A compelling, colorful tale that ushers in a world of mythical beings and endless deceptions.
The lives and fates of mortals and faeries grow precariously intertwined in mid-19th-century Northern England in Trent’s fantasy novel.
When young Elizabeth’s imaginary friends (“fae-treefolk”) didn’t simply go away as the girl grew older, her parents had her temporarily committed to an asylum. Now married and the mother of 2-month-old twin daughters, Elizabeth doesn’t plan on telling anyone about any supernatural creatures she may see; the faeries, however, over in their realm of Elphame, have eyes on the mortal woman. Queen Oonagh of the Seelie Court sends her servant Titwell to observe Elizabeth’s daughters. As anticipated by Oonagh and her court, one of the infants shows signs of magic—likely the one described in a prophecy. The girl is taken to Elphame and replaced with a changeling, while Titwell stays in the human realm and continues watching the other twin. The citizens of Elphame want to know why Queen Oonagh has apparently violated her own edict, which stresses that humans and faerie folk should never mingle. Queen Maeve of the Unseelie Court sends a goblin to follow Titwell, and shape-shifting Rhys Bryhana, in his “human guise,” hopes to gather intel among the humans. Rhys connects with Elizabeth’s archaeologist husband, Nikolai, who’s currently on an expedition in Egypt. Back in England, Elizabeth, believing without a doubt that one of her daughters is a changeling, mourns her stolen baby. Titwell, still observing and newly sympathetic, feels he can help if he can just get a particular journal into Elizabeth’s hands, since an unbreakable “binding” prevents him from simply voicing the truth.
Trent’s novel, which launches a series, is unremittingly tense as a myriad of subplots reveal the characters’ often clashing agendas. Rhys is relatively neutral, having not sided with either queen; he’s unquestionably upset when Nikolai seems intent upon retrieving what Rhys knows is a faerie relic. The redcap goblin Groz outright bullies Titwell, whom he’s shadowing on Queen Maeve’s behalf; Elizabeth, who worries about telling her husband that she sees faeries, is already burdened by her overbearing mother, Helen, who’s been staying at her daughter’s cottage. Some villains are memorably menacing (the changeling’s “sharp, toothy grin” makes for a lasting image), while others aren’t as easy to identify; for example, human-friendly Seelie is the lighter of Elphame’s dual courts, but it’s the Seelie Queen who orders the abduction of an infant girl. This opening installment doesn’t allow much room for character development for Elizabeth, who’s shackled by her mother and societal expectations. The extensive supporting cast, however, gives the narrative a healthy boost of energy as it moves from one scene to the next in England, Egypt, and Elphame. The author graces the pages with elegant prose throughout the novel: “In scattered hollows and forgotten valleys, where the veil thinned like worn muslin, Earth and Elphame brushed one another…To human eyes such crossings looked like mist rising off moorland, or the way a forest seems to lean inward as though listening.”
A compelling, colorful tale that ushers in a world of mythical beings and endless deceptions.Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2026
ISBN: 9781734923841
Page Count: 424
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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