A whirlwind fantasy that will keep readers on their toes—much like the hero.
A woman without memories teams up with new friends to rediscover her past in Hall’s fantasy novel.
Kai wakes up in the forest with a woman on top of her busily removing Kai’s amulet and outerwear. Barely awake, unable to move much, and utterly confused about where—and who—she is, Kai can’t do much more than follow the thief as she runs away. Dressed only in a bandeau top and breeches (not to mention her strange eyes and bright hair), Kai is a shocking sight to the town she comes upon, and the citizens quickly consider her to be some sort of evil creature. Kai doesn’t exactly help her case by launching herself at the thief and throttling her in hopes of getting her amulet and clothes back. The townsfolk rally against her, demanding money in return for items broken during the scuffle. Of all people, the thief, called Olivia, comes to Kai’s rescue and offers her a place to stay while Kai works off her sudden debt. It doesn’t hurt that Olivia’s brother Jadon, the town blacksmith, is incredibly handsome. As if Kai’s luck wasn’t bad enough, soldiers attack the town, and a strange woman with magical abilities comes looking for Kai, bringing fire and vicious creatures (“another blast from the sky, this one bursting with flame. A fireball strikes the steeple of the chapel”). Kai knows she needs to get away fast to find out who she is—and where the wind powers she’s suddenly gained came from. Olivia and her very handsome brother decide to join her on her quest. In this romantic fantasy novel, the author throws readers into a new world, making it very easy to empathize with Kai, as she also has no idea where or who she is. Readers may feel a disconnect between Kai, Jadon, Olivia, and the rest of their world, as the crew feels more modern than the setting they inhabit. Still, readers who love a good fantasy adventure with plenty of action and a love story in the mix are sure to find something to enjoy here.
A whirlwind fantasy that will keep readers on their toes—much like the hero.Pub Date: Dec. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781649374400
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2024
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
Devoted series fans will appreciate the added pieces to this expansive narrative puzzle.
After 500 years, the Grief of Ages is a distant memory—until dragons hellbent on destruction begin to wake again.
In this relatively brief prequel to the epic The Priory of the Orange Tree (2019), the kingdoms of Virtudom have experienced centuries of relative peace. Marosa Vetalda, the Princess of Yscalin, spends her days behind castle walls under the gaze of her overprotective father, awaiting the date when she’ll be wed to Aubrecht of Mentendon, her ticket to freedom. While the book’s main focus is initially on the political threads weaving the Western kingdoms together, the frailty of best-laid plans is exposed when evidence of the reemergence of draconic beings reaches castle ears. These tales often come from the cullers who make their living slaying these creatures, and who are often blamed for intentionally waking them for profit. No one alive remembers the Grief of Ages, so no one’s prepared when Fýredel, the great High Western dragon, surfaces from the volcanic mountain that towers ominously over Yscalin’s capital city of Cárscaro. What follows is the backstory of how the devoted Yscali kingdom comes to shift allegiance to Fýredel and his master, the Nameless One, a main catalyst to events in The Priory. Overall, this book reads more like history lesson than fantasy adventure, but the sheer terror that befalls the Yscali people as they face Fýredel’s pure evil is both powerful and relevant. Marosa’s plight further solidifies her as a hero worth remembering; her strength and defiance shine through as hope for the future she’s dreamed of slowly flickers out.
Devoted series fans will appreciate the added pieces to this expansive narrative puzzle.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781639736010
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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