Offers an enjoyable romp for high fantasy fans, but lacks rounded characters.
Stephenson and Tedrick (War of the Staffs, 2016) deliver a second installment in their saga of swords, sorcery, and the depths of space.
Picking up where the previous novel left off, the war-torn planet Muiria remains under the threat of Lord Taza, a vampire warlock with the magic staff of a dark goddess and a mighty army. Still, Prince Tarquin—prophesied to destroy Taza—the wizard Celedant, the elven rebel Morganna, and others continue to oppose the vampire, despite his best efforts to kill them. Now the race is on for the virtuous forces to find the lost piece of the Staff of Adaman and turn the tide before it’s too late. At the same time, good and evil engage in a complex dance of coalitions and politics, as each group attempts to bolster its alliances, and Taza tries to frighten the nations of light into inaction. The vampire also plans to travel “through the void in search of new and greater creatures to pit against” Prince Tarquin and his band and “to contact the Shadow Lords.” As tension mounts, the heroes grow closer and learn to lean on one another for support, and sometimes more. But close bonds and noble intentions alone cannot stave off the sinister warriors in the field or the destruction when the two sides finally clash. As in the first volume, complex battle scenes and the myriad races, cultures, and powers in Muiria are strong selling points, and during the quest for the Staff of Adaman, the audience sees even more of this rich, intriguing world. Unfortunately, while the broad scope and multiple perspectives will appeal to some readers, the details may be overwhelming for others, and anyone attempting to read this book as a stand-alone will likely get lost. Additionally, the prose is awkward and excessively specific at times, which can draw readers out of this Tolkien-esque epic: “The prince’s frantic retreat had foiled a deadly blow from her scimitar, aimed at his exposed neck, when he tumbled over a tree root.” Finally, while the story provides more background for the cast’s personal relationships, the characters remain archetypal and simplistic for the most part, making large sections difficult to navigate and showing a lack of depth that plagues the novel as a whole.
Offers an enjoyable romp for high fantasy fans, but lacks rounded characters.Pub Date: July 13, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61296-905-3
Page Count: 294
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her...
Another middle-aged mom in a muddle.
After years of false starts and big hopes, Elizabeth’s ruggedly handsome husband Jack, a former football star, just landed a spot as a sportscaster on national news. He still loves her, even though much younger women are giving him come-hither looks. Heck, he doesn’t want to betray the love of his life after she helped him kick drugs and stuck by him even when he was a struggling has-been. And won’t it seem hypocritical if he fools around with his sexy assistant while he does in-depth reporting on a rape case involving a famous basketball center? Well, he fools around anyway. Elizabeth, nicknamed Birdie, knows nothing of this, but she withdraws from Jack when her hard-drinking, salt-of-the-earth father has a stroke and dies. Now no one will call her “sugar beet” ever again. Time to return home to Tennessee and contend with Anita, the sort-of-evil stepmother so trashy she wears pink puffy slippers all day long. Naturally, it turns out that Anita actually has a heart of gold and knows a few things about Birdie’s dead mother that were hushed up for years. Mom was an artist, just like Birdie, and an old scandal comes to light as Anita unrolls a vibrant canvas that portrays her secret lover. Perhaps, Birdie muses, her mother died of heartbreak, never having followed her true love or developed her talent. Has she, too, compromised everything she holds dear? Hoping to find out, Birdie joins a support group that promises to reconnect confused women with their passion. She and Jack separate, prompting a how-dare-you fit from their grown daughters. Will Birdie fly her empty nest? Will she go back to college for a degree in art? Will her brooding watercolors ever sell?
Soft-focus story moves right along with few surprises. This time around, Hannah avoids the soap-opera complications of her previous tales (Summer Island, 2001, etc.).Pub Date: July 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-345-45071-X
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
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