Sharp worldbuilding, authentic characters, and thoughtful explorations of prejudice and misogyny bode well for future...
This second installment of an epic fantasy series that draws on the history and culture of the Mughal Empire (Empire of Sand, 2018) takes place a decade later.
Unlike her sister, Mehr, who remembered their Amrithi birth mother and the rituals of their people, Arwa has done her best to embrace the Ambhan heritage of their nobleman father and follow the guidance of her Ambhan stepmother. But when a dark force slaughters her husband and all the soldiers under his command, Arwa owes her survival to her Amrithi blood, literally, as shedding it can ward off the spirits known as daivas. The new widow resolves to put the magic of her blood into the service of the Ambhan Empire, which has suffered a material and spiritual decline since the death of the Maha, the empire’s near-immortal founder. She joins the emperor’s bastard, Zahir, in a dangerous quest in the titular realm of ash, a dream world where one can encounter and absorb the memories of the dead. Arwa’s blood eases the path to the Maha’s memories, which Zahir believes can save the empire. But the other memories they encounter, and the political turmoil surrounding the emperor’s decline, send them on an even more dangerous—but far more redemptive—journey. Arwa’s gradual rebellion against the society that crushed her mother’s people is an intriguing counterpoint to her older sister’s more overt resistance in Book 1; Arwa must battle her own ignorance of her heritage as well as the forces arrayed against her due to prejudice and her placement in a noble court during a fight for the succession. She is a well-drawn and sympathetic character; even in 2019, readers will understand a situation in which a woman is forced to suppress personal qualities to fit an approved model of a smiling, submissive helpmeet. The novel is also a nicely crafted exploration of the implications of the previous volume; after centuries in which the gods were impelled to dream the positive fortunes of the Ambhan Empire, more negative forces are now in play to balance the scales.
Sharp worldbuilding, authentic characters, and thoughtful explorations of prejudice and misogyny bode well for future volumes.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-44975-5
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
PROFILES
BOOK TO SCREEN
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