This swiftly paced adventure further bolsters a winsome ongoing fantasy series.
In Varona’s fantasy novel, an unrelenting war between Light and Dark finds two brothers on opposing sides of the conflict.
Seth Varkees is the Chosen One prophesied to lead Light to victory in the fantastical, war-riven realm of Eden. But a confrontation with his brother, Cain Varkees, the Heir of Darkness, renders Seth comatose for some time. When he awakens, Eden has split into two continents, Light and Dark. Otherwise, things seem surprisingly positive; survivors and former enemies have banded together and built a stronghold and are now living peacefully. While they train and gather strength, Seth, assuming Cain is likewise fortifying his side, declares that now is the time to strike. He and his comrades, including the warrior Valentina Leanne and Seth’s scene-stealing canine companion Chase, set sail for the Dark Continent, covering vast, precarious, uncharted territory along the way. Seth has a problem he keeps to himself: He repeatedly sees or hears unexplainable signs of his brother, which are wearing him down to the point of physical illness; he may not be prepared for the evil awaiting him and his friends. This second installment in the author’s fantasy series teems with action, with characters engaged in frenzied battles and against various backdrops even as an easygoing tone propels the narrative. Playful descriptions somewhat muffle the occasional violence; in one scene, Valentina “somersault-launche[s]” someone’s jaw into the air—the same person then hits a deck and pops up “like a basketball.” Seth and company run into all sorts of curious things, some more alarming than others, including a skeletal army, scaly “humanoid fiends,” and huge, jellyfish-like “Jettals” with razor-sharp teeth. While this volume accommodates readers with some sense of resolution, there’s plenty more story to tell and undoubtedly more books to follow.
This swiftly paced adventure further bolsters a winsome ongoing fantasy series.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9798891320147
Page Count: 450
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2023
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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