Superlative characters garner the spotlight in this quiet but absorbing fantasy.
In Cain’s series opener, a royal arranged marriage may bring peace—unless a steadfast assassin puts a stop to it.
Princess Azmei of Tamnen sails to the city-state of Ranarr, the place where she will come face-to-face with the man she’s to marry for the first time. It’s all part of a plan to end the war between Tamnen and the land of Strid, though her union will be with the prince of Amethir. While Prince Vistaren is determined to make a good impression on his bride-to-be, he’d much prefer, if given the choice, to be coupled with a man. He sails aboard the Dawn Starwith privateer Arama Dzornaea at the helm; she’ll take the prince and the princess back to Amethir, should they both agree to wed. But that’s not the only thing happening in Ranarr, which is a bevy of activity—there’s an assassin in the mix plotting to take out Azmei and ensure that peace isn’t possible. Cain’s brisk tale is surprisingly low-key in the telling, considering that “pirate captain” Arama is prominently featured; much of what unfolds in Ranarr concerns politics, burgeoning relationships, and potential romances. Will Azmei and Vistaren feel anything for one another, or simply accept their union as an obligation? And how will Arama answer an ultimatum from General Lozarr Algot, who’s long held affection for the typically guarded captain? By contrast, the narrative perspective of the assassin, who’s meticulously formulating the princess’ demise, layers the novel with suspense (“She’d packed two daggers in a false bottom for her trunk, along with an ornate garrote that looked like jewelry. She had all the supplies she needed”). The remarkable cast only reinforces the lively setting (including the city-state’s “series of markets”); there’s merchant Orya Perslyn, who travels with and befriends Azmei; Azmei’s brother and sword-sparring partner Razem; and softhearted Lord-Captain Destar Thorne of Tamnen’s navy. Readers will surely welcome any one of these individuals back in sequels.
Superlative characters garner the spotlight in this quiet but absorbing fantasy.Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2024
ISBN: 9781944774134
Page Count: 353
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 5, 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
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.
Cormac McCarthy's The Road meets Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in this frightful medieval epic about an orphan girl with visionary powers in plague-devastated France.
The year is 1348. The conflict between France and England is nothing compared to the all-out war building between good angels and fallen ones for control of heaven (though a scene in which soldiers are massacred by a rainbow of arrows is pretty horrific). Among mortals, only the girl, Delphine, knows of the cataclysm to come. Angels speak to her, issuing warnings—and a command to run. A pack of thieves is about to carry her off and rape her when she is saved by a disgraced knight, Thomas, with whom she teams on a march across the parched landscape. Survivors desperate for food have made donkey a delicacy and don't mind eating human flesh. The few healthy people left lock themselves in, not wanting to risk contact with strangers, no matter how dire the strangers' needs. To venture out at night is suicidal: Horrific forces swirl about, ravaging living forms. Lethal black clouds, tentacled water creatures and assorted monsters are comfortable in the daylight hours as well. The knight and a third fellow journeyer, a priest, have difficulty believing Delphine's visions are real, but with oblivion lurking in every shadow, they don't have any choice but to trust her. The question becomes, can she trust herself? Buehlman, who drew upon his love of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in his acclaimed Southern horror novel, Those Across the River (2011), slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn't scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face of unspeakable horrors. The power of suggestion is the author's strong suit, along with first-rate storytelling talent.
An author to watch, Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-937007-86-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Ace/Berkley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
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