A resilient female protagonist braves the perils of wizardry, ancient cults, and college life.
A teen girl who dabbles in magic finds herself immersed in a war between kingdoms and the gradual rise of a potentially dangerous cult in Forrester’s (Death Mage, 2015, etc.) YA fantasy novel.
It’s forbidden for Lady Elendria Orensal to study unsanctioned magic, which is reserved for wealthy nobles who can afford the admission fee into a magical order. The 17-year-old and her family of minor nobles moved from the war-ravaged south to Criswall in the northern Kingdom of Mar Thagroth. A first-year college student, Elendria’s amassed some knowledge of magic as well as a blinding-light spell she picked up from a witch back in her homeland, Maren Downs. One night she witnesses a cloaked man murder a young boy and is suddenly worried about her missing pal, Remi, a homeless orphan. Her search takes her to a temple full of atrocities, resulting in a harrowing experience she barely survives. Emerging cultists, who, like the priests from the temple, worship the Lord of the Fallen, Ba’al, threaten the likelihood of peace between Mar Thagroth and the southern kingdom, Jalinfaer. At the same time, Elendria soon realizes other young boys have become murder victims, possibly as some sort of ritual for the cult. She vows to find the killer(s), but a magic-boosting black stone may cause her to lose control. Forrester’s novel thoroughly blends the fantastical and the contemporary. The setting, for starters, is the quintessential faraway land (sorcery and kingdoms) with an indeterminable time frame allowing for modern touches: Elendria walks the campus like a typical college student. There’s a notable class struggle theme that’s fortunately never heavy-handed, showing a clear separation of the city and the slums Elendria traverses looking for Remi. Big reveals come later, involving Elendria’s elemental-magic skills and her ultimate decision to choose an alliance, because pinpointing the villains is far from simple. Elendria persistently displays strength, even when facing seemingly hopeless situations. Supporting characters are equally noteworthy, particularly bestie Lysha, who shares both a love of magic and—fingers crossed—a dorm room next year.
A resilient female protagonist braves the perils of wizardry, ancient cults, and college life.Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5398-6836-1
Page Count: 394
Publisher: Amber Muse
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.
A tightly wound caseworker is pushed out of his comfort zone when he’s sent to observe a remote orphanage for magical children.
Linus Baker loves rules, which makes him perfectly suited for his job as a midlevel bureaucrat working for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth, where he investigates orphanages for children who can do things like make objects float, who have tails or feathers, and even those who are young witches. Linus clings to the notion that his job is about saving children from cruel or dangerous homes, but really he’s a cog in a government machine that treats magical children as second-class citizens. When Extremely Upper Management sends for Linus, he learns that his next assignment is a mission to an island orphanage for especially dangerous kids. He is to stay on the island for a month and write reports for Extremely Upper Management, which warns him to be especially meticulous in his observations. When he reaches the island, he meets extraordinary kids like Talia the gnome, Theodore the wyvern, and Chauncey, an amorphous blob whose parentage is unknown. The proprietor of the orphanage is a strange but charming man named Arthur, who makes it clear to Linus that he will do anything in his power to give his charges a loving home on the island. As Linus spends more time with Arthur and the kids, he starts to question a world that would shun them for being different, and he even develops romantic feelings for Arthur. Lambda Literary Award–winning author Klune (The Art of Breathing, 2019, etc.) has a knack for creating endearing characters, and readers will grow to love Arthur and the orphans alongside Linus. Linus himself is a lovable protagonist despite his prickliness, and Klune aptly handles his evolving feelings and morals. The prose is a touch wooden in places, but fans of quirky fantasy will eat it up.
A breezy and fun contemporary fantasy.Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-21728-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.
Book 2 of Hearne's latest fantasy trilogy, The Seven Kennings (A Plague of Giants, 2017), set in a multiracial world thrust into turmoil by an invasion of peculiar giants.
In this world, most races have their own particular magical endowment, or “kenning,” though there are downsides to trying to gain the magic (an excellent chance of being killed instead) and using it (rapid aging and death). Most recently discovered is the sixth kenning, whose beneficiaries can talk to and command animals. The story canters along, although with multiple first-person narrators, it's confusing at times. Some characters are familiar, others are new, most of them with their own problems to solve, all somehow caught up in the grand design. To escape her overbearing father and the unreasoning violence his kind represents, fire-giant Olet Kanek leads her followers into the far north, hoping to found a new city where the races and kennings can peacefully coexist. Joining Olet are young Abhinava Khose, discoverer of the sixth kenning, and, later, Koesha Gansu (kenning: air), captain of an all-female crew shipwrecked by deep-sea monsters. Elsewhere, Hanima, who commands hive insects, struggles to free her city from the iron grip of wealthy, callous merchant monarchists. Other threads focus on the Bone Giants, relentless invaders seeking the still-unknown seventh kenning, whose confidence that this can defeat the other six is deeply disturbing. Under Hearne's light touch, these elements mesh perfectly, presenting an inventive, eye-filling panorama; satisfying (and, where appropriate, well-resolved) plotlines; and tensions between the races and their kennings to supply much of the drama.
A charming and persuasive entry that will leave readers impatiently awaiting the concluding volume.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-345-54857-3
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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