A fine introduction to a new fantasy setting that’s likely to leave readers eager for more.
Stitle presents a YA epic-fantasy series starter about a magic-filled world on the cusp of change and the three people at the center of it all.
The story starts with a seeming impossibility, as a Summoner from a Sect that’s been thought to be long extinct walks into King Avenos Titansworn’s Summerglass Palace. The visitor has a frightening message: The Resurgence is coming, which means that the world of Auris is in danger, and the Blood Sorcerers are its only hope. Soldier Castien Varic is a Stormless—a person without magical powers—who’s tasked to join the King’s band of Auris’ most powerful Summoners on a mission to determine the truth of the message. Back on the palace grounds, Prince Faelyn Titansworn is torn between his loyalty to his father and his loyalty to the kingdom—especially when the King seems to be in denial about the dangers they’re facing. In a storyline set two years in the past, Asteros Silverglade, the leader of Auris’ most deadly Sect, finds a trove of ancient knowledge that offers revelations about the mysterious Vanishing of ancient Sects—and the Tempests that ravage the land and fuel the Summoners’ magic. It’s knowledge that portends either the end of everything or the start of something entirely new. Over the course of this fantasy novel, Stitle offers readers a complex, multithreaded narrative that deftly introduces its setting through imaginative worldbuilding. Along the way, it features a unique, intriguing magic system and well-developed character arcs set against a backdrop of secrets and unreliable history. It also effectively notes the effects that cataclysmic events could have on Auris’ citizens’ lives: “If the Resurgence were to begin, the rising tensions throughout Auris would escalate to war….Without the Stormless as pawns, the Summoners would tear one another apart.” As the three main plot threads move toward convergence, so do the fates of its characters, resulting in an engaging, if sometimes discomfiting, work.
A fine introduction to a new fantasy setting that’s likely to leave readers eager for more.Pub Date: May 17, 2023
ISBN: 9798987896211
Page Count: 568
Publisher: Blazecrest Publishing, LLC
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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