This brisk, riveting tale boasts magic, mystery, and superlative characters.
A young thief stumbles into romance and a world of forbidden magic in Winters’ LGBTQ+ fantasy novel.
Ever since the brutal murders of his parents, 21-year-old Cassian Nightbrook has taken care of his younger sister, Elena. In the city of Analon, the siblings earn coins by selling herbs at the market. Cassian is also an accomplished thief. One night, mid-burglary, he encounters a mysterious fellow bandit who leaves behind a parchment bearing an invitation to the Emberlight Trials. The invitation gives the bearer a chance to join the clandestine Order of Emberlight, which works against King Tarnasau. Cassian is interested, as the king’s top lieutenant is the man who killed his parents. Cassian quickly grows close to Darion Thorne, a handsome stranger he’s just met at the market. Darion, however, has secrets. As Cassian progresses through the Trials, he learns that the Royal Guard is hunting him, Darion, and Elena. But why? The hunters’ pursuit may somehow be tied to the Emberborn, an ostensibly “extinct race of people” with magical abilities. Winters packs a lot into this novel, the first installment in a series. Cassian makes for a sublime hero—a caring older brother who’s armed with a belt of useful vials (one contains an antiseptic; another explodes when tossed). His relationship with Darion plays out in scenes both tender and explicit, with Darion harboring more than one doozy of a secret. The entire cast shines, including the whip-smart Elena, another character who seemingly betrays Cassian, and an unexpected ally. The narrative moves at a steady pace, powered by concise prose and unwavering tension as the plot unspools its espionage intrigues. This series introduction surprisingly clears up several mysteries, like Cassian’s ability to communicate with whisperhawks, but the story ends on a solid cliffhanger.
This brisk, riveting tale boasts magic, mystery, and superlative characters.Pub Date: June 16, 2026
ISBN: 9781965643051
Page Count: 418
Publisher: Maelstrom Press
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.
On the orders of her mother, a woman goes to dragon-riding school.
Even though her mother is a general in Navarre’s army, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail was raised by her father to follow his path as a scribe. After his death, though, Violet's mother shocks her by forcing her to enter the elite and deadly dragon rider academy at Basgiath War College. Most students die at the War College: during training sessions, at the hands of their classmates, or by the very dragons they hope to one day be paired with. From Day One, Violet is targeted by her classmates, some because they hate her mother, others because they think she’s too physically frail to succeed. She must survive a daily gauntlet of physical challenges and the deadly attacks of classmates, which she does with the help of secret knowledge handed down by her two older siblings, who'd been students there before her. Violet is at the mercy of the plot rather than being in charge of it, hurtling through one obstacle after another. As a result, the story is action-packed and fast-paced, but Violet is a strange mix of pure competence and total passivity, always managing to come out on the winning side. The book is categorized as romantasy, with Violet pulled between the comforting love she feels from her childhood best friend, Dain Aetos, and the incendiary attraction she feels for family enemy Xaden Riorson. However, the way Dain constantly undermines Violet's abilities and his lack of character development make this an unconvincing storyline. The plots and subplots aren’t well-integrated, with the first half purely focused on Violet’s training, followed by a brief detour for romance, and then a final focus on outside threats.
Read this for the action-packed plot, not character development or worldbuilding.Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374042
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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