A sensational cast fuels this exuberant tale that baffles as often as it charms.
Lightsey’s debut fantasy novel follows a teenager, seemingly lost in time, who may be destined to bring peace to hostile nations.
In the modern era, Helena, a 19-year-old witch and the Russian president’s daughter, is held captive by a Georgian army deserter on a boat at sea. She manages to escape her abductor’s clutches, only to wind up overboard and unconscious. When she comes to, she’s safely inside Sarkel Fortress in the year 1361, which is assuredly not the year Helena is from… though her memories are oddly jumbled. The people she encounters there believe that Helena is the new Essenoi, the only one who can defeat Icelos—a nightmare god whose destructive path threatens to incite war between Russia and Georgia. This god’s lair lies within a “phantom” fortress that only appears at a certain time and place. Helena has a shot at finding it with the help of eccentric pickpockets Dogett and Catiana, who have allegedly been there. Surely, she can conjure up a way to destroy the god of nightmares, especially with her book smarts and the new knowledge she unexpectedly picks up in the mid-14th century. Lightsey’s novel overflows with references to classic literature and religious texts, from Shakespeare’s works to the ancient I Ching. The determinedly convoluted plot repeatedly jolts Helena, who’s surprised when discovering she can, for example, read myriad languages. The narrative includes such reliably entertaining genre trademarks as a well-defined quest and fantastical creatures like hobgoblins and pixies. Helena is an appealing, intuitive hero, while her comrades, Dogett and Catiana, deliver abundant humor courtesy of their perpetual bickering and unforgettable insults (“Caluminous, full-gorged measle!”). The sublime ending, though open to interpretation, provides readers with welcome illumination.
A sensational cast fuels this exuberant tale that baffles as often as it charms.Pub Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 9781794867437
Page Count: 234
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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
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