A well-executed adventure that riffs on the darker aspects of European fairy tales.
A young woman must undertake a nightmarish quest for a possibly mythical artifact in this debut fantasy.
Eighteen-year-old Gisela Sauer once loved fairy tales, but she can no longer bring herself to believe in them. Since the death of her brother, Gisela has been forced to provide for her family, including her drunken father, her harried mother, and her special needs sister, Thora. The May Day festival—held in honor of her village’s patron goddess, Bergot—finds Gisela peddling milk and eggs in the town square. But May Day is not all dances and bonfires: Town tradition demands that each year eight young people be sent into the forest to search for the legendary Lost Crown to bring back as an offering to Bergot. Gisela considers it a death sentence, so, of course, this year she is one of the eight to receive a Black Letter summoning her for the mission. She has no choice but to go in order to protect her family from harm. At least the rakish lutist Brahm Wolf, who has made no secret of his affections for Gisela, is chosen as well. As Gisela quickly learns, magic is, in fact, real—and dangerous. She, Brahm, and their companions will have to navigate their way through obstacles from the very darkest of fairy tales in order to come back alive. Briar’s fantasy world, which is based on Germanic folklore, is rich and fearsome, as in this passage that Gisela narrates: “Snarling and snorting, the girl’s face transforms into a snout and her hands into clawed paws. A matted fur spreads over her skin as she cranes her neck to howl. Pawing into the ashes, the wolf darts for me.” There are a few elements that break the spell—the dialogue is completely modern, and some of the characters are a bit one-dimensional—but on the whole, the novel is immersive and fun. Gisela’s arc has some emotional heft, and the author isn’t afraid to tread a few steps into the horror genre. By the end, readers will hope that Briar will be back soon with another tale of the fantastic.
A well-executed adventure that riffs on the darker aspects of European fairy tales.Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
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