The thrilling middle episode of a trilogy that delivers authentic character conflict.
In Dauphin’s (The Turquoise Tattoo, 2012) second installment of her Elementals of Aotearoa trilogy for young adults, an Australian teen who possesses elemental magical powers finds herself surrounded by intrigue, danger and romance in her quest to locate her birthparents and reach her destiny.
After discovering her elemental abilities, complete with electric anger storms and swirling hair, Scarlet struggles to get some sense of her new powers. Despite rules forbidding it, Scarlet magically tattoos the boy she loves, Sterling. The pair continues to quietly tango around their feelings in the wake of a friend’s kidnapping and torture at the hands of a demon, not to mention the taboo resurrection—resurrecting is evidently frowned upon—of Scarlet’s beloved pet. Scarlet must cope not only with her forbidden love for Sterling but with conflicted emotions about her father, the Lizard-god of the Dead. This volume traces Scarlet’s journey to find her birth mother, from whom she inherited the legacy of a Greenstone goddess, a gift that proves to be both a treasure and a curse. Also along for the ride is a new character, the delightfully troublemaking Mer, a distant relative with a hidden agenda, and a returning character, sinister Isaac, a dark figure who hides a tragic secret. While the trilogy’s setting in New Zealand provides an already exotic locale for American readers, the rich, original world of the Elementals, based on Maori culture and myths, provides an even more unfamiliar, exciting backdrop for the story. Despite a seemingly familiar supporting cast—the devoted love interest, the spunky sidekick, the father who lies to protect his daughter, and the quiet, supportive foster mom—Dauphin infuses each character with emotion and complex, sophisticated motives; it’s more J.K. Rowling than Stephenie Meyer. Scarlet’s story barrels forward in an adventure filled with action and suspense, hurtling toward a cliffhanger conclusion. Refreshingly, Dauphin favors plot-driven anguish instead of shallow, unfounded angst, which helps put this series on the upper tier of YA novels.
The thrilling middle episode of a trilogy that delivers authentic character conflict.Pub Date: April 28, 2013
ISBN: 978-1742843469
Page Count: 297
Publisher: BookPal
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Slow and plodding.
A dragon shifter hunts for her kidnapped brother.
Princess Lenushka, or Lennie, of Norveshka is literally one of a kind: She’s the only female dragon shifter in the world. The patriarchal nobility insists she must marry another dragon shifter in order to take her rightful place on the throne, even though she proved her mettle as a highly decorated soldier. All of Lennie’s plans are thrown into chaos on the day of her cousin Roslyn’s wedding. A man named Greer, a member of an evil group called the Brotherhood of the Sun, kills the groom and kidnaps several powerful men, including Lennie’s brother, Pendras. Roslyn and Lennie are determined to find and rescue Pendras and the other kidnapped men. At the beginning of their journey, Lennie accidentally harms Bran Morris, a shifter known as the Raven, while in her dragon form. He has always had a strong dislike of dragons and this injury only hardens his beliefs. Bran has been hunting Greer for months, desperate for revenge on the man who killed his brother. Lennie decides to keep the truth that she's a dragon shifter from Bran, knowing he will be a valuable ally on the hunt for Greer. The first half of the book is bogged down in getting all the characters on the road together. When the focus finally shifts to Bran and Lennie’s romance, it feels rushed and underdeveloped. The romance is low-energy because Bran mostly moons over Lennie, convinced she’s the perfect woman. He refers to her as his dream girl while she wallows in guilt for lying to him, and all the conflict hinges on the eventual reveal of her dragon form. The magical world operates on a strong, absolute gender binary, which makes the book feel dated.
Slow and plodding.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781496735867
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Kensington
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fantasy that entertains and enlightens.
The first installment of Salvatore’s new fantasy trilogy returns readers to the Forgotten Realms with an adventure revolving around Catti-brie, the wife of the author’s signature character, the dark elf Drizzt Do’Urden.
After the birth of their daughter, Brienne, Drizzt is markedly changed—spending more time contemplating deep existential questions and trying to rediscover the clarity and purpose in his life. To those ends, he decides to travel with his toddler daughter to the Monastery of the Yellow Rose to train with the monks and introduce Brienne to Grandmaster Kane. As Drizzt embarks on his own spiritual quest, his wife joins forces with smooth-talking drow mercenary Jarlaxle, human assassin Artemis Enteri, and weapons master Zaknafein, Drizzt’s father. At Jarlaxle’s request, the quartet of adventurers (via magic portal) travel to the top of the world searching for a person who, if found, could stop the drow city-state of Menzoberranzan from destroying itself in a civil war. But aside from almost dying multiple times over in the strange world without true night—the killing cold, frost giants, polar worms, etc.—the group finds something completely unexpected, a revelation that will change the way they look at the world, and themselves, forever. Longtime fans of Drizzt Do’Urden will surely enjoy the novel’s breakneck pacing, nonstop action, cast of familiar and beloved characters, and deep philosophical exploration throughout. This storyline, in particular, packs a thematic wallop that is both timely and timeless. “We’re never to see peace—none of us—until we come to recognize that a child of a culture that is not our own is as precious as one who is.” And although the transitions between the two story threads aren’t exactly smooth, some fight scenes are a bit flat, and the conclusion is little more than a respite until the next installment, readers should embrace Salvatore’s newest adventure with Drizzt and company.
Fantasy that entertains and enlightens.Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-302977-4
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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