I’m honestly so much in love with this series. It’s about an exiled mage, Kellen, without magical powers, who’s being hunted by his former people. Meanwhile, he’s teaming up with a violent, cussing squirrel cat as business partner, and an Argosi gambler with wit and tricks as a mentor. Each book focuses on one specific part of Sebastien’s world, a new conflict that Kellen and his friends need to resolve, and a new power he learns along the way.
The third one wasn’t that action-packed as the previous ones, but instead focuses more on the relationships between the characters and their individual growth. Mentor Ferius’s has been secretive for a while, but now we get a lot of new information. Whereas Kellen, faced with difficult choices, has to grow up really fast. This book is more about Kellen (and others) realizing imperfection is perfection, than it is about the conflict: an invention in Gitabri that will cause a great war. It is the new growth for our favorite characters that makes this book exciting, and I love it. The female characters are badass, and there is even a small LGBTQ hint that was handled so casually I almost overlooked it. I really adored the bond between Reichis (the squirrel cat) and Kellen. Even though Reichis acts like he doesn’t care about him, his first instinct is to protect him. Also a plus to this book is that the tone of the series is becoming particularly darker: more blood, more gore, more bad decisions. The only thing I disliked is that some of the plot twists were obvious, hence the 4 stars.
If you like magic, fantasy, and bantering characters with lessons to teach (seriously, Ferius, why are you always right?), you’ll love these series. Sebastien has built a captivating and high-quality world, which he even applies in his acknowledgements. Really, check it out.
The third one wasn’t that action-packed as the previous ones, but instead focuses more on the relationships between the characters and their individual growth. Mentor Ferius’s has been secretive for a while, but now we get a lot of new information. Whereas Kellen, faced with difficult choices, has to grow up really fast. This book is more about Kellen (and others) realizing imperfection is perfection, than it is about the conflict: an invention in Gitabri that will cause a great war. It is the new growth for our favorite characters that makes this book exciting, and I love it. The female characters are badass, and there is even a small LGBTQ hint that was handled so casually I almost overlooked it. I really adored the bond between Reichis (the squirrel cat) and Kellen. Even though Reichis acts like he doesn’t care about him, his first instinct is to protect him. Also a plus to this book is that the tone of the series is becoming particularly darker: more blood, more gore, more bad decisions. The only thing I disliked is that some of the plot twists were obvious, hence the 4 stars.
If you like magic, fantasy, and bantering characters with lessons to teach (seriously, Ferius, why are you always right?), you’ll love these series. Sebastien has built a captivating and high-quality world, which he even applies in his acknowledgements. Really, check it out.