Engaging characters enliven an impressive dystopian fantasy tale.
In Lorimer’s dark fantasy novel, a priestess enters a holy city for the sole purpose of slaying a god.
Ruxindra l’Maer, alongside companion and sorcerer Gerritt, traverses a valley to reach Mahakalpe. Many have gathered in this Holy City to witness a god’s rebirth; the Eidolon arrives soon after Ruxindra and Gerritt do. Eidolons are humans who carry a “divine seed” until they’re called to an altar in Mahakalpe, where they embody a deity. When such a god last walked the “fallen world” of Hebdomar, civilizations either “knelt in servitude” or were obliterated. Ruxindra aims to stop that from happening again; as an Apotastic Priestess, she’s a daemon hunter and god slayer. She hears of a corresponding ritual: People have brought lehakva to the city—virgins betrothed to the Eidolon right before they’re sacrificed on a pyre. With help from a local magic-wielding thaumaturge, Ruxindra disguises herself as a lehakva and becomes one of 30 “brides” to the Eidolon, who, this time, is Luka, a boy of about 12 or 13. Ruxindra just wants to get close enough to kill him, but a god reborn may not be the only threat in Mahakalpe. The gathering in the Holy City includes figures from all over Hebdomar, from the “tempestuous” Varag to glass-winged Sylphids who’ve seemingly arrived in a Swarm. Somewhere in the massive crowd is a group that has another agenda altogether. And if the situation weren’t volatile enough, Luka makes an unexpected decision that puts everyone in danger.
Lorimer’s novel, which launches a prospective series, is surprisingly taut for an opening installment. The author introduces myriad places toward the beginning but doesn’t describe them in excessive detail, effectively hinting at Hebdomar’s expanse. Mahakalpe is home to a sprightly cast of characters. The Inaghke, for example, have eyes like “glowing coals,” tentacled heads, and fanged lamprey-like mouths; the presence of just a few of them puts Ruxindra on edge. Much of the novel thrives on suspense; the sacrificial ritual is mere days away, and the protagonist must suppress her warrior instincts (which she only sometimes succeeds at doing). Evocative prose meticulously describes the Holy City at a deliberate pace that builds further tension: “We took a circuitous route around clusters of domed houses, over commercial thoroughfares lined with shuttered shops…. We passed a trellised ziggurat anchoring a humble enclave of the orthodox, their congregation gathered at its base in their stoic expressions and tahliz scarves.” The narrative’s first half offers a touch of comic relief, courtesy of Gerritt, who’s an accommodating companion but usually intoxicated and perhaps more flippant than he should be. The story becomes progressively dour but also picks up steam as Ruxindra and others face off against various menaces, leading to worthy action sequences and more than one opportunity for Ruxindra to prove she knows how to handle the sword that’s usually at her side. The novel is self-contained for the most part, although the sensational ending teases where sequels might go.
Engaging characters enliven an impressive dystopian fantasy tale.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781968122034
Page Count: 202
Publisher: High Trestle Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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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