An epic fantasy about the return of an ancient, world-destroying evil.
God is dead. And Odium, the god who killed the Almighty, is unleashing terrible monsters to destroy humankind. Dalinar Kholin has bonded with the powerful spren known as the Stormfather and led his people to the lost city of Urithiru, but his work is just beginning. Now he has to unite the nations of the world to fight the Voidbringers and prepare for “a millennia-old conflict of ancient creatures with inscrutable motivations and unknown powers.” Danger is everywhere, even in his own stronghold, where the highprince Sadeas has been murdered—unbeknownst to Dalinar, by his own son, Adolin Kholin—and in Dalinar’s own mind, where certain memories are missing. Meanwhile, Kaladin is looking for his family, and Shallan is struggling to live with what happened to hers. In this third book in the Stormlight Archive series, it feels like the plot is driving the characters rather than the other way around, but those characters are still rich and vivid, and the plot is still gripping and building toward another dramatic climax. Sanderson (Edgedancer, 2017, etc.) manages to tell a compelling story while raising questions about what it means to be a moral actor in a complicated world.
Fans of the Stormlight Archive series will enjoy this book, which brings back favorite characters and deepens a well-drawn fantasy world.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7653-2637-9
Page Count: 1248
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Nov. 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
Categories: FANTASY | EPIC FANTASY
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An ex-convict is the wandering knight-errant who traverses the wasteland of Middle America, in this ambitious, gloriously funny, and oddly heartwarming latest from the popular fantasist (Stardust, 1999, etc.).
Released from prison after serving a three-year term, Shadow is immediately rocked by the news that his beloved wife Laura has been killed in an automobile accident. While en route to Indiana for her funeral, Shadow meets an eccentric businessman who calls himself Wednesday (a dead giveaway if you’re up to speed on your Norse mythology), and passively accepts the latter’s offer of an imprecisely defined job. The story skillfully glides onto and off the plane of reality, as a series of mysterious encounters suggest to Shadow that he may not be in Indiana anymore—or indeed anywhere on Earth he recognizes. In dreams, he’s visited by a grotesque figure with the head of a buffalo and the voice of a prophet—as well as by Laura’s rather alarmingly corporeal ghost. Gaiman layers in a horde of other stories whose relationships to Shadow’s adventures are only gradually made clear, while putting his sturdy protagonist through a succession of tests that echo those of Arthurian hero Sir Gawain bound by honor to surrender his life to the malevolent Green Knight, Orpheus braving the terrors of Hades to find and rescue the woman he loves, and numerous other archetypal figures out of folklore and legend. Only an ogre would reveal much more about this big novel’s agreeably intricate plot. Suffice it to say that this is the book that answers the question: When people emigrate to America, what happens to the gods they leave behind?
A magical mystery tour through the mythologies of all cultures, a unique and moving love story—and another winner for the phenomenally gifted, consummately reader-friendly Gaiman.Pub Date: June 19, 2001
ISBN: 0-380-97365-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2001
Categories: GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | FANTASY
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A fast-paced fantasy adventure that takes readers into a series of interconnected worlds ruled by magic—or the lack of it.
Long ago, the doors between worlds were open, and anyone with magic could travel from one to the next. Now the doors are closed, and only a chosen few have the power to travel between Grey London, a world without magic, Red London, a world suffused with it, and White London, a world where magic is scarce, coveted and jealously guarded. As for Black London, the city consumed, no one would be so foolish as to risk a trip—not even Kell. Officially, he’s a royal messenger, carrying letters among the rulers of the three Londons. Unofficially, he’s a smuggler who collects artifacts from other worlds. It’s that habit that leads him to accept a dangerous relic, something that shouldn’t exist. And it’s when a wanted Grey London thief named Lila steals the artifact that the real trouble starts—for both of them. Schwab (Vicious, 2013, etc.) creates a memorable world—actually, three memorable worlds—and even more memorable characters. Lila in particular is a winningly unconventional heroine who, as she declares, would “rather die on an adventure than live standing still.” The brisk plot makes this a page-turner that confronts darkness but is never overwhelmed by it.
Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7653-7645-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
Categories: GENERAL SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | FANTASY | HISTORICAL FANTASY
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