An intriguing but uneven supernatural tale about fateful choices.
In this novel, a man deals with a mysterious gift that grants wishes.
Mike Alex is just a regular guy, working a run-of-the-mill job as a mechanic in a small garage and living with his pregnant girlfriend, Rhonda. His worries are equally ordinary: Can he make enough money to support the couple now that they have a baby on the way? Should he propose before or after the infant is born? Is there enough beer in the fridge? But then one day a mysterious package arrives by courier, addressed to him from an unknown sender who is simply called “The Shepherd.” Inside, there is an old, ugly bracelet and a note that states it will grant its wearer one wish per day for as long as the person wants. At first, Mike and Rhonda dismiss the gift and the note as a joke. But the more time passes, the more Mike is consumed by what ifs, and he soon decides to test the bracelet. His first wish is born out of envy for a happy couple who are friends with Rhonda, wishing for the two to hate each other. To his surprise, this actually happens. Now that Mike knows the bracelet really works, the world is his oyster, and he can start dreaming up bigger wishes. But he eventually comes to learn everything has consequences—and that there are other people who know about the artifact. Cheney’s otherworldly tale is a Twilight Zone–esque story that deftly examines how a working man is affected by having the power over life and death. Mike is a self-aware character who knows his own limitations, struggling to do well with very little education. One of the tale’s poignant highlights centers on how Mike avoids making any wishes that will directly influence his life because “he didn’t want to set himself up for disappointment.” But some mundane, repetitious prose; unremarkable secondary characters; and an unsatisfying resolution bog the story down.
An intriguing but uneven supernatural tale about fateful choices.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2009
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 286
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2022
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
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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