A bold, tautly written work about the struggle to express oneself freely.
A free-spirited storyteller refuses to be the pawn of his king in Oliveri’s debut fantasy novel.
In the kingdom of Idaza, Mikalla is a shadow puppeteer, also known as the Conjurer. Against the giant canvas of Mount Chuxat, he creates fresh stories weekly, starring gods of myth. His inspiring work unites the common people of Idaza, showing them that the deities are imperfect, just like them. Idaza is a prosperous and stable realm within the Mesoas Valley. Deep down, however, King Oro feels like an unfulfilled ruler compared with his heroic ancestors, who conquered neighboring lands and built Idaza’s wealth. Oro and Mikalla have been friends since childhood, and so the Conjurer is stunned when his king suddenly asks him to demonize the Chihopo people in his next story. If Mikalla can paint the neighboring kingdom as evil to the commoners, Oro reasons, it will make it easier for them to go to war over contested farmland. Yet Mikalla sees that many people, including children, will suffer if he obeys Oro. When the Conjurer tries to find support from his family, his wife, Jani, proves to be distracted and selfish. Mikalla must figure out a way to deliver a performance that doesn’t compromise his ideals. Scheming behind the throne is Secretary Kitan, whose ultimate plan will transform the entire Mesoas Valley. Oliveri delivers a finely tuned study of art’s role in society. Well-developed characters drive the plot, each sketched by economical prose; Jani, for example, has “status and security” that can’t “shield her from the intense self-hatred she’d learned from a childhood of emotional neglect.” The nature of Mikalla’s artistic expression is effectively explained as a “wild, animalistic compulsion, an urgent need to have his insights and emotions fly from his heart.” The machinations of Kitan and Mikalla’s countermaneuvers give events the pacing of a thriller. The violence isn’t excessive, but moments of torture and bloodletting are unforgettable. In the final pages, Oliveri ensnares readers with an inescapable tragedy, and the difficult conclusion leaves room for energetic discussion.
A bold, tautly written work about the struggle to express oneself freely.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-956932-05-8
Page Count: 194
Publisher: Write My Wrongs LLC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An engaging, imaginative narrative hampered by its lack of subtlety.
The Medusa myth, reimagined as an Afrocentric, feminist tale with the Gorgon recast as avenging hero.
In mythological Greece, where gods still have a hand in the lives of humans, 17-year-old Medusa lives on an island with her parents, old sea gods who were overthrown at the rise of the Olympians, and her sisters, Euryale and Stheno. The elder sisters dote on Medusa and bond over the care of her “locs...my dearest physical possession.” Their idyll is broken when Euryale is engaged to be married to a cruel demi-god. Medusa intervenes, and a chain of events leads her to a meeting with the goddess Athena, who sees in her intelligence, curiosity, and a useful bit of rage. Athena chooses Medusa for training in Athens to become a priestess at the Parthenon. She joins the other acolytes, a group of teenage girls who bond, bicker, and compete in various challenges for their place at the temple. As an outsider, Medusa is bullied (even in ancient Athens white girls rudely grab a Black girl’s hair) and finds a best friend in Apollonia. She also meets a nameless boy who always seems to be there whenever she is in need; this turns out to be Poseidon, who is grooming the inexplicably naïve Medusa. When he rapes her, Athena finds out and punishes Medusa and her sisters by transforming their locs into snakes. The sisters become Gorgons, and when colonizing men try to claim their island, the killing begins. Telling a story of Black female power through the lens of ancient myth is conceptually appealing, but this novel published as adult fiction reads as though intended for a younger audience.
An engaging, imaginative narrative hampered by its lack of subtlety.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593733769
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 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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