Nonstop action, intricate plotlines, deeply developed characters, top-notch worldbuilding—a must-read for epic fantasy fans.
Fueled by master-class worldbuilding, the third volume of Ford’s Age of Uprising trilogy concludes an epic fantasy narrative chronicling an empire torn apart by war.
Known for its mining and innovative utilization of magical pyrestones, Torwyn was a prosperous nation ruled by its six major guilds until its emperor was assassinated and ruthless religious leaders of the Draconate Ministry usurped control. A brutal struggle for power ensued. While Sanctan Egelrath, villainous Archlegate of the Draconate Ministry, rules over Torwyn’s capital city and surrounding area with his allies, displaced guild members must put trust in former adversaries and join forces to somehow defeat the Ministry and begin to rebuild their once thriving country. The meticulously detailed worldbuilding and deeply conceived backstory—on par with George R.R. Martin’s Westeros and Raymond E. Feist’s Midkemia—are obvious strengths, but it’s the impressive intricacy and scope of the story that are its real power. Multiple points of view from a diversity of characters (Rosomon Hawkspur, a former guildmaster and head of one of Torwyn’s most influential families; Keara Hallowhill, a head of her family’s guild whose loyalties are questionable at best; Ansell Beckenrike, a conflicted Ministry knight; Tyreta Hawkspur, Rosomon’s daughter and webwainer—a person who can manipulate pyrestones—who is much more than she seems; etc.) keep the narrative momentum pedal-to-the-metal and reveal the complexities of the conflict from numerous sides. Additionally, the author’s descriptive writing style makes for an effortlessly readable, page-turning experience: “[His] knees protested with each laboured step, joints popping like corn kernels in a fire…” And after more than 1800 collective pages, Ford not only ends the trilogy in grand style but plants a tantalizing plot seed in the epilogue that could very well be the beginning of a new story cycle.
Nonstop action, intricate plotlines, deeply developed characters, top-notch worldbuilding—a must-read for epic fantasy fans.Pub Date: June 17, 2025
ISBN: 9780316629638
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Orbit
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.
Using mystery and romance elements in a nonlinear narrative, SenLinYu’s debut is a doorstopper of a fantasy that follows a woman with missing memories as she navigates through a war-torn realm in search of herself.
Helena Marino is a talented young healer living in Paladia—the “Shining City”—who has been thrust into a brutal war against an all-powerful necromancer and his army of Undying, loyal henchmen with immortal bodies, and necrothralls, reanimated automatons. When Helena is awakened from stasis, a prisoner of the necromancer’s forces, she has no idea how long she has been incarcerated—or the status of the war. She soon finds herself a personal prisoner of Kaine Ferron, the High Necromancer’s “monster” psychopath who has sadistically killed hundreds for his master. Ordered to recover Helena’s buried memories by any means necessary, the two polar opposites—Helena and Kaine, healer and killer—end up discovering much more as they begin to understand each other through shared trauma. While necromancy is an oft-trod subject in fantasy novels, the author gives it a fresh feel—in large part because of their superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery throughout: “[The necromancer] lay reclined upon a throne of bodies. Necrothralls, contorted and twisted together, their limbs transmuted and fused into a chair, moving in synchrony, rising and falling as they breathed in tandem, squeezing and releasing around him…[He] extended his decrepit right hand, overlarge with fingers jointed like spider legs.” Another noteworthy element is the complex dynamic between Helena and Kaine. To say that these two characters shared the gamut of intense emotions would be a vast understatement. Readers will come for the fantasy and stay for the romance.
Although the melodrama sometimes is a bit much, the superb worldbuilding and intricate plotline make this a must-read.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9780593972700
Page Count: 1040
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.
A woman must undergo fearsome trials to free the imprisoned Titans of Greek myth in Owen’s fantasy novel, the second in a series.
Advancing from minor office clerk in the Order of Thieves to Queen of the Underworld, Lyra Keres’ star should be rising. But thanks to Cronos, King of the Titans, she and her longtime friend and fellow thief Boone have been ensnared in a new challenge beneath the earth: Hot on the heels of winning the twisted Crucible Games, Lyra—who has recently been granted goddess powers—finds herself trapped in Tartarus. Separated from her beloved Hades, she must liberate the fearsome Titans from seven Locks to restore the cosmic balance. As Lyra progresses through the Locks engineered by the Gods—each as tricky and lethal as the last—the pressure mounts as the Titans repeatedly remind her, “You will be our savior.” Rhea, the wife of Cronos, reveals that Lyra began this quest “a hundred and fifty years ago,” adding further devastation to the task at hand; the knowledge is helpful, but also painful, as Lyra reflects, “Suddenly, I don’t want to know that it’s real. Because then I have to contemplate how many times I might have ended up in Tartarus already.” As she materializes in and out of time pockets, Lyra sees Hades’ troubled childhood unfold and struggles not to intervene to save the man she loves. In this second entry in the author’s Crucible series, following The Games Gods Play (2024), Lyra’s cynical quips continue to make her an engaging protagonist. Her inner monologues are balanced with hope, love, and longing for Hades as she meets various versions of him. While resilient, Owen’s heroine is also vulnerable (“Was I his pawn in more ways than I ever realized?”). Her introspection effectively contrasts with the simmering rage and restraint in Hades’ chapters. The supporting Titans are given more depth than the traditional myths allow, weaving a knotty family fabric for the reader to navigate alongside Lyra.
An engrossing, action-packed sequel with a compelling cast.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9781649378538
Page Count: 500
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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