Whimsical and heartfelt, with a radar trained on delight.
This story of pen pals turned lovers unfolds in a series of letters and “Automated Post missives” as the two learn more about their underwater world.
Struck by curiosity, E. Cidnosin writes a letter to Scholar Henerey Clel hoping he’ll help her identify an “Elongated Fish.” Through their ongoing correspondence—as well as later letters between members of their families—we learn more about E. and Henerey and the world around them. For instance, one of Henerey’s scholarly publications says this: “Ever since the tragedy of the Dive ushered in our new Society, people who seek to understand the creatures with whom we share this world have published great Treatises to prove themselves as worthy Scholars.” In this new society triggered by the mysterious event called “the Dive,” people live primarily underwater in places like Boundless Campus and Intertidal Campus, as well as on the Atoll, which is the “only known landmass in the world.” E. lives “a few hundred fathoms off-coast” of Boundless Campus in a family home called “Deep House.” She suffers from “a Malady of the Mind that made certain things—like leaving the house, interacting with strangers, or not obsessing over the fragility of her own mortality—very difficult.” Even so, as her correspondence with Henerey grows, so does her fondness for him. The diction and syntax of the letters revel in a bygone era’s romance and quick wit, showcasing the art of letter writing. The long-distance friends eventually meet at a gala hosted by E.’s brother, Arvist, at Deep House, where their conversation ingeniously continues on the back of the event’s “programme.” The scholarly search for knowledge to better understand this underwater world propels the plot into the unknown, where many curiosities are yet to be uncovered. Additionally, the letters between E.’s sister, Sophy Cidnorghe, and Henerey’s brother, Vyerin Clel, allude to something that has happened to the couple, and Arvist makes a last-minute confession that sets further mysteries in place to be unraveled in the next book in this series.
Whimsical and heartfelt, with a radar trained on delight.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780316565530
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 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
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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