Daughters of the Storm

October 16, 2017
Australian author Wilkins’s unsophisticated fantasy epic falls flat. In the generically European fantasy kingdom of Almissia, the king is in an enchanted sleep, and his five daughters set out together to find a magic user who may be able to wake him. The journey, too straightforward to be called a quest, is punctuated by predictable challenges that make the plot feel plodding and inevitable. The stereotypical characterization of the sisters, each of whom is selfish and unpleasant in her own way, forecast the attempted plot twists: the warrior thinks with her sword, the mystic has plot-convenient abilities, the flighty one and the strumpet cause political troubles with ill-advised affairs, and the religious zealot will betray anyone to serve her god. Readers hoping for an exciting female-led take on epic fantasy will instead find this book drearily familiar. Agent: Selwa Anthony, Selwa Anthony Author Management.

March 15, 2018
In the first of a Norse-inflected high fantasy series, five sisters (and one stepbrother) threaten the status quo of all the countries of Thyrsland.The once strong and hearty King Athelrick of Almissia is dying from a mysterious illness. While his despairing second wife, Queen Gudrun, claims that the king's sickness has a mundane cause, the king's eldest daughter, a quick-tempered, ruthlessly pragmatic warrior incongruously named Bluebell, is convinced that evil magic is at work...and she's right. Bluebell gathers her four sisters together in a quest for his cure only to discover that her siblings don't share her country- and family-first attitude; they have their own preoccupations. Queen Rose of Nettlechester longs for her lover, Heath, her royal husband's nephew, who secretly fathered her child. Ash feels overwhelmed by her growing affinity to undermagic and tormented by visions that she will one day doom thousands. Ivy resents leaving her comfortable life with her uncle and aunt while lusting for every good-looking man she sees. Willow has rejected her family's pantheistic religion in favor of the monotheistic, patriarchal trimartyr faith and believes that the god Maava's angels speak to her personally. And Gudrun's son by her first marriage, the ambitious Wylm, sees this calamity as an opportunity to claim the throne for himself. Wilkins does an excellent job of setting the stage for her series, but it's disappointing that most of the novel is basically a mechanism to put the characters in place for future drama later. The story is also short on surprises; it seems fairly obvious how the women's iconic roles (warrior, magician, priestess, etc.) and personal flaws will lead them toward tragedy. Given that the novel is clearly inspired by Norse folklore, that is probably deliberate but may lose some readers with more modern expectations. Ash redeems the book by being the most sympathetic and interesting of the bunch; her magic and intelligence make her more self-aware than her sisters, who generally fail to consider the consequences of their actions.Potentially interesting, but only time (i.e., future books) will tell.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 15, 2018
Five sisters, bound by blood but not similar in character, set off on a journey in search of a cure that will awaken their father from a magical sleep. Bluebell is the unkillable warrior who reacts with passionate violence without thinking first. Ash was given a magical gift, or burden, that she has tried to thwart by burying herself in academia, but her magic might be just what she needs to help her father. Rose loves too easily; however, it is not her husband that she bestows her passion on. Willow and Ivy are twins but could not be more different, as Willow is set to worship the gods and do their bidding, while Ivy is happy to be of royal blood and expects to be treated as such. As with all families, there are secrets that each sister holds dear. Meanwhile, betrayals could destroy the entire kingdom before the sisters can save their father. Readers who enjoy epic journeys and strong female protagonists will enjoy Wilkins' (The Veil of Gold, 2008) first installment of her new Daughters of the Storm series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018

Aelthric, King of Thyrsland, is in a coma, the result of a magical curse. But this fact must be hidden, and his five daughters gather to find a cure that may lie with a long-lost relative in the north. With a stepbrother determined to take the kingdom they are trying to save, the sisters embark on an epic journey to find this powerful witch. Though they are tied by blood, the siblings--Bluebell, Rose, Ivy, Willow, and Ash--are very different from each other. Each sister, bearing her own secrets, will face decisions along the way that not only affect them but also those closest to them. The distinct but not always sympathetic personalities of these five women may polarize readers' sentiments at times, but the flaws and strengths of each are impossible to deny. VERDICT Wilkins's (The Infermal) Norse-inspired epic fantasy series debut highlights divided loyalties and ambitions that pit family members against one another, in a vividly drawn world where deception and devotion are two sides of the same blade. [See Prepub Alert, 10/9/17.]--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., South DeerfieldA fate worse than death, strange births in a strange world, a witch's daughter forges her own path

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2017

The prolific Wilkins, winner of four Aurealis Awards in Australia but not yet much published here, offers a series opener about five royal sisters and the stepbrother who's attempting to usurp the throne. With their father, the king, in a magically induced coma, they set out for the frigid north to find help, but their path is fraught with dangers--not least the secrets that each one holds.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.