An evocative, almost dreamlike mix of dark fantasy and moving reality.
A boy who can fly undertakes an incredible journey to save his dying mother in this fantasy.
Twelve-year-old Calvin Khumalo, the son of an industrious single mother, has a secret. He can fly. In vivid, soulful language—the hallmark of this unusual tale—Rajah conveys the euphoria Calvin feels as he soars into the sky before sunup and sits cross-legged in the air, watching the sky change “from the deep blue of dawn to a pinkish bronze. The sun wraps its arms around everything in the chilly morning: the mountains, the school, even the dairy farms.” Calvin’s ability to fly came to him in tandem with nightmares about being trapped and threatened by dark forces. It also led him to his mentor in the mountains, Athwall, a benign, 1,000-year-old creature of myth with shaggy blue fur and fangs, who tells Calvin he has been chosen to save the world. But all Calvin wants to do is to save his mother. Diagnosed with terminal heart disease, she hasn’t enough time to wait for a transplant. (A compassionate doctor and realistic information about the function of body and brain—saved from textbook dryness by Calvin’s sense of wonder—appear to be grounded in the South African author’s own experience as a pediatrician.) Athwall tells Calvin of a heart that resides inside the ancient, magical Heart Tree on a mountaintop guarded by a savage beast and that they must confront other terrible dangers (described in chilling detail) in order to reach it. As Calvin, his weakening mother, and Athwall undertake this perilous quest, the boy wrestles with a moral dilemma. If he takes the heart from the Heart Tree to save his mother, he will kill the tree and all life that springs from it. If he doesn’t, his mother will die. He is haunted, too, by horrific nightmares about what fate awaits him when he meets the tree’s demon protector. (While not gratuitous, these visions contain graphic violence that could disturb younger readers.) Although there are hints, the major twist that comes is as touching as it is unexpected. Readers should have a box of tissues nearby.
An evocative, almost dreamlike mix of dark fantasy and moving reality.Pub Date: July 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-62-094113-6
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.
In 16th-century Madrid, a crypto-Jew with a talent for casting spells tries to steer clear of the Inquisition.
Luzia Cotado, a scullion and an orphan, has secrets to keep: “It was a game she and her mother had played, saying one thing and thinking another, the bits and pieces of Hebrew handed down like chipped plates.” Also handed down are “refranes”—proverbs—in “not quite Spanish, just as Luzia was not quite Spanish.” When Luzia sings the refranes, they take on power. “Aboltar cazal, aboltar mazal” (“A change of scene, a change of fortune”) can mend a torn gown or turn burnt bread into a perfect loaf; “Quien no risica, no rosica” (“Whoever doesn’t laugh, doesn’t bloom”) can summon a riot of foliage in the depths of winter. The Inquisition hangs over the story like Chekhov’s famous gun on the wall. When Luzia’s employer catches her using magic, the ambitions of both mistress and servant catapult her into fame and danger. A new, even more ambitious patron instructs his supernatural servant, Guillén Santángel, to train Luzia for a magical contest. Santángel, not Luzia, is the familiar of the title; he has been tricked into trading his freedom and luck to his master’s family in exchange for something he no longer craves but can’t give up. The novel comes up against an issue common in fantasy fiction: Why don’t the characters just use their magic to solve all their problems? Bardugo has clearly given it some thought, but her solutions aren’t quite convincing, especially toward the end of the book. These small faults would be harder to forgive if she weren’t such a beautiful writer. Part fairy tale, part political thriller, part romance, the novel unfolds like a winter tree bursting into unnatural bloom in response to one of Luzia’s refranes, as she and Santángel learn about power, trust, betrayal, and love.
Lush, gorgeous, precise language and propulsive plotting sweep readers into a story as intelligent as it is atmospheric.Pub Date: April 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781250884251
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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
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