From the author of The Last Holey Man (2002) comes a medieval fantasy in which a displaced warrior must rally his adopted people against the persecution of a mad king.
Vir, from the land of Munerel, is being chased by an angry mob. He knows he’s far from home—after using a magical portal—because the nighttime constellations aren’t familiar. To escape his pursuers, he uses a spell of his own to blind them; as he does so, another portal opens, and a woman calls to him. When he jumps through, he lands in New Seersha, populated by Magic Users who have been expelled from the kingdom of Nepalle by King Kellum. When Kellum hears of Vir, he believes the newcomer is the legendary Bringer of Justice because he can wield both a sword and magic simultaneously. Vir, meanwhile, befriends a New Seersha elder named Freelim and his daughter, Kee, and learns that he’s in the land of Reini. They warn him that when the cold weather fades, Kellum’s army will arrive to destroy the Magic Users. Vir must decide to help his new friends survive or focus on getting back home. Author Angell places his hero in a deep quandary when the Bringer prophecy stipulates that “[h]e will find the ancient key that will open the portal home, but he won’t find a home of peace with the Reini.” Sharp dialogue helps characters stand out in a complex world where magical abilities come from eating Whole-Fruit, and history is passed on orally; after ordering Vir killed, Kellum says, “There is no need to bring a legend to life.” The complexity, however, is often introduced through fables, which can feel like infodumps. That’s balanced by thoughtful scenes involving ancient portals that point to Vir’s origin. Elsewhere, Angell mistakes “lightening” for the weather phenomenon, and better punctuation is sometimes needed—“Vir reached into the Herric for his words a small circle appeared in the clearing not far in front of them.” Nevertheless, Angell delivers the noble message of standing tall during tragedy.
A measured, not totally fulfilling, adventure for classic fantasy readers.Pub Date: June 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-1499569520
Page Count: 258
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2014
Categories: FANTASY
Did you like this book?
An almost-but-not-quite-great slavery novel.
GET IT
The celebrated author of Between the World and Me (2015) and We Were Eight Years in Power (2017) merges magic, adventure, and antebellum intrigue in his first novel.
In pre–Civil War Virginia, people who are white, whatever their degree of refinement, are considered “the Quality” while those who are black, whatever their degree of dignity, are regarded as “the Tasked.” Whether such euphemisms for slavery actually existed in the 19th century, they are evocatively deployed in this account of the Underground Railroad and one of its conductors: Hiram Walker, one of the Tasked who’s barely out of his teens when he’s recruited to help guide escapees from bondage in the South to freedom in the North. “Conduction” has more than one meaning for Hiram. It's also the name for a mysterious force that transports certain gifted individuals from one place to another by way of a blue light that lifts and carries them along or across bodies of water. Hiram knows he has this gift after it saves him from drowning in a carriage mishap that kills his master’s oafish son (who’s Hiram’s biological brother). Whatever the source of this power, it galvanizes Hiram to leave behind not only his chains, but also the two Tasked people he loves most: Thena, a truculent older woman who practically raised him as a surrogate mother, and Sophia, a vivacious young friend from childhood whose attempt to accompany Hiram on his escape is thwarted practically at the start when they’re caught and jailed by slave catchers. Hiram directly confronts the most pernicious abuses of slavery before he is once again conducted away from danger and into sanctuary with the Underground, whose members convey him to the freer, if funkier environs of Philadelphia, where he continues to test his power and prepare to return to Virginia to emancipate the women he left behind—and to confront the mysteries of his past. Coates’ imaginative spin on the Underground Railroad’s history is as audacious as Colson Whitehead’s, if less intensely realized. Coates’ narrative flourishes and magic-powered protagonist are reminiscent of his work on Marvel’s Black Panther superhero comic book, but even his most melodramatic effects are deepened by historical facts and contemporary urgency.
An almost-but-not-quite-great slavery novel.Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-59059-7
Page Count: 432
Publisher: One World/Random House
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | HISTORICAL FICTION | FANTASY | HISTORICAL FANTASY
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An ambitious and bewitching gem of a book with mystery and passion inscribed on every page.
GET IT
A withdrawn graduate student embarks on an epic quest to restore balance to the world in this long-anticipated follow-up to The Night Circus (2011).
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a typical millennial introvert; he likes video games, escapist reading, and drinking sidecars. But when he recognizes himself in the pages of a mysterious book from the university library, he's unnerved—and determined to uncover the truth. What begins as a journey for answers turns into something much bigger, and Zachary must decide whether to trust the handsome stranger he meets at a highflying literary fundraiser in New York or to retreat back to his thesis and forget the whole affair. In a high-wire feat of metatextual derring-do, Morgenstern weaves Zachary's adventure into a stunning array of linked fables, myths, and origin stories. There are pirates and weary travelers, painters who can see the future, lovers torn asunder, a menacing Owl King, and safe harbors for all the stories of the world, far below the Earth on the golden shores of a Starless Sea. Clocking in at more than 500 pages, the novel requires patience as Morgenstern puts all the pieces in place, but it is exquisitely pleasurable to watch the gears of this epic fantasy turn once they're set in motion. As in The Night Circus, Morgenstern is at her best when she imagines worlds and rooms and parties in vivid detail, right down to the ballroom stairs "festooned with lanterns and garlands of paper dipped in gold" or a cloak carved from ice with "ships and sailors and sea monsters...lost in the drifting snow." This novel is a love letter to readers as much as an invitation: Come and see how much magic is left in the world. Fans of Neil Gaiman and V.E. Schwab, Kelly Link and Susanna Clarke will want to heed the call.
An ambitious and bewitching gem of a book with mystery and passion inscribed on every page.Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-385-54121-3
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Categories: GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | GENERAL ROMANCE | FANTASY | ROMANCE | HISTORICAL FANTASY | FANTASY & SCI-FI ROMANCE
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2020 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
