Entertainingly strange, though some portions feel more out-of-place than thrilling.
A rambunctious fantasy novel filled with knights and vampires.
Valicek (The Dark Magical World of Alamptria, 2016, etc.) takes readers to the year 2255. In the land of Alamptria, the Dark Lord Makoor, along with his vampire minions, is “eager to destroy humanity.” Fortunately for humankind, there are knights like Caprius Seaton, the son of Confidus Seaton, the dashing King of Elysium, whose castle features such amenities as a giant indoor pool. Caprius is no softie, though. Like his fellow knights, he’s bound to the “holy council of sacred deeds” and must be ready to go whenever and wherever Makoor may strike. It’s also prophesied that Caprius’ unborn son will one day be responsible for Makoor’s destruction. Caprius, who has an enhanced sword called a “claymore of power,” and his partner, Calista, are tasked with investigating the recent deaths of two of the king’s agents. Their bodies were left in dirt-filled coffins, and they were found holding onto pocket watches set to precisely 8:10 p.m. It initially seems like a simple and relatively straightforward assignment, but Caprius and Calista prove to be a volatile pair. Meanwhile, a man named Colburn is planning to mass-produce a serum that can be used to turn relatively sedate, ordinary animals into superintelligent predators. Colburn’s plan, meanwhile, has caught the attention of a fierce and beautiful woman named Cynthia Davenport, who lives in the troubled town of Jethro, a place riddled with “hoodlums, bums, and grifters,” where toughness is essential for survival. Cynthia is compelled to stop Colburn even though doing so will certainly bring her into some dangerous situations—and so the reader embarks on a supernatural journey that’s whimsical, intricate, and bizarre, by turns. The various characters engage in plenty of combat scenes, but at other times, they indulge in calmer pursuits, such as traveling by train and ordering fine wines. A scene involving vampires playing poker is hardly the most eccentric one in the novel, although it is a good example of its mixture of the absurd and the darkly serious. Plenty of blood is spilled (and drunk) throughout, and the surprises range from the fun to the silly to the questionable. In one scene, for example, Caprius is having dinner in an entertainment lounge when his waiter is killed and replaced by an evildoer. Caprius is well-aware that the new person isn’t a waiter, and as a result, the scene becomes comical but also puzzling: could the bad guys really be so naïve? Or has Caprius inadvertently entered a Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch? It is indeed refreshing to encounter a genre piece that doesn’t take itself too seriously—although the resulting mayhem can sometimes be distracting. Early plot questions are thankfully answered, but on the whole, the story is more of a patchwork than a tightly woven piece. The late inclusion of a hot air balloon is memorable, even if it doesn’t fit too well into the greater puzzle.
Entertainingly strange, though some portions feel more out-of-place than thrilling.Pub Date: May 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5331-1916-2
Page Count: 338
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.
After 1,000 years of peace, whispers that “the Nameless One will return” ignite the spark that sets the world order aflame.
No, the Nameless One is not a new nickname for Voldemort. Here, evil takes the shape of fire-breathing dragons—beasts that feed off chaos and imbalance—set on destroying humankind. The leader of these creatures, the Nameless One, has been trapped in the Abyss for ages after having been severely wounded by the sword Ascalon wielded by Galian Berethnet. These events brought about the current order: Virtudom, the kingdom set up by Berethnet, is a pious society that considers all dragons evil. In the East, dragons are worshiped as gods—but not the fire-breathing type. These dragons channel the power of water and are said to be born of stars. They forge a connection with humans by taking riders. In the South, an entirely different way of thinking exists. There, a society of female mages called the Priory worships the Mother. They don’t believe that the Berethnet line, continued by generations of queens, is the sacred key to keeping the Nameless One at bay. This means he could return—and soon. “Do you not see? It is a cycle.” The one thing uniting all corners of the world is fear. Representatives of each belief system—Queen Sabran the Ninth of Virtudom, hopeful dragon rider Tané of the East, and Ead Duryan, mage of the Priory from the South—are linked by the common goal of keeping the Nameless One trapped at any cost. This world of female warriors and leaders feels natural, and while there is a “chosen one” aspect to the tale, it’s far from the main point. Shannon’s depth of imagination and worldbuilding are impressive, as this 800-pager is filled not only with legend, but also with satisfying twists that turn legend on its head. Shannon isn’t new to this game of complex storytelling. Her Bone Season novels (The Song Rising, 2017, etc.) navigate a multilayered society of clairvoyants. Here, Shannon chooses a more traditional view of magic, where light fights against dark, earth against sky, and fire against water. Through these classic pairings, an entirely fresh and addicting tale is born. Shannon may favor detailed explication over keeping a steady pace, but the epic converging of plotlines at the end is enough to forgive.
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63557-029-8
Page Count: 848
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
A tantalizing, otherworldy adventure with imagination that burns like fire.
The third installment of this fantasy series (The Bone Season, 2013; The Mime Order, 2015) expands the reaches of the fight against Scion far beyond London.
Paige Mahoney, though only 19, serves as the Underqueen of the Mime Order. She's the leader of the Unnatural community in London, a city serving under the ever more militaristic Scion, whose government is based on ridding the streets of "enemy" clairvoyants. But Paige knows the truth about Scion's roots—that an Unnatural and immortal race called the Rephaim, who come from the Netherworld, forced Scion into existence to gain control over the growing human clairvoyant community. Scion’s hatred of clairvoyants now runs so deep that Paige is forced to consider moving her entire syndicate into hiding while she aims to stop Scion's next attack: there are rumors that Senshield, a scanner able to detect certain levels of clairvoyance, is going portable. Which means no Unnatural citizen is safe—their safe houses, their back-alley routes, are all at risk of detection. Paige’s main enemy this time around is Hildred Vance, mastermind of Scion’s military branch, ScionIDE. Vance creates terror by anticipating her opponent’s next moves, so with each step that Paige and her team take to dismantle Senshield, Vance is hovering nearby to toy with Paige’s will. Luckily, Paige is never separated for long from her Rephaite ally, Warden, as his presence is grounding. But their growing relationship, strengthened by their connection to the spirit world, takes a back seat to the constant, fast-paced action. The mesmerizing qualities of this series—insight into the different orders of clairvoyance as well as the intricately imagined details of Paige’s “dreamwalking” gift, with which she is able to enter others’ minds—fade to the background as this seven-part series climbs to its highest point of tension. Shannon’s world begins to feel more generically dystopian, but as Paige fights to locate and understand the spiritual energy powering Senshield, it is never less than captivating.
A tantalizing, otherworldy adventure with imagination that burns like fire.Pub Date: March 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63286-624-0
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
