A thoughtful, richly detailed fantasy adventure.
Peaceful agrarian islanders defend their home with the help of an outsider in this fantasy.
On the planet Diox, Jon Sevanthian works as a security enforcer for the trading corporation IMX. His boss, Greengold, informs him that his next mission is on Plethlonney Island, a “paradise” that’s been isolated for decades by a period of war called Chaos. There, his “Prime Directive” will be to “Protect Trade.” Jon isn’t allowed to take any weapons nor is he to know anything about the secretive agrarian society ahead of time. Once on Plethlonney, Jon meets his guide, Prethlind Barleykind, who’s one of the stout Sheep People. She teaches Jon to ride a horse, the island’s primary mode of transport, and brings him to the Hollycourt Tree, a massive living structure that houses a family of sheep shearers. Elsewhere on Plethlonney, a trio of “Fighting Man-Machines” arrives from the island of Klare. They’ve been sent by those with an interest in the Sheep People’s wool trade. As Jon develops a fuller picture of Plethlonney’s society, he finds the peace on the island fragile. In the north, the Mountain People harbor deep jealousy over the success of their southern neighbors, including the Horse People. Will meeting the Sheep People’s ruler, Queen Yuten, help Jon complete his mission? In this series opener, Gill deftly offers fantasy readers a detailed look into animal husbandry against a backdrop of political intrigue. Some genre fans may get whiplash from the extensive SF worldbuilding that frames a sociological study. But the Fighting Man-Machines, which use the brains of women (who sometimes rejoin their original bodies), help keep the balance. Prompts to rethink humanity’s relationship to the natural world abound in intriguing lines like “Humans are reluctant to grant the existence of an intelligence that is not human, especially if they are not used to animals.” Readers may need patience waiting for the novel’s title character to appear. Jon’s outsider perspective encourages long explanations for his benefit, yet this approach sacrifices more intimate character work. Future volumes may allow the large cast to drive the narrative.
A thoughtful, richly detailed fantasy adventure.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2022
ISBN: 9781039146365
Page Count: 300
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
PERSPECTIVES
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
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.
A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.
Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378538
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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