An intelligent debut, possibly headed for bestsellerdom.
Former economist Newcomb’s first entry in a projected trilogy, the Chronicles of Blood and Stone, takes as its central device “endowed blood,” a bloodline that links an individual with the ability to use magic. Four sorceresses, found guilty of pillage, rape, and murder in their quest for endowed blood to match their own, are abandoned in the Sea of Whispers by Wigg, head of the Directorate of Wizards in the Kingdom of Eutracia. Wigg is still top wiz 327 years later when Prince Tristan is about to turn 30 and inherit Eutracia’s throne. Tristan, whose blood streams with endowments, wants to race through his 30-year reign, get his wizard training, and join the Directorate. But he has no future queen to give him a son for the throne. Symbols pile up: the magic Paragon stone worn by the king; the Tome of the Paragon, a book of magic few can read; the rival magics of the light Vigors and dark Vagaries; the Cave of the Dragon; the naming of Tristan and pregnant twin sister Shailiha as the Chosen Ones. Then comes the sorceress Natasha, sister to the banished four, who lives disguised as a duchess and lusts to mingle her endowed blood with the Chosen One’s. Will she seduce/rape Tristan to produce a Morgan le Fay? Or is Shailiha’s baby the super-sorceress-to-be?
An intelligent debut, possibly headed for bestsellerdom.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-345-44892-8
Page Count: 624
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
An enjoyable, worthwhile end to an immersive series.
Cerúlia takes back her throne, but her troubles are just beginning in Kozloff’s (A Broken Queen, 2020, etc.) fourth and final Four Realms novel.
It only takes five chapters for Cerúlia to successfully overthrow Matwyck and take her throne. At first it feels a bit pat for a four-book series to resolve its main plotline so early in its final volume, but it turns out there’s more to successfully ruling a kingdom than putting a crown on your head. Queen Cerúlia has to root out the network of people who supported Matwyck’s coup; she must discern which people genuinely wish to serve her and which are liars waiting to end her reign before it gets going. What’s more, she must address political issues like the growing resentment among the common people toward the aristocracy and deal with thorny issues of international diplomacy. All the while, she has to figure out how to finally be herself when she was forced to spend almost her entire life pretending she was not the rightful queen. Kozloff has great instincts when it comes to pacing, and the novel flies by with a good mix of action sequences and emotional, character-developing beats. Her villains are never one-note, and her heroes are complicated and fallible. Still, it all starts to feel a little paint-by-number. It’s not that there are never any consequences or losses, but eventually it feels a bit too certain that Cerúlia will get it right and things will go her way. Even so, the series ender is just as much fun as the rest of the books.
An enjoyable, worthwhile end to an immersive series.Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-16896-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Fans will love the second installment of this dark fantasy about very human characters beset by inhuman dangers.
When the world changes, will you change with it?
A boy who takes pleasure in causing pain meets a monster who can teach him to do much more. A Soulkeeper puts his reputation on the line to stop the abuse of soulless humans—while concealing his relationship with an "awakened" formerly soulless woman. A religious woman given unimaginable power over human souls by a monster struggles to determine right from wrong, faith from blasphemy. In a world where mountains walk, prayers can change the physical world, and magical creatures like talking rabbit-soldiers have awoken from a centurieslong slumber, no choice is simple. The Soulkeeper Devin has chosen to befriend creatures like the faery Tesmarie while his spellcasting brother-in-law, Tommy, believes the newly awakened magical creatures have as much right to the land as humans do. In a time when most humans are reacting with fear and anger to their changing world, seeing the world in shades of gray can be dangerous. Meanwhile, Devin’s sister, Adria, finds that her new powers are testing her faith and bringing up questions she’d rather not confront. As new magical threats to the human population arise, all of these characters will be pushed to their limits, and the decisions they make may determine the fate of humanity. Picking up where Soulkeeper (2019) left off, this second book in a planned trilogy raises the stakes for every character, complicating the moral choices they face. The plot rockets along from one magical battle to the next, but Dalglish deftly weaves in rich character development alongside all this action.
Fans will love the second installment of this dark fantasy about very human characters beset by inhuman dangers.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-316-41669-6
Page Count: 624
Publisher: Orbit/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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