by Robert W. Tompkins ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 31, 2016
A lengthy new fantasy series that gets off to an auspicious start.
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A hero kills a dragon: So what is he going to do now?
One of the hallmarks of a remarkable fantasy world is that the tales the author tells feel like just the tip of the iceberg. For every story readers hear, there are 10 they’ll never know. Such is the case with Tolkien’s Middle Earth and George R.R. Martin’s Westeros. The same could be said of Hagenspan, the land in which Tompkins’ (Owan’s Regret, 2018, etc.) novel is set. Hagenspan, readers are told, once existed in the North Atlantic—perhaps during the Middle Ages; it was inhabited by men and women, trolls, dragons, and fairies, all of whom fought and loved, strove and died. Like Middle Earth and Westeros, Hagenspan is a sprawling, richly imagined realm peopled with dozens upon dozens of intriguing characters. This volume is the first of nine books in a series. (The author is currently writing the 10th.) Its hero is Sir Cedric Roarke of Lauren, Slayer of Dragons. True to his name, Roarke kills such a foul beast. But the ingenuity of Tompkins’ series opener is that the daring deed happens before the book even begins. The tale, then, grapples with all the unlikely questions that crop up in the aftermath. How does Roarke prove he killed the dragon? How does he protect the booty? Does he keep the castle the dragon stole? How does he pull off that feat? And on and on. In County Bretay, where the castle Blythecairne is situated, law and tradition dictate that the slayer of a dragon must hold the bastion in question for a full year before the warrior can lay claim to it and the surrounding lands. Roarke’s valiant efforts to do so take up the bulk of the story. The author is an assured fantasy writer, and his prose rolls on without affect or pretense (“Men would have called Roarke an adventurer, but it would not have been accurate. While it was true that he had experienced many adventures in his half-century of existence, he did not love sleeping on the ground, or eating bad food, or going without food at all”). And while Tompkins is building a medieval world, he never stretches for the faux feudal diction that has doomed similar, lesser efforts.
A lengthy new fantasy series that gets off to an auspicious start.Pub Date: May 31, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5330-7870-4
Page Count: 274
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Samantha Shannon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 2019
A celebration of fantasy that melds modern ideology with classic tropes. More of these dragons, please.
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New York Times Bestseller
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
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by TJ Klune ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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