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
A sweet if muddled tale of the magic of Appalachia.
A teenage witch goes up against the evil king of the mountain to save a cursed village.
Witch-in-training Verity Vox has spent a year apiece in different villages, helping in any way she can as she learns her art. When it’s time to move on, she receives a sign that shows her where to go next. When the latest sign appears in the form of a note begging for help that floats down on a leaf, she’s eager for the challenge. Verity winds up in Foxfire, a village in the Appalachian mountains that’s been magically cut off from the rest of the world for years, leaving its people close to starvation. The root of their suffering is a man they know as Earl, who lives in the hills and strikes deals with the townspeople that ultimately cause crops to wither, folks to disappear, and the only bridge out of the valley to crumble. Verity is determined to change the villagers’ fortunes, but to do so she’ll have to face off against not just Earl but the ancient power of the mountains itself. Loosely based on the Germanic Erlking legend and told in a voice reminiscent of folktales, the story features a queer romance and a cast that presents white. The convoluted magic system undercuts the strong themes of reciprocity, poverty, and privilege, but Appalachian readers will instantly recognize home.
A sweet if muddled tale of the magic of Appalachia. (Fantasy. 13-18)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9798890032706
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
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