A delicate balance of political intrigue, elaborate world building, and thrilling action merges into an epic medieval...
A brave general aims to overthrow an immortal wizard, whose ambitions could lead to an unprecedented age of darkness in Frans’ fantasy novel.
This first book in The Planewars Saga introduces readers to a multiverse consisting of 27 known worlds, in which the seemingly immortal wizard Lord Brakken (known, among other names, as “the War Maker”) has at least partial control of four—and has his eyes set on the rest. But there is a growing faction of creatures—human, elves, dwarves—who are willing to rise against the dark wizard to finally find freedom. This group is led by Artorus Vallon, a grizzled general who has finally had enough, and his brave half-sister, Mala. As their rebellion grows, they seek help from a Sage (an immortal race who act as knowledge keepers for all the known worlds) named Kellos. Together, they will learn all they can about the wizards—including the three branches of magic that allow them to manipulate matter, teleport, and control people’s thoughts. But as the fight escalates and things turn increasingly violent, Artorus and his army of rebels hurtle toward a shocking conclusion. Frans has crafted a sprawling first-in-series that manages to be action-packed while still leaving plenty of room for more. The blend of fantasy and sci-fi (Lord Brakken picks fights with other planets through a “worldgate”) provides a fresh spin, while Artorus’ consistently compassionate leadership and distaste for violence makes for a genuinely inspiring hero: “‘This ruthlessness, this fear and death,’ Artorus hissed, ‘this is the stuff of Wizards; of madmen and of warlords.’” A sophisticated formal narrative voice and crisp dialogue help transport readers into Frans’ panoramic multiverse. While fantasy beginners may find the book’s 500-plus pages and lengthy glossary of characters intimidating, those who know and love the genre will delight in Frans’s intricate world(s) building.
A delicate balance of political intrigue, elaborate world building, and thrilling action merges into an epic medieval fantasy.Pub Date: April 12, 2024
ISBN: 9798990343726
Page Count: 510
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
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
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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