Tag: Fantasy

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Book: “Labyrinth’s Heart” by M. A. Carrick

Publishing Info: Orbit, Aug. 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Ren came to Nadežra with a plan. She would pose as the long-lost daughter of the noble house Traementis. She would secure a fortune for herself and her sister. And she would vanish without a backward glance. She ought to have known that in the city of dreams, nothing is ever so simple.

Now, she is Ren, con-artist and thief. But she is also Renata, the celebrated Traementis heir. She is Arenza, the mysterious pattern-reader and political rebel. And she is the Black Rose, a vigilante who fights alongside the legendary Rook. 

Even with the help of Grey Serrado and Derossi Vargo, it is too many masks for one person to wear. And as the dark magic the three of them helped unleash builds to storm that could tear the very fabric of the city apart, it’s only a matter of time before one of the masks slips—and everything comes crashing down around them.

Previously Reviewed: “The Mask of Mirrors” and “The Liar’s Knot”

Review: This will be another tough review to write, but for different reasons than I usually experience. I’ve absolutely loved this trilogy so far. In hindsight, I almost want to go back and give both of the other books 10 ratings! They’re the kind of stories that have characters who stick with you, popping up in my mind long after I’ve turned the last page. So it’s a weird situation to now finish up the trilogy and…just like it, not adore it! The struggle in writing up my thoughts, then, is that I may come across as more critical than the book deserves on its own merits. It’s still an excellent book in the end!

I’ll start with the unequivocal good parts. The writing. Across the board, all three books have been so incredibly well written. Natural dialogue, vivid descriptions, and a steady hand at the wheel throughout, never losing a sense of tone or place, even while balancing a million characters, cultures, and magic systems. It’s even more impressive that two authors worked together to write this! It’s absolutely seamless, and I have to wonder how they even pulled it off.

Beyond that, the world-building continues to impress. This is a fully-formed world, complete with various cultures and peoples, all with long histories that we see impacting the choices made today. Further, there are no purely good or purely evil sides to many of the complicated situations that arise. The authors carefully navigate the concepts of necessary revolution while equally condemning wanton violence or the easy slip into simply swapping positions, leaving the wrong-doing still present, if now in different hands. Extremism is rightfully identified and denounced, no matter the histories involved, and instead a focus on working together and living alongside those who are different is clearly emphasized.

The story also started out just as strong as the rest. Indeed, for the first third of the book, I was convinced that this would also end up as a 9 or 10 level read for me. This section had all the hallmarks of what I loved from the first two books: a clever Ren, a morally grey Vargo, and an emphasis on characterization, giving the reader ample opportunity to see even small moments play out between all the characters we’ve come to love so thoroughly. It was only as the book continued that I began to have problems, and it really came down to two things: Ren’s character arc (to lesser extent, Vargo as well), and the attempt to wrap up every loose thread.

To tackle the characters stuff first, while the story started out strong, character-wise, as we got more into the thick of the resolutions to the various plot lines, the characterization began to fall through the cracks. I remember mentioning in my review of the second book that I was beginning to have minor quibbles with the character arch of Ren and Vargo, both having to do with the wavering of their characterization from the first book. Unfortunately, that was doubled-down on here. For his part, Vargo pretty much lost all of his moral ambiguity, instead reacting with nothing but love and understanding to almost every reveal sent his way. Which, sure, I want him to get all the found family connections he ultimately ends up with, but it was all just so…easy, no conflict to speak of.

For her part, Ren became the most special of all the special snowflakes by the end of this book. She was still a well-written character, unlike many characters who end up with this nickname given to them, but the problem remained. By the end of the book, a character joking introduces her listing off all the unique, important roles that she now inhabits. And while it’s played for laughs, it also unintentionally highlights the problem. Ren was at her best when she was a con woman, deftly navigating numerous roles and goals while also trying to balance the deeper feelings and connections she was developing with those around her. Here, after that first third of the book is done, we pretty much lose all of the cleverness or greyness of this character. Again, someone makes a joke at one point that Ren “saves the world through talking.” And it’s true! And that’s bad!! Especially because, for a character like Ren, if she was going to solve problems through talking, it should be through clever manipulation and schemes. Instead, the book devolves into numerous speeches about togetherness and understanding that miraculously solve pretty much every problem or conflict.

Further, some of the joy of the first two books was seeing Ren slowly learn to expand her understanding of family to characters like Vargo, Grey and the Traementis family. Well, here, that’s all blown out of the water by the absolute deluge of family units Ren finds herself apart of. The reason the ties between Ren, Vargo, Grey, and Traementis family worked was due to the sheer amount of page time devoted to developing them. These later connections don’t have that and also worked against these established characters, as we spent less time between the ones we care about, as Ren was overrun by the various family groups that now surround her.

And lastly, this book suffers from a severe case of “Return of the King” syndrome. You know what I’m talking about: a story that ends up with numerous, seemingly endless, endings. And here, it feels like the endings start up near the half way point! There was a lot that needed to be wrapped up in this book already. But the authors didn’t help themselves by adding new characters and new histories on top of what they already had to deal with.

Beyond that, there seemed to be an almost compulsive need to wrap up every ill that ever befell this world. And look, I don’t love grimdark fantasy, and I honestly think that the fantasy genre as a whole, and particularly epic fantasy, needs to come out of the haze inflicted upon it by “Game of Thrones,” the idea that a fantasy story isn’t “serious” if it isn’t full of horribleness and tragedy. So I applaud the authors for proving that this needn’t be the case.

Unfortunately, it feels like they went too far in the other direction! The main plots lines being wrapped up well? Great! But then it began to feel as if every character was being neatly paired up, every historical ill-doing was magically made right, and any point of character conflict was easily resolved with a few short words and a hug. And the magic system was totally abused in the service of this goal! Need some past wrong figured out? Something something magic! It all began to feel like too much. And with everything so, SO neatly resolved, it started to feel unrealistic, undercutting the real pain and heartache that was at the heart of all of the characters’ motivation, up to this point.

I think one of the strangest take aways from this book was the feeling that it was both too long and too short. Too long, because numerous scenes and plot points didn’t seem to go anywhere and could have easily been lifted (even while keeping the strong scenes between members of the core cast!). And too short because a full half of the book had to be devoted to wrapping up the entire trilogy with ending after ending coming in quick succession. Instead, had this been split into two books, some of these ending could have been dealt with in one book, leaving the others to the final book.

Wow, so this ended up being way longer than I had intended, but it turns out I had a lot to say! Overall, however, I still loved Ren, Grey, and Vargo. The love story between Grey and Ren is one of my favorites in a long time, and the writing across the entire trilogy was excellent. This one may trip a bit at the end, but it by no means undercuts the strength of the entire trilogy and my emphatic recommendation of it to all fantasy fans!

Rating 8: Too many endings and some wobbly characterization brought this one down a bit, but it was still a satisfying conclusion to an excellent trilogy!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Labyrinth’s Heart” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Renaissance and Tudor Fantasy and Genius Protagonists ( who DEMONSTRATE actual thinking in intricate plots).

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Ashfire King” by Chelsea Abdullah

Publishing Info: Orbit, April 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: A merchant and a prince trapped in the crumbling realm of jinn must figure out how to save one world to return to their own in The Ashfire King, the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy.

Neither here nor there, but long ago… After fleeing a patricidal prince, legendary merchant Loulie al-Nazari and banished prince Mazen bin Malik find themselves in the realm of jinn. But instead of sanctuary, they find a world on the cusp of collapse.

The jinn cities, long sheltered beneath the Sandsea by the magic of its kings, are sinking. Amid the turmoil, political alliances are forming, and rebellion is on the rise. When Loulie assists a dissenter—one of her bodyguard’s old comrades—she puts herself in the center of a centuries-old war.

Trapped in a world that isn’t her own and wielding magic that belongs to a fallen king, Loulie must decide: Will she carry on someone else’s legacy or carve out her own?

Previously Reviewed: “The Stardust Thief”

Review: Insert “It’s been 84 years” gif here! But seriously, that’s how long it’s felt since I read and reviewed “The Stardust Thief!” So long that I’ve run into the author of this book not once, but twice, at ALA conventions! So I’ve been super excited ever since I saw that we finally had a publication date for this one!

Wisely, the author included a fairly extensive opening chapter covering all of the action from the first book. I really liked that book, but I’ll admit, I’d forgotten many of the details that were then covered in this introduction. Even with it, I was left a bit floundering when the actual story started up, trying to re-orient myself with not only where our characters were located, but how exactly they’d all ended up where they did. Once I got my footing more under me, I was able to settle in better.

Overall, I think this was a solid second book. It didn’t quite reach the highs of the first one, but it did a good job of reminding me why I enjoyed this world to begin with. Loulie and Mazen remain great characters to follow, though my preference for Loulie continues. Mazen is fine, but it didn’t feel like he had much of an arc to explore in this book, which left his chapters often feeling a bit light or hollow. For her part, Loulie is still reeling from the loss of Quadir, as well as with the new paths she sees for herself going forward. Further, with the loss of this essential relationship, we see her struggle to trust and grow close with Mazen. The barest hints of romance are established here, and I’m definitely excited to see how that is wrapped up in the last book!

Speaking of Quadir, I was disappointed to see him disappear for so much of this book. I get why it was necessary for the plot, but he was a nice balance to the other characters, and I think his loss does effect the overall quality of this book. Especially given the blandness of Mazen’s chapters.

I enjoyed the main plot, for the most part. Though I will say that by the time we get to the end of this book, looking back on the events that took place, much of it felt like side quests, rather than an advancement of the primary story. This book definitely struggled with “second book syndrome,” and I wonder if the story as a whole would have been better served as a duology? There’s always a push for fantasy series to be bigger, longer, and then assumed, better. But sometimes a story works better when it’s tighter, and that might be the case here. Of course, we won’t really know until the third book is out and we see how it all is tied up in the end.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. It didn’t quite live up to the highs of the first book, and I’ll admit to being a bit let down, given the long wait for this one. But it’s also a solid read on its own and sets up some exciting events for the third book. Ultimately, this may be one of those rare books that will read better if you haven’t already read the first one and can instead now read them back to back. The floundering around that I felt at the beginning is definitely best avoided!

Rating 8: A fun return in a long-awaited sequel! This may have suffered a bit from “second book syndrome,” but it was still great to return to this world and these characters!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Ashfire King” can be found on this Goodreads list: Arabian, Egyptian, and Indian Fantasy.

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “The Raven Scholar” by Antonia Hodgson

Publishing Info: Orbit, April 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

Review: No delay: I absolutely loved this book! It was one of those special reads where I went in with zero expectations and was blown away! I wasn’t familiar with the author (this is her first fantasy novel) and all I really knew about this one was that it featured yet another deadly, magical competition. Which, at this point, is more of a red flag than an interest point, given how flooded the genre has been with these sorts of books for the last several years. But man, this one proved why, in the right hands, even a tired trope can really come to life!

Part of this is the simple fact that, while the competition is the structure around much of the plot is built, it’s not really the main focus of the story. Instead, the central premise of the book is much more heavily focused on what starts as a murder mystery but quickly spirals out into a much larger conspiracy. And this larger mystery encompasses decades of history, some plot points from over 20 years ago, some events from a decade before, and others from more recent years. Much of this is slowly revealed throughout the course of Neema’a investigation, but the author also neatly uses a few chapters of a prologue that follows another character from years before. This was such a brave choice, as this character becomes central to the story, but is also never seen on page again. It’s a show of confidence that the author felt that the narrative voice and Neema herself were strong enough to reclaim the story back from a very different starting focus. With all of this, as the story unfolds, the reader is lulled into a sense of putting things together only to be smacked over the head with several huge late game reveals, some of which truly took my by surprise!

As for the competition, it did stand out from others, both in its simplicity and in its unique points. Some of it is just straight forward fighting, no real gimmicks. And as far as the magical competition portions went, the book was much more focused on the qualities of the groups who put these portions of the event together, what they wanted to see from a winner and a leader. In this way, these trials felt much less like the typical dangerous escapades we’re used to seeing. Instead, several of them are fairly generic, but made interesting by what they say about the individuals who participate in them based on the choices they make. This was also helped by the steady hand the author utilized throughout in creating this cast of competitors. Very early, I felt I had not only a strong understanding of who each of these characters were, but they all felt fully fleshed out and individual from one another, bringing their own baggage and their own motivations to this competition.

And, at the heart of it all, we have Neema and the Raven. Neema was simply excellent, everything I want from a protagonist. Smart, but awkward. Thrust into a situation she was completely unprepared for, we see all the stumbles of a flawed individual, but we also see the way her particular strengths lead her through. And most importantly, the ways in which she navigates these trials and the investigation all felt natural and believable to her history and abilities. Sometimes it’s really easy to see the author’s hand on the wheel with the creation of situations that seem to conveniently just work out for a main character who, by any rights, should fail miserable. Neema doesn’t glide through. People don’t trust her, don’t like her, and if she hadn’t attracted the interest of the Raven, it’s clear she would have done terribly. I also enjoyed the quirks of her characterization, the ways in which her strengths (her incredible scholarly knowledge) has and continues to create barriers to her ability to form connections to others. At times it was hard to see her treated so harshly by those around her, but the bright spots of the Raven’s narration and the very subplot-y love interest balanced these tough moments out.

And, of course, there is the Raven themself. What a unique narrative quality! There’s a way that this could have gone very wrong, that a quirky style like this could have been overplayed and over done. Instead, this has to be one of the most fresh feeling narrative styles that I’ve seen in a while! For those who are concerned, the majority of the story is told in your typical third person past tense approach. But sprinkled throughout, we are reminded that we are being told this story through the eyes of a very specific being with their own goals and perspective. Not to mention, the Raven was hilarious!

This book was pretty much my perfect read! Incredible fantasy world-building, an excellent main character, mystery, action, romance, it has it all! For a book that is 700 pages long, by the final portion, all I could think about was the fact that I wanted it to be even longer and how am I possibly going to wait for the sequel! This one doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, per se, but by the end of the book, this world looks very different than it did when it began and Neema’s journey is a wild ride, sprawling out before her. If you enjoy epic fantasy, this is a must read, as far as I’m concerned!

Rating 10: In a word: magnificent. Hodgson blasts onto the epic fantasy stage with a book that will quickly become a must-read for fans of the genre.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Raven Scholar” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Gifted &Talented” by Olivie Blake

Publishing Info: Tor Books, April 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Thayer Wren, the brilliant CEO of Wrenfare Magitech and so-called father of modern technology, is dead. Any one of his three telepathically and electrokinetically gifted children would be a plausible inheritor to the Wrenfare throne.

Or at least, so they like to think.

Meredith, textbook accomplished eldest daughter and the head of her own groundbreaking biotech company, has recently cured mental illness. You’re welcome! If only her father’s fortune wasn’t her last hope for keeping her journalist ex-boyfriend from exposing what she really is: a total fraud.

Arthur, second-youngest congressman in history, fights the good fight every day of his life. And yet, his wife might be leaving him, and he’s losing his re-election campaign. But his dead father’s approval in the form of a seat on the Wrenfare throne might just turn his sinking ship around.

Eilidh, once the world’s most famous ballerina, has spent the last five years as a run-of-the-mill marketing executive at her father’s company after a life-altering injury put an end to her prodigious career. She might be lacking in accolades compared to her siblings, but if her father left her everything, it would finally validate her worth—by confirming she’d been his favorite all along.

On the pipeline of gifted kid to clinically depressed adult, nobody wins—but which Wren will come out on top?

Review: I’m one of those viewers who both recognized and appreciated the brilliant writing and acting found in “Succession” but who also struggled to enjoy the actual process of watching it. As a media consumer (books, movies, or shows), I’ve found that I struggle the most with stories where I can’t find a likable character to cling to. They don’t need to be perfect or strictly heroic, but just…likable. Jesse Pinkman from “Breaking Bad” is the perfect example of the sort of character I need to find to truly enjoy a story. So, when I saw that Olivie Blake was coming out with a new book and that it definitely was giving off strong “Succession” vibes, I was interested, but also a bit wary. That show was a slog at times of just hating everyone and everything they did. Would this book follow in its footsteps? Well, yes and no.

On the good side, I think some of Blake’s flowery, evocative style of writing worked really well with this sort of story. At best, everyone in this book is incredibly flawed, and Blake uses them and the situations they keep finding (creating!) themselves in to offer many beautifully crafted insights into the world as a whole. Commentary on power, ambition, and, of course, the complicated nature of siblings, with all of the competition and resentment that can be tied up in such a unique relationship. Here is someone who is the only other person/people in the world who truly understands your history, who’s seen it all, the good, the bad, the ugly. You love them; you can’t hide from them. I’ve struggled with Blake’s writing style at times in the past, but I think it paired really well with this sort of story.

That said, I am starting to put together the dots on the sorts of characters Blake has been writing lately. Namely, the kind that are found in things like “Succession.” In that way, she was perfectly positioned to write this sort book. But on the other hand, I’ve had a harder and harder time connecting with her books because I feel as if she always writes characters who I end up really disliking. They’re not just morally grey, they’re often rude, selfish, stubborn to the point of idiocy, etc. And while here these characters fit in well with the sort of story she was trying to write, I can’t say I enjoyed them any more for it. I kept banging my head against a wall, as I jumped from character to character who couldn’t help shooting themselves in the foot with terrible approaches to life and how they treat others.

I’ll also say that I question the necessity of the fantasy elements in this book. There are definite comparisons to “The Umbrella Society” (some were a bit too close, honestly, and made it feel less creative on its own), but, for the most part, the magic was so far in the background to the interpersonal dynamics that I’m not sure if it was serving much of a purpose. Other than staying true to the sort of books that Blake has written in the past and that her fans expect from her. But here at least, I think the book might have been better served to have remained a straight contemporary fiction novel. As it stands, I don’t think the sparce fantasy elements truly contribute much to the book itself. Those who are going in as hardcore fantasy readers will be left with a book that feels thin in this area.

Overall, this was an ok read. I will say, as a reader who has struggled with Blake’s style of writing in the past (sometimes it can veer into the land of pretentiousness), I think that the themes and subject matter of this book were well suited to her talents and the book shone brightest in its use of language to describe some of these darker currents. However, all of the characters were so unlikable that I can’t say I actually enjoyed my reading experience. Looking back, I think that’s been the difference for me with her books that I’ve enjoyed vs. those I didn’t. And it was unfortunate that this largely fell in the latter category. However, fans of Blake’s style should definitely check this out, especially if you’re the sort of reader who enjoys truly morally compromised characters!

Rating 7: Some poignant commentary on themes of sibling rivalry and ambition was held back a bit for me by a cast of truly unlikable characters.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Gifted & Talented” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction and