connection to the dragons the East worship as gods. In the South, Tunuva is a warrior of the Priory, a sisterhood that worships the Mother who is seen as the true banisher of the Nameless One. Their beliefs are so different and their societies so distanced that they don't know of the others' existence. And yet, when the balance of nature starts to waver, bringing whispers of new fire-breathing threats like the Nameless One, these women find themselves united by a common cause to save their people and seek truth about the higher powers at war with one another. This story is epic in scope, but its density is the sort that pulls you in. The biggest pull comes from the humanity displayed by the central characters, whose hearts ache for their children and their futures in a world fraught with turmoil. The fire-breathers bring more than destruction in their wake; they also bring a plaguelike sickness that will elicit sharp parallels to the Covid-19 pandemic. The very real struggles these characters face, whether they ride dragons or bear the suffocating rules of monarchy, make this a consuming read. While some fantasy tropes feel like they've only been added to the story's surface, the pages keep turning because of the heart-wrenching reasons that characters are driven to action. The heroes shine in their uniqueness, with diverse family dynamics interwoven throughout and representation ranging from queer lords and warriors to genderfluid alchemists. This prequel stands on its own, but a word of warning to people who have read The Priory: You'll want to reread it in order to benefit from the deeper knowledge of what came before.
Prepare yourself for the long haul. This is expansive, emotionally complex, and bound to suck you in.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-63557-792-1
Page Count: 880
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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