This dynamic world and cast of characters promise an engaging saga to follow.
A metalworker braves a war-ravaged land to reunite with her sickly father in Somerset’s fantasy novel.
Ever since her father left to live with her uncle, Cosette Argant has run Argant Fine Metalcrafts on her own. Business was excellent until her coastal city of Marenburg found itself at war six months ago. The island country of Tearn has invaded the Republic nations, starting with Marenburg, which is split into 11 walled sections, or Quarters. Staying afloat is challenging enough for Cosette, and nearly impossible once civil unrest spurs a mob that storms the shops owned by reputed Tearnan sympathizers. Around the same time, Cosette gets word from her uncle, who writes that her father isn’t doing well. She’s determined to see him, but since she’s in the Journeyman Quarter, she’ll have to traverse three Quarters to reach the one where he currently resides—and those are now all Tearnan-occupied lands. Cosette sets out on the dangerous expedition, only to be grabbed by Tearnan soldiers in Sootlund, the first Quarter outside of Journeyman. These “gray sheep” (as Maren citizens call Tearnan soldiers) initially suspect Cosette is a spy and detain her. But it’s not long before they see her merit as a bright, capable woman fluent in both the Tearnan and Maren tongues. Likewise, Cosette gradually realizes that not all of the enemy gray sheep are malicious. Intelligence Officer Desil, for one, a Sirka (a member of a race with mysterious origins), is unexpectedly empathetic and receptive.
Somerset loads this first installment of this series with exposition (Tearn’s motivations for invading the coastal city stem from the political aftermath of another invasion a mere two decades earlier, as well as an assassination). The backstory showcases the author’s stellar worldbuilding—the novel includes an entire continent of nations, though this story centers on Marenburg. Some of the exposition comes courtesy of footnotes, which help the narrative to avoid decelerating too often. Cosette is a remarkable protagonist who puts herself at risk just because someone she loves may not have long to live. She tends to play the observer, a person only beginning to witness the conflicts that others endure—she previously “thought of the war as some far away thing that would never reach her.” Desil takes the narrative reins for a few chapters and reveals a plan she’s quietly working on (something that Cosette may have already deduced); as the story progresses, mutual trust seems possible. Contrasts between Marenburg (as part of the Republic Alliance) and Tearn further enrich this tale: While slavery exists in Marenburg, Tearn has outlawed it, even in its occupied territories. Similarly, magic is “one of the most grievous offenses” in the coastal city and surrounding areas, making Cosette wary of Tearnan mages. At the novel’s end, there’s plenty left to explore, from other locations on the map to such enigmas as the Watchful Eye, a legendary assassin. This dynamic world and cast of characters promise an engaging saga to follow.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9781969510021
Page Count: 514
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 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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