A compelling fantasy about the struggles of two lovers seeking retribution.
An epic fantasy follows a young man’s quest for revenge after his entire clan is slaughtered.
A group of younglings sits around the bonfires, waiting for its clan’s rite of passage to begin. The first born is Kriepr va sin Sturnfut, who heads the young band. His own passage to manhood means he will become the next khuvn, the clan’s eternal elder, a role he is destined to inherit from his father. Tragedy strikes when, at the end of the ceremony, the clan members are attacked by a group of masked men who kill all but Kriepr. Now, he is khuvn to no one. Ashamed and plagued by survivor’s guilt, Kriepr yearns for death but is granted by his god the will to embark on a self-imposed hunt for vengeance. During this journey, he searches far and wide for the mysterious killers and, in the process, turns into the man and the “swordslinger” he never dreamed he would be. The quest also comes with a larger knowledge of the world, encounters with other religions and peoples, a found family in a group of newly made friends, and the love of Amoalíc Rosethorn of Klov Dün. Amoalíc’s own story starts with tragedy and the urge for revenge. The narrative then follows both characters, with a strong focus on Amoalíc in the novel’s second half, as it chronicles her experiences with a sinister and dangerous religious cult. While the worldbuilding at times feels underdeveloped—there are vague reports of an evil emperor and the mention of fairies—this strategy ultimately suits Kriepr’s and Amoalíc’s character arcs and their restricted worldviews. Mesantos’ well-written, slow-moving fantasy blends a coming-of-age tale, an adventure, and a romance to tell a story that explores the meaning of life. At one point, Kriepr muses: “Kin is more than blood. It is the thread of a passion, the passion of…preservation. I am not khuvn of my people any longer, since they are dead. So I must be a khuvn of others.” The engaging tale also skillfully examines whether the pursuit of vengeance is the one thing worth living for.
A compelling fantasy about the struggles of two lovers seeking retribution.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 565
Publisher: SerpentWise
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: yesterday
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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