A thrill ride that’s clearly gathering steam for the next installment.
In the second of a dark epic fantasy series, two brothers battle for the fate of an empire…and perhaps a universe.
Kagen Vale has learned the dreadful truth: The Witch-king of Hakkia, who invaded the Silver Empire and slaughtered the Silver Empress’ children—whom Kagen had sworn to protect—is actually Kagen’s older brother, Herepath, once a respected cleric and scholar. Herepath now goes to ever more extreme lengths to pursue his brother and permanently prevent him from revealing his secret as Kagen goes on the run again, searching for allies and a new weapon against his powerful foe. The Witch-king also faces obstacles on two other fronts. First, his coronation was interrupted, so the subject nations of the Silver Empire don’t fully consider him their ruler, leading him toward covert but brutal attempts to sow discord among them so that they don’t unite against him. Second, the Silver Empress’ sole surviving heirs, the 6-year-old twins Alleyn and Desalyn (whom Herepath has claimed as his own children for reasons that are quickly apparent), are fighting their way out of the dark spell that turns them into sadomasochistic monsters. Will this new, potentially unstable empire collapse from within, or are the dreaded powers that Herepath and his patron god, Hastur, command too overwhelming to defeat? Maberry continues to dump more subgenres—this time, zombie plague plus Indiana Jones–style treasure-seeking adventure—into this still-beguiling kitchen sink of a milieu, but despite the multitude of action scenes, the plot doesn’t advance to any great degree; instead we have a wide scattering of multiple subplots that await resolution in Book 3. Alas, the series also seems to be in need of a good copy editor; some minor discrepancies from Kagen the Damned (2022) have carried through to this novel and spawned new ones. These are not annoying enough to destroy pleasure in the story but do prove to be a bit of a distraction.
A thrill ride that’s clearly gathering steam for the next installment.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-2507-8399-8
Page Count: 704
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022
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
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
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