An uneven and rushed fantasy opener.
A young hero learns of his destiny and true parentage in this first installment of a new fantasy series.
The people of the kingdom of Elayas have lived under the rule of usurper King Oldag for far too long. The tyrant engages in dark magic and forbids all music and creative activities to quell any possible resistance. However, the Sepharim Brotherhood fights back against his oppressive rule. Jackal and the Swordsman are two veteran Brotherhood members sent to retrieve the fabled Key of Power, which is said to amplify the powers of those who hold it. A young boy named Rugal, a recent graduate from the Sepharim school, has a strong dynamis—a unique magical power inherited through the paternal line; he has the ability to shapeshift. He joins Jackal and the Swordsman on their mission. During this journey, Rugal learns his true father’s identity; it was kept a secret to protect Rugal until the time was right for him to meet his fate to overthrow Oldag. The adventurers fight fierce enemies, but also gain allies who rally behind Rugal. Golden’s fast-paced and action-packed series starter builds momentum toward a final confrontation with Oldag. Highlights include a well-developed relationship between Jackal and the Swordsman and a fated romance between Jackal and woman named Mura, the cousin of the king whom Oldag murdered. On the other hand, many elements of the worldbuilding are superficial and derivative; the narrative voice seems to struggle to appeal to different audiences, sometimes coming across as too young, and at other times as adult. Despite Rugal’s understandable initial surprise and reluctance regarding his future heroism (“Am I a leaf in the wind—that I cannot control my own destiny?!!”), he takes up the mantle of an inspirational leader without enough development to make it feel convincing, despite a motivational message: “We each have our own Key of Power—belief in ourselves and our own abilities.”
An uneven and rushed fantasy opener.Pub Date: April 19, 2023
ISBN: 978-1956891065
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Golden Cross Ranch
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.
Three women deal very differently with vampirism in Schwab’s era-spanning follow-up to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (2020).
In 16th-century Spain, Maria seduces a wealthy viscount in an attempt to seize whatever control she can over her own life. It turns out that being a wife—even a wealthy one—is just another cage, but then a mysterious widow offers Maria a surprising escape route. In the 19th century, Charlotte is sent from her home in the English countryside to live with an aunt in London when she’s found trying to kiss her best friend. She’s despondent at the idea of marrying a man, but another mysterious widow—who has a secret connection to Maria’s widow from centuries earlier—appears and teaches Charlotte that she can be free to love whomever she chooses, if she’s brave enough. In 2019, Alice’s memories of growing up in Scotland with her mercurial older sister, Catty, pull her mind away from her first days at Harvard University. And though she doesn’t meet any mysterious widows, Alice wakes up alone after a one-night stand unable to tolerate sunlight, sporting two new fangs, and desperate to drink blood. Horrified at her transformation, she searches Boston for her hookup, who was the last person she remembers seeing before she woke up as a vampire. Schwab delicately intertwines the three storylines, which are compelling individually even before the reader knows how they will connect. Maria, Charlotte, and Alice are queer women searching for love, recognition, and wholeness, growing fangs and defying mortality in a world that would deny them their very existence. Alice’s flashbacks to Catty are particularly moving, and subtly play off themes of grief and loneliness laid out in the historical timelines.
A beautiful meditation on queer identity against a supernatural backdrop.Pub Date: June 10, 2025
ISBN: 9781250320520
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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