A few quibbles, but nonetheless an enjoyable read with the potential for an even better sequel.
Megalomaniac Ramius King is poised to conquer the world, with only a broken magician, a traumatized fortuneteller and two teenagers standing in his way.
Seventeen-year-old Kyle Adams doesn’t understand a lot of things: why he dreams of fighting legions of soldiers with magical weapons, why he never fits in, why he has been wrenched from his foster home in Chicago and sent to this backwoods burgh. But he’s happy to discover an affinity with classmate Lily Goodshepherd, who has her own secret—she can perform magic. Across town, Ramius King, the “Tall Man,” has turned an abandoned mill into a monster factory as part of his quest to implant magical skills in his minions, as opposed to relying on his previous tactic of finding humans with organic powers and turning them toward his nefarious ends. In Miami, Rosa Sanchez wakes from a premonitory dream of a mugging and embarks on a path that will lead her to Michael Galladin, a traumatized Guardian of Magic who may be the only obstacle to King’s goal of world domination, especially since King murdered every other Guardian in the world. Fortunately, the Guardians managed to find Kyle and begin his magical path. Andrews’ debut fantasy thriller gets off to a slow start, switching among three plot threads until gathering the protagonists in an obscure northern Michigan town for an explosive climax. The book has a few weaknesses—several characters, like the high school principal and the sinister assassin, are given too much back story for their ultimate importance, and there’s too much explanation of characters’ emotions and reactions instead of letting the actions speak for themselves. Furthermore, the nature of magic in this world is unsatisfyingly vague, as are King’s motives and plans in his unoriginal pursuit of world domination. In many ways, Mason Stone, King’s second-in-command, is the most compelling character in the novel, with his mixed loyalties in shades of gray.
A few quibbles, but nonetheless an enjoyable read with the potential for an even better sequel.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2008
ISBN: 978-0595473458
Page Count: 448
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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