Approached with patience, this epic fantasy will satisfy any fan of the genre.
An ode to storytelling, complete with a rich mythology, turbulent adventures, and a flawed hero you'll root for.
Ari has been given many names. There is some truth to the legends about him, but as stories are told, little by little, they can become transformed over time. In his travels to Etaynia, a place far west of his home in the Mutri Empire, in search of an old and nearly forgotten tale, he is recognized as the most famous storyteller along the Golden Road. His arrival at a quiet and humble tavern was intended to be an opportunity to perform and earn his keep while on his journey, but as often happens to Ari, his plans are quickly interrupted. He meets a mysterious songstress with plans of her own. Since she's reluctant to share details about her life, he gives her the name Eloine, but they each soon realize that the other is much more than who and what they seem. Together, Ari and Eloine find that parts of their pasts have not been left behind, and neither have their enemies. To understand their present circumstances, Ari delves into his history, recalling the many lives he's lived and the origins of his many names beyond "Storyteller." In an ambitious and passionate narrative, through the past and present, truth and fictions of Ari’s life, Virdi captures readers in a lyrical web, grounded in the landscapes and cultures of South Asia. Readers journey with Ari through the challenges he faces as a young boy of the lowest caste in the streets of the Mutri Empire to his dedication to uncovering the hidden wonders of binding magic. Throughout, Ari grows ever more steadfast in his pursuit of knowledge and in the kindness he provides again and again to friends, strangers, and an animal companion. And in some deeply profound moments, the storyteller's words burn just as true in the world off the page.
Approached with patience, this epic fantasy will satisfy any fan of the genre.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-79617-2
Page Count: 832
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
A unique concept that promises readers will find at least one, if not three, entwined but different narratives to enjoy.
When Vis is copied into two other realities, he must stop a god from repeatedly culling almost everyone back home.
Thousands of years ago, to prevent the Concurrence from enslaving everyone, the world was split into three near-identical copies: Res, Obiteum, and Luceum. To exist in all three worlds, to wield Will there, is to achieve synchronism. After the events in The Will of the Many (2023), which cost Vis his arm and the life of his friend, Vis achieves Synchronism. While Res-Vis must continue to play Hierarchy politics to find his friend’s killer, Obiteum-Vis finds a ruined world, where the dead are reanimated and used by Ka, the Concurrence, and the only other person to exist in synchronism. Meanwhile, Luceum-Vis is forced into a dispute between druids, their High Council, and their kings—with one king intent on killing him—and Vis has no idea why. On all worlds, Vis is as shrewd as ever, weighing his options, planning ahead, and doing what he must to survive. However, he, too, slowly diverges, doing things he swore he never would: cede his Will, use Will to control someone else, and reveal his true name. If at least one Vis cannot use his synchronism and power of Will to kill the Concurrence, no Vis will be safe, and another Cataclysm will cull those he loves on Res. Book Two of the Hierarchy series is a speculative fantasy that is at once Egyptian post-apocalyptic, Celtic medieval, and Roman dystopian, thanks to the multidimensional setting. Although the sprawling narrative at times overextends itself, Islington rewards patient readers with a compelling story, a cast of complex and diverse characters, and a glimpse into how far a good man can go before he’s lost. A symbol at the start of each chapter delineates which world and Vis it’s about. Readers should read The Will of the Many before attempting this volume, or they may be confused for the first several chapters and beyond.
A unique concept that promises readers will find at least one, if not three, entwined but different narratives to enjoy.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781982141233
Page Count: 736
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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