At times overly familiar, other times creative; should please readers interested in adding oddities to slashing swords and...
Thornhill’s debut fantasy novel follows the adventures of four magical friends out to battle a jilted necromancer.
Mordic, a “half-elph,” recalls his teacher telling him, “Each person has been touched by the aftermath of the Calamity, the fall of Utatam.” That fall, which probably happened about 15 generations before, was followed by both the Great Waste of Time—“part of the great history of the world that no one remembers, nor was it recorded”—and a great deal of magic. Creatures of all kinds now compete for power: polymorphs can change themselves into different creatures, while necromancers are feared for their ability to bring death and destruction. Adventuring through this time are Mordic, Kale, Mattatias and Kalamar. Though they hail from different backgrounds and possess different abilities, the four become friends in a quest against the dreaded, lonely necromancer Nigel, who’s been rejected by Lady Elaina. He hasn’t taken it well: “I want her to love me of her own volition.” Added into the mix is the mysterious Simon, who possesses the “first and only onyx weapon to exist on this continent in over a thousand years!” Simon is a deadly figure who, with his powerful sword, is one to be reckoned with. Loaded with action and introspection—particularly from the contemplative Mordic, who is “seeking knowledge and adventure”—the complex story has numerous characters with varied motivations. Keeping track of it all can be challenging, even with “The Chronicler” introducing chapters and offering helpful information: e.g., “Ropermai teems with interesting people and places.” Fans of the genre will find much of interest, including elements such as the “Neuromantic Shocking Wave” from which “One quarter of the men fell asleep, one quarter were dazed, one quarter were killed, and one quarter were unfazed.” Though the story relies on many fantasy tropes (powerful magic, noisy taverns serving “goblin grog,” etc.) and an assortment of sometimes familiar weapons (“Mattatias drew his golden spear”), the story nevertheless manages to distinguish itself with things such as self-help books (“Intelligence Can Be Boosted”) and six-legged creatures called hexahorses. Occasionally, dialogue can be dull—“ ‘Sack of taters, you do that too well,’ Mordic thought to Kale”—but the strange story is ultimately an inventive one.
At times overly familiar, other times creative; should please readers interested in adding oddities to slashing swords and dangerous magic.Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-1497336001
Page Count: 540
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Jan. 30, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
PERSPECTIVES
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.
Book 2 of Hearne's latest fantasy trilogy, The Seven Kennings (A Plague of Giants, 2017), set in a multiracial world thrust into turmoil by an invasion of peculiar giants.
In this world, most races have their own particular magical endowment, or “kenning,” though there are downsides to trying to gain the magic (an excellent chance of being killed instead) and using it (rapid aging and death). Most recently discovered is the sixth kenning, whose beneficiaries can talk to and command animals. The story canters along, although with multiple first-person narrators, it's confusing at times. Some characters are familiar, others are new, most of them with their own problems to solve, all somehow caught up in the grand design. To escape her overbearing father and the unreasoning violence his kind represents, fire-giant Olet Kanek leads her followers into the far north, hoping to found a new city where the races and kennings can peacefully coexist. Joining Olet are young Abhinava Khose, discoverer of the sixth kenning, and, later, Koesha Gansu (kenning: air), captain of an all-female crew shipwrecked by deep-sea monsters. Elsewhere, Hanima, who commands hive insects, struggles to free her city from the iron grip of wealthy, callous merchant monarchists. Other threads focus on the Bone Giants, relentless invaders seeking the still-unknown seventh kenning, whose confidence that this can defeat the other six is deeply disturbing. Under Hearne's light touch, these elements mesh perfectly, presenting an inventive, eye-filling panorama; satisfying (and, where appropriate, well-resolved) plotlines; and tensions between the races and their kennings to supply much of the drama.
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-345-54857-3
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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