Donald Maass Literary Agency

Library Journal: Luka is a bodyguard in the matriarchal, magical Gailand, named after goddess-founder Gaiea. His charge is nine-year-old Viella, princess and heir to Gaiea’s abilities and memories. When the queen is killed and the capital is raided by shadow mages, Luka flees with Viella across the allied queendoms to keep her safe. But why can’t Viella use her Gaiea powers yet, and who within the capital let the magicians in? This novel from Garcia (Lex Talionis), the first in a duology, is styled like a retro high fantasy. Character names include both Mordoch and Gretchen, there’s a nebulous source of all evil, and the background is vaguely Middle Ages—this time with more Caribbean and West African stylings, featuring a woman warrior caste named after the Dahomey Amazons. Fresh and inventive takes come through glimpses of the origins of Gailand: the evil might be an eldritch space god, magic is fueled by nanobots, and magic portals have brand names. The balance leans heavily high fantasy, but the possibility of breaking out of genre standards might keep readers hooked for the sequel. VERDICT An intriguing magi-tech high-fantasy series opener that paves the way for chaos in the follow-up.

Booklist: Marino is mostly known for his books for young readers (the Plot to Kill Hitler trilogy, for example), but he’s written a few solid novels for adults, the most recent being It Rides a Pale Horse (2022). His new novel is creepily good, a story of an apocalypse triggered by an unexpected swarm of insects. Why have they suddenly appeared, in the millions, without warning? Why are they behaving in such an uncharacteristic—even murderous—way? Who’s controlling them, and why? Marino juggles a great cast of characters (including a cop, an entomologist, and an ex-husband-and-wife combo who rescue people from cults) and does a superlative job of creating an atmosphere of fear, paranoia, and claustrophobia. His approach is rigorously logical; the story might be on the fantastic side, but it develops in a carefully structured, entirely plausible way. We really believe this could happen, which makes it altogether more frightening (and, it must be said, icky).

Shelf Awareness: Eden Robins (When Franny Stands Up) has written a smashingly good second novel, an utterly imaginative, genre-defying masterpiece: Remember You Will Die. Her blunt title is an accurate barometer that the end is nigh. In fact, the dead populate most of these pages. Their stories are revealed predominantly through obituaries that range from deeply soulful to delightfully guffaw-inducing. In between are occasional newspaper articles, lists, notes, word etymologies, and other ephemera that highlight death. Loosely, cleverly bound together, the narrative that emerges spotlights a singular mother/daughter relationship that will require 300 years of background to understand… (full review)