Extraordinary fantasy tales of an otherworldly place, both curious and alluring.
Assorted characters navigate a canal city overflowing with magic in Amundsen’s debut short-story collection.
Chalmach, the capital city of Roq, may be “the world’s wonder”; it’s made up of canals and features three tiers accessible by elevators. In “Once Upon a Story,” Silian is a tour guide who knows the city well, having been practically raised on a gondola. His latest client, a historian, requests to undergo the “trial of the Mother,” which involves visiting a series of shrines. Her reference is a mysterious book that, she implies, holds more knowledge than what Silian’s grandfather has passed down. The five tales included here all unfold in Chalmach, where “alhmeir” (essentially magic) is fairly common. In “Better the Beshrew You Know,” 12-year-old Arani and his little sister Biun stay at an orphanage after the old man caring for them dies. The old man taught them alhmeir, and while the siblings try to downplay what they’ve learned, some dubious people suspect that Arani and Biun are highly skilled. Amundsen’s pithy tales, set against the backdrop of an astonishing city, highlight a cast of relatable characters; a kindly shop owner assists an elderly regular customer in “The Scent,” and introverted librarian Dendrik looks forward to his day off in “Under the Surface.” The book overall is deliberately paced, and alhmeir is often used subtly, from memory-triggering vials to Silian’s “willing” of some alhmeir into his oar (a bit of help to keep him on course). The stories take different routes—they may include a romantic turn, end on an ominous note, or spawn a taut action scene. Brarud’s exemplary artwork boasts full-color (and disappointingly few) depictions of such sights as Dendrik’s impressive personal library and a lower-tiered Chalmach canal beneath a raging waterfall (where, above, sits the next-level tier).
Extraordinary fantasy tales of an otherworldly place, both curious and alluring.Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2025
ISBN: 9788269394924
Page Count: 217
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A unique concept that promises readers will find at least one, if not three, entwined but different narratives to enjoy.
When Vis is copied into two other realities, he must stop a god from repeatedly culling almost everyone back home.
Thousands of years ago, to prevent the Concurrence from enslaving everyone, the world was split into three near-identical copies: Res, Obiteum, and Luceum. To exist in all three worlds, to wield Will there, is to achieve synchronism. After the events in The Will of the Many (2023), which cost Vis his arm and the life of his friend, Vis achieves Synchronism. While Res-Vis must continue to play Hierarchy politics to find his friend’s killer, Obiteum-Vis finds a ruined world, where the dead are reanimated and used by Ka, the Concurrence, and the only other person to exist in synchronism. Meanwhile, Luceum-Vis is forced into a dispute between druids, their High Council, and their kings—with one king intent on killing him—and Vis has no idea why. On all worlds, Vis is as shrewd as ever, weighing his options, planning ahead, and doing what he must to survive. However, he, too, slowly diverges, doing things he swore he never would: cede his Will, use Will to control someone else, and reveal his true name. If at least one Vis cannot use his synchronism and power of Will to kill the Concurrence, no Vis will be safe, and another Cataclysm will cull those he loves on Res. Book Two of the Hierarchy series is a speculative fantasy that is at once Egyptian post-apocalyptic, Celtic medieval, and Roman dystopian, thanks to the multidimensional setting. Although the sprawling narrative at times overextends itself, Islington rewards patient readers with a compelling story, a cast of complex and diverse characters, and a glimpse into how far a good man can go before he’s lost. A symbol at the start of each chapter delineates which world and Vis it’s about. Readers should read The Will of the Many before attempting this volume, or they may be confused for the first several chapters and beyond.
A unique concept that promises readers will find at least one, if not three, entwined but different narratives to enjoy.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781982141233
Page Count: 736
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
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