#Review - Riven by Mindee Arnett #YA #Fantasy

Series: Unknown
Format: Hardcover, 448 pages
Release Date: January 10, 2023
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

From acclaimed fantasy author Mindee Arnett comes an epic, adventurous story of a young mercenary magic user trying to escape the oppressive island of Riven—and a young noblewoman trying to change it forever.

Mars Darksvane wants out. Out from under the thumb of Una, the crime boss who pulled him off the streets as a child and trained him as an assassin; out from the island country of Riven, where magic, in the form of a dangerous material called Ice, allows the rich to live in luxury and keeps the poor in thrall. Mars is a secret adept—a person born with the ability to channel the magic that flows beneath Riven—and while his power gives him abilities useful to an assassin, it also makes him a target. And when his last mission ends in tragedy, Mars finally decides it's time to escape to the mainland. No magic, no history, a new life on his own.

But Una has other ideas. If Mars wants his freedom, he's going to have to perform a final job: protecting Fura Torvald—the heiress of the rich and powerful Torvald kith, and the daughter of the last man Mars was sent to kill—and stealing from her a mysterious object known only as the Primer.

Mars has no interest in Fura or whatever the Primer is, nor in Riven's corrupt and oppressive politics; he just wants to do his job and get out. But as Mars comes to know more about Fura, the Primer, and the true nature of the power in Riven, he realizes that he will soon have to take a side in a fight he has avoided his entire life. Which side, however, he does not yet know.

 

From acclaimed fantasy author Mindee Arnett comes an epic, adventurous story of a young mercenary magic user trying to escape the oppressive island of Riven—and a young noblewoman trying to change it forever. The author has constructed the world of Riven from touchstones in Nordic and Icelandic culture, giving the land, architecture, technology, and mythological aspects of the world their own flair and flavor.

Mars Darksvane wants out. Out from under the thumb of Una, the crime boss who pulled him off the streets as a child and trained him as an assassin; out from the island country of Riven, where magic, in the form of a dangerous material called Ice, allows the rich to live in luxury and keeps the poor in thrall. Mars is a secret adept—a person born with the ability to channel the magic that flows beneath Riven—and while his power gives him abilities useful to an assassin, it also makes him a target. 

10 months ago, after a mission went sideways, Mars tried to walk away from Uma. He began saving money as a fish monger in order to escape. But Una has an ampoule of Mars blood which binds him to her until she decides he can leave. She knows where he is at all times. So, if Mars wants his freedom, he's going to have to perform a final job: protecting Fura Torvald—the heiress of the rich and powerful Torvald kith, and the daughter of the last man Mars was sent to kill—and stealing from her a mysterious object known only as the Primer. 

Mars has no interest in Fura or whatever the Primer is, nor in Riven's corrupt and oppressive politics; he just wants to do his job and get out. But as Mars comes to know more about Fura, the Primer, and the true nature of the power in Riven, as well as her friend Katrin, he realizes that he will soon have to take a side in a fight he has avoided his entire life. Which side, however, he does not yet know. All he does now that if he can help Fura with her mission, he can finally get away from Riven, and especially Uma.

There are times, I admit, that I don't like a duality of narratives, but in this case, I think the story would have benefited from having certain storylines filled by Fura and or Katrin who seem to have a strong depth of their own outside of what readers see through Mars narration. Props to the author for the strong world building. Magic is dependent on Ice, a toxic resource that needs to be mined. The structure of the society, the environment, the abuse of the adepts (those who can do magic) really tell a great story. 

However, I would also be remiss by not saying the prologue had no bearing on the overall story. It was just there to apparently tell readers how Riven is slowly dying. Also, the ending really is open ended to the point where I believe that a sequel would be pertinent to see what happens next.  

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

#Review - Shadow & Flame by Mindee Arnett #YALIT / #Fantasy

Series: Rime Chronicles #2
Format: Hardcover, 496 pages
Release Date: June 4, 2019
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

From acclaimed author Mindee Arnett comes the thrilling conclusion of the stunningly epic, action-packed, and romantic fantasy adventure about a powerful girl possessed of strange magic, the outcast prince she loves, and the kingdom that has torn them apart.

Kate and Corwin are on the run, desperate for allies in a new world of war among the kingdoms of Rime. As the book opens, Kate suffers a massive loss, one that will shape the struggle for freedom of all wilders and magic folk—that is, if Kate can learn to control her own power

 

Shadow & Flame is the final installment in author Mindee Arnett's Rime Chronicles. The story picks up around 6 months after the ending of Onyx and Ivory. Shadow & Flame is told in the POV of both Kate Brighton and Corwin Tormane, High Prince of Rime who has been labeled as a traitor. However, Kate and Corwin get separated in the beginning of the story after so many shocking things go wrong, and spend most of it apart trying to deal with their own personal.

After the heart racing prologue, the story jumps ahead 1 year. Kate is part of The Rising and called the Wilder Queen thanks to her actions in taking over Farhold. She wears flame tattoos to honor those she lost, including one for Corwin and Bonner who she believes was lost in a mission to Seva. The same Seva which has been trying to conquer Rime using wilders who were kidnapped from Rime. Kate has no idea that Corwin is really alive and being groomed to be a pawn in Rendborne's much larger and more deadlier game. 

Kate, unfortunately, has a chip on her shoulder a mile wide. Which, considering how she is treated by others, and what happens in the prologue, makes some sense. She makes some silly mistakes based on emotions leading to her friends ending up in dire circumstances. Kate has a remarkable ability, but sometimes that ability is used on the wrong people even though it's in an attempt to save their lives. When you take away someone's free will, you are stepping over the line from what makes you a hero to a villain.

While Corwin is facing some twisted plots, and manipulations, including having to marry someone he has no emotional connection with, his brother Edwin has declared himself to be King of Rime even though the uror challenge hasn't been satisfied. When Corwin and his new entourage, including the King of Seva, and Rendborne arrive in Rima, things get interesting to say the least. Even after everything Edwin did to him, and how he was treated, I think it's fair to say that events transpire that I won't spoil that makes Corwin believe that he can be a better king than his brother.

Inevitably, people are going to be sad by some of the consequences of this story. Some people will like the fact that the romance was basically subtle if non-existent for most of the story. The foreshadowing from the first book to the finale of this book was clear now that I've read this book. All the loose ends are tied up nicely and the ending is so satisfying. I am glad that the ending of this series wasn't dragged out for one more book to leave reading hanging off a cliff wanting to know if Corwin and Kate will have a happy ending or a brutal denial of a happy ending thanks to a garden variety of villains.

Onyx & Ivory and Shadow & Flame are everything you want from a big-book YA series: an impeccably built world, an epic storyline with dual protagonists, pulse-pounding action, compelling adventure, court intrigue, and breathless romance. Kate, Corwin, Bonner, Signe, and Dal learn things they never knew about themselves, their choices and the consequences that come with those choices. Each of these characters go through hell. And I mean literal hell.

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

ARC #REVIEW - Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett #YALIT #Fantasy

Series: Unknown
Format: E-Book, 512 pages
Release Date: May 15, 2018
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Edelweiss/Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

For fans of Red Queen, Dividing Eden, and Six of Crows comes a stunning new fantasy epic about an outcast girl, the boy she loves, and the kingdom that has torn them apart.

They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king years ago. Now Kate lives as an outcast, clinging to the fringes of society as a member of the Relay, the imperial courier service. Only those most skilled in riding and bow hunting ride for the Relay; and only the fastest survive, for when dark falls, the nightdrakes—deadly flightless dragons—come out to hunt. 

Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: she is a wilder, born with magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals. But it’s this magic that she needs to keep hidden, as being a wilder is forbidden, punishable by death or exile. And it’s this magic that leads her to a caravan massacred by nightdrakes in broad daylight—the only survivor her childhood friend, her first love, the boy she swore to forget, the boy who broke her heart.

The high king’s second son, Corwin Tormane, never asked to lead. Even as he waits for the uror—the once-in-a-generation ritual to decide which of the king’s children will succeed him—he knows it’s always been his brother who will assume the throne. And that’s fine by him. He’d rather spend his days away from the palace, away from the sight of his father, broken with sickness from the attempt on his life. But the peacekeeping tour Corwin is on has given him too much time to reflect upon the night he saved his father’s life—the night he condemned the would-be killer to death and lost the girl he loved. Which is why he takes it on himself to investigate rumors of unrest in one of the remote city-states, only for his caravan to be attacked—and for him to be saved by Kate.

With their paths once more entangled, Kate and Corwin have to put the past behind them. The threat of drakes who attack in the daylight is only the beginning of a darker menace stirring in the kingdom—one whose origins have dire implications for Kate’s father’s attack upon the king and will thrust them into the middle of a brewing civil war in the kingdom of Rime.

From the acclaimed author of Avalon comes a breathless, adventurous, romantic, and thrilling journey into a fantasy world you won’t soon forget.

Onyx and Ivory, by author Mindee Arnett, is the first installment in what is hopefully a new duology. 19-year old Kate Brighton is a member of the Relay Riders courier team. As a relay rider, Kate has vowed to always bring their horses back safely. She has to understand that there are monsters called nightdrakes (flightless dragons) that prowl the night and are assumed responsible for any riders that go missing or don't return from their ride. But, Kate has another name; Traitor Kate, or the Traitors Daughter. 

3 years ago, her father, Hale Brighton, was executed for attempting to assassinate the king of Rime. Branded a traitor thanks mostly to the boy she once loved, Kate ran from her home in Norgard and made for Farhold. Kate carries a secret. A secret which can get her killed if someone finds out. Kate is what's know in this world as a Wilder. Kate has the ability to connect to an animals minds and influence their behavior. Wilders are considered outlaws by the very crown Kate's father served honorably until he attempted to kill the King. 

Being a wilder (magic user who can manipulate elements-earth, air, fire, water, spirit) is illegal. If discovered, they are captured, purged of their magic, and executed. There is one weakness; Wilder magic only works during the day. On the opposite side are Magists. They can manipulate various forms of magic, like wardstones, but can't manipulate the elements like Wilders can. Kate's best friend, Tom Bonner, is another Wilder who can manipulate metal. Metal that can be forged into weapons like guns that can kill drakes. 

Then the man who she once thought she loved, Prince Corwin, aka the errant prince, re-enters her life. The same Prince Corwin who disappeared for 2 years and is now on a peacekeeping tour which leads him to discover a very different Kate Brighton. A Kate who loathes him for what she feels he didn't do for her father. I need to also mention Lord Dallin Thorne since he is as much of a part of this story, as Kate and Corwin are. In that regards, I will also mention Kate's roommate and fellow rider Signe Leth from a place known as Esh Islands. 

I loved both Dallin and Signe equally. Dallin is a cheeky bloke who loves to use sarcasm and humor while also being Corwin's only real friend, and knows what Corwin was doing the past 2 years when he disappeared. Signe is mysterious as they come. Ask her a question, you are liable to get many different answers. But, she is faithful to Kate, and knows Kate's secret. She never once betrayed Kate or Tom Bonner. She also knows the secret behind the special gunpowder that can put down drakes permanently. 

After Corwin's caravan is attacked by daydrakes, yes, monsters that come out in the day, he is saved by Kate. Corwin asks Kate for help to figure out why the drakes are attacking in broad daylight. Are the group known as the Rising responsible? Corwin believes that he is guilty for what happened to his mother, and undeserving of being to the crown, no matter what the ancient ritual called Uror claims. He is also conflicted for what he did to Kate and her father. 

For Kate and Corwin, their journey to Norgard will be the place where they will not only find answers about Hale Brighton, but also the real face of the Rising and what they are fighting for. Hopefully in the end, both can find closure and peace maybe even rekindle a romance that was once burned brightly until it was snuffed out by happenstance. Onyx & Ivory perfectly sets the scene for an epic showdown between Kate & Corwin & their allies, against Prince Edwin and his allies in the second book in this planned duology. 

Amazon | Audible | Barnes & Noble |  Kobo