by Tim Susman ; illustrated by Laura Garabedian ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 15, 2021
A conceptually dense installment that will likely satisfy fans of the series.
In Susman’s fourth fantasy-series entry, sorcerer Kip Penfold, an anthropomorphic fox, must save his new school during a revolutionary uprising.
It’s two years after the American Revolution of 1817, and Kip, the first nonhuman sorcerer, has founded a college for sorcery in East Georgia. Money is tight, however, and Kip and his colleagues don’t know if they’ll be able to keep the school open. Kip is one of the Calatians—a historically marginalized group of humanlike animals—and his school serves the local Calatian community. He suspects that some humans in the newly formed American government would be happy if the school failed. Along with his partner, Alice, and his friends Emily Carswell and Malcolm O’Brien, Kip sets off for the International Exposition of Sorcery in Amsterdam in the hope of procuring support for his college. He’s wary of the presence of his human nemesis, Victor Adamson, who’d like nothing better than to see Kip’s school go under. When some students Kip brought along start disappearing, however, he realizes that Victor’s plot to harness demonic magic is a threat to Calatians everywhere. To save his people, Kip won’t let anything stand in his way—not even a French revolution. Each chapter features a lovely black-and-white illustration by Garabedian, which serves as a point of entry for the reader’s imagination. Susman’s prose is smooth and even throughout: “Having a raven, Kip had discovered, was like having a very perceptive young child, and he’d learned to project calm and assurance even when (as now) he did not feel them naturally.” In addition to the normal Harry Potter–esque wizarding fare, Susman uses the setting to explore issues of intolerance toward women and minority groups. For those who haven’t read the previous books, the world of the Calatians is a lot to wrap one’s head around: an alternative history with humanoid animals, magic, and some complex domestic relationships. The plot is perhaps not quite compelling enough to warrant the amount of mythology the reader has to wade through, which makes it a troublesome starting point for newcomers.
A conceptually dense installment that will likely satisfy fans of the series.Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-61450-528-0
Page Count: 278
Publisher: Argyll Productions
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Samantha Shannon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2023
Prepare yourself for the long haul. This is expansive, emotionally complex, and bound to suck you in.
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Magic, dragons, and prophecy are welcome threads in a fantasy that extols the power of motherhood, friendship, and self-love to change the world.
This prequel to Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019) has a similar scope to that 800-page fantasy, but dragon lore is less important here than the stories of people and events that become catalysts for The Priory's tale. Each chapter is grounded by a cardinal direction, lest you lose your bearings, with the four corners of the world home to central characters whom readers will get to know intimately. In the West lives Glorian, heir to the queendom of Inys. Her rule is based on the sacred Berethnet bloodline, whose power originates from the knight Galian Berethnet's banishing of the Nameless One, a giant fire-breathing wyrm birthed from the world’s core. In the East, Dumai lives on a mountain peak and trains as a godsinger, someone who harbors a human connection to the dragons the East worship as gods. In the South, Tunuva is a warrior of the Priory, a sisterhood that worships the Mother who is seen as the true banisher of the Nameless One. Their beliefs are so different and their societies so distanced that they don't know of the others' existence. And yet, when the balance of nature starts to waver, bringing whispers of new fire-breathing threats like the Nameless One, these women find themselves united by a common cause to save their people and seek truth about the higher powers at war with one another. This story is epic in scope, but its density is the sort that pulls you in. The biggest pull comes from the humanity displayed by the central characters, whose hearts ache for their children and their futures in a world fraught with turmoil. The fire-breathers bring more than destruction in their wake; they also bring a plaguelike sickness that will elicit sharp parallels to the Covid-19 pandemic. The very real struggles these characters face, whether they ride dragons or bear the suffocating rules of monarchy, make this a consuming read. While some fantasy tropes feel like they've only been added to the story's surface, the pages keep turning because of the heart-wrenching reasons that characters are driven to action. The heroes shine in their uniqueness, with diverse family dynamics interwoven throughout and representation ranging from queer lords and warriors to genderfluid alchemists. This prequel stands on its own, but a word of warning to people who have read The Priory: You'll want to reread it in order to benefit from the deeper knowledge of what came before.
Prepare yourself for the long haul. This is expansive, emotionally complex, and bound to suck you in.Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-63557-792-1
Page Count: 880
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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by V.E. Schwab ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 6, 2020
Spanning centuries and continents, this is a darkly romantic and suspenseful tale by a writer at the top of her game.
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When you deal with the darkness, everything has a price.
“Never pray to the gods that answer after dark.” Adeline tried to heed this warning, but she was desperate to escape a wedding she didn’t want and a life spent trapped in a small town. So desperate that she didn’t notice the sun going down. And so she made a deal: For freedom, and time, she will surrender her soul when she no longer wants to live. But freedom came at a cost. Adeline didn’t want to belong to anyone; now she is forgotten every time she slips out of sight. She has spent 300 years living like a ghost, unable even to speak her own name. She has affairs with both men and women, but she can never have a comfortable intimacy built over time—only the giddy rush of a first meeting, over and over again. So when she meets a boy who, impossibly, remembers her, she can’t walk away. What Addie doesn’t know is why Henry is the first person in 300 years who can remember her. Or why Henry finds her as compelling as she finds him. And, of course, she doesn’t know how the devil she made a deal with will react if he learns that the rules of their 300-year-long game have changed. This spellbinding story unspools in multiple timelines as Addie moves through history, learning the rules of her curse and the whims of her captor. Meanwhile, both Addie and the reader get to know Henry and understand what sets him apart. This is the kind of book you stay up all night reading—rich and satisfying and strange and impeccably crafted.
Spanning centuries and continents, this is a darkly romantic and suspenseful tale by a writer at the top of her game.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7653-8756-1
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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by V.E. Schwab ; illustrated by Manuel Šumberac
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