There’s just too much going on in this short but wandering novel.
A mystical being attempts to guide a socially stunted man back to civilization in Ingsworth’s fantasy novel.
In 1890, a family of Victorian carpenters somehow creates a spectacular, living, unclassifiable furniture piece in their warehouse, which is located in the “afterlife.” This furniture-being, named Pvormlu, appears in the present era to Alexander Somervale, a young man in need. Alexander is grieving the loss of his mother, Rose, who had been his rock (“Alexander and his mother had many ways of bonding together”); the Covid-19 pandemic gives Alexander the excuse he needs to wallow around his apartment. Through a series of encounters over the next few months, Pvormlu tries to coax Alexander, who considers himself “atypical,” to return to society. Encouraged by Pvormlu, Alexander develops a list of goals for his life and slowly ticks them off. Remarkably, Alexander gets hired by First Inn, a hotel, but his lack of social graces has him moving from desk clerk to housekeeper to line cook, all jobs that he hates. He meets a Filipina woman named Garcia Agbayani, who becomes his soulmate, online. After weeks of texting and video-chatting, Alexander flies to Manila to meet Garcia and her family—he’s finally found somebody who will accept him as he is, idiosyncrasies and all. But the question remains: Will Alexander be able to get past his grief and move forward? In his author bio, Ingsworth states that he’s interested in the spiritual world, neurodiversity, and British and Philippine cultures; he falters attempting to shoehorn all of these elements into one narrative, which doesn’t hang together very well. Despite the author’s exhausting descriptions of Pvormlu, it isn’t evident what exactly the furniture being is, or what its purpose might be. (Alexander has a family that supports him and a girl who loves him, so it’s unclear why he needs a fantastical creature to assist him in getting his life back together.) Alexander isn’t a particularly enticing protagonist—yes, he’s grieving, but readers will lose patience waiting for him to snap out of his funk.
There’s just too much going on in this short but wandering novel.Pub Date: April 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781836151180
Page Count: 354
Publisher: Grosvenor House
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.
A fantasy adventure with a sometimes-biting wit.
Tress is an ordinary girl with no thirst to see the world. Charlie is the son of the local duke, but he likes stories more than fencing. When the duke realizes the two teenagers are falling in love, he takes Charlie away to find a suitable wife—and returns with a different young man as his heir. Charlie, meanwhile, has been captured by the mysterious Sorceress who rules the Midnight Sea, which leaves Tress with no choice but to go rescue him. To do that, she’ll have to get off the barren island she’s forbidden to leave, cross the dangerous Verdant Sea, the even more dangerous Crimson Sea, and the totally deadly Midnight Sea, and somehow defeat the unbeatable Sorceress. The seas on Tress’ world are dangerous because they’re not made of water—they’re made of colorful spores that pour down from the world’s 12 stationary moons. Verdant spores explode into fast-growing vines if they get wet, which means inhaling them can be deadly. Crimson and midnight spores are worse. Ships protected by spore-killing silver sail these seas, and it’s Tress’ quest to find a ship and somehow persuade its crew to carry her to a place no ships want to go, to rescue a person nobody cares about but her. Luckily, Tress is kindhearted, resourceful, and curious—which also makes her an appealing heroine. Along her journey, Tress encounters a talking rat, a crew of reluctant pirates, and plenty of danger. Her story is narrated by an unusual cabin boy with a sharp wit. (About one duke, he says, “He’d apparently been quite heroic during those wars; you could tell because a great number of his troops had died, while he lived.”) The overall effect is not unlike The Princess Bride, which Sanderson cites as an inspiration.
Engrossing worldbuilding, appealing characters, and a sense of humor make this a winning entry in the Sanderson canon.Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781250899651
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
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