A gripping mystery with an exceptionally fleshed-out world.
A detective haunted by his past and an engineer desperate to ensure her future become embroiled in a conspiracy in Lemelson’s debut urban fantasy novel.
In the wake of the Calamity, which left an irradiated crater in the middle of the continent, the wasteland border city of Huile has become a bustling hub for the production of “æther-oil,” a miraculous fuel source that also allows certain gifted people to bend physics to their will—a power nicknamed “the Knack.” The people of Huile fought a bitter revolution for their independence from imperial occupiers, and private detective Marcel Talwar, one disillusioned veteran who lost a leg during the conflict, is haunted by traumatic memories. He often investigates for Lazacorp, the city’s distributor of æther-oil. However, after the deaths of one of his former comrades and of a Lazacorp worker, Marcel looks into what’s going on with Lazacorp’s new water filtration plant, overseen by beloved industrialist and war hero Lazarus Roache. Meanwhile, in the engineering mecca of Icaria, a young engineer named Sylvaine becomes acquainted with Roache when he offers to become her patron. As a feral—a furred animal-person—she often faces discrimination, so she’s eager to accept Roache’s offer of “Slickdust,” a substance that awakens her Knack after years of failure. She and Marcel cross paths when they realize they’re both pawns in a struggle between strange and ancient forces. From the very start of the novel, Lemelson’s unique take on a postwar industrial fantasy world features memorable imagery (“You ever take a walk outside this city?” says Marcel at one point. “See the cracked land, the ruins, the oozing trees, the Demiurge-damned Wastes?”) and deftly realized worldbuilding. In its account of its dual protagonists’ struggles, the narrative unfolds at a controlled pace, swelling with tension at each new revelation while delivering intriguing information in an organic way. The result, expressed in Lemelson’s vibrant, witty, and often heartbreaking prose, is a page-turner that’s perfect for urban fantasy fans.
A gripping mystery with an exceptionally fleshed-out world.Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-94-650140-0
Page Count: 380
Publisher: Tiny Fox Press LLC
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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