A vivid and complex, if sometimes overly dense, epic of a heroic warrior-demon.
More presents a fantasy novel steeped in Indian mythology about a demon’s fight against deadly forces.
This book’s unconventional protagonist—the demon-King Drumila, leader of the daityas—has his four hands full: Not only is he facing an unexpected onslaught of serpent-demons who are the ancestral enemies of the daityas, but he must also deal with a more distant, much greater demonic conflict that will make the first look trivial. The warfare of the first event livens up the book’s early chapters, and Shukracharya, the guru-sage of Drumila’s people, has a plan for the second battle: Drumila can move his entire group from their subterranean homeland (where they “cavorted with their consorts under skies never visited by the sun or the moon”) to a divinely protected island up on Earth’s surface. Drumila is a valiant and conscientious leader, but in his heart, he has one overriding passion: his hatred for the Creator, who killed his mother and has the appearance of a 16-year-old boy, even though he’s “older than the world itself.” The demon-king has vowed to kill him, which would require breaching a supposedly impregnable wall around the sacred stronghold of Svarga. The Creator, meanwhile, is no fan of Drumila, either, and conscripts his daughter Arundhati to weaken and distract his enemy with lovemaking; however, as the novel’s action escalates, Drumila and Arundhati discover unexpected feelings for each other. Over the course of this mythological epic, More effectively immerses readers into the intense and offbeat world that he’s created. To that end, he also helpfully appends a glossary of most Hindu terms in the text, and also sprinkles the narrative with very modern language; the story, meanwhile, is packed with the kind of colorful action that one expects of good epic fantasy. There’s a bit too much exposition at times, which can make the work feel labored. However, there’s also intriguing worldbuilding that draws on elements that, for many Western readers, will be refreshingly unfamiliar.
A vivid and complex, if sometimes overly dense, epic of a heroic warrior-demon.Pub Date: Dec. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9798892224826
Page Count: 444
Publisher: White Falcon Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
SEEN & HEARD
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
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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