Synopsis
This 1st book in a new fantasy series from the author of the acclaimed Song of the Shattered Sands series follows an unlikely pair as they expose the secrets at the heart of the mountain city of Ancris.
Lorelei Aurelius is the smartest inquisitor in the mountain city of Ancris. When a mysterious tip leads her to a clandestine meeting between the Church and the hated Red Knives, she uncovers a plot that threatens not only her home but the empire itself.
The trail leads her to Rylan Holbrooke, a notorious thief posing as a dragon singer. Rylan came to Ancris to solve the very same mystery she stumbled onto. Knowing his incarceration could lead to the Red Knives’ achieving their goals, Lorelei makes a fateful she frees him.
Now branded as traitors, the two flee the city on dragonback. In the massive forest known as the Holt, they discover something terrible. The Red Knives are planning to awaken a powerful demigod in the holiest shrine in Ancris, and for some reason the Church is willing to allow it. It forces their return to Ancris, where the unlikely allies must rally the very people who’ve vowed to capture them before it’s too late.
Explore the mountain city of Ancris, where fast-paced adventure and intrigue abound. in this new offering from the author of the acclaimed Song of the Shattered Sands series.
Review
An excellent entry in a new series from Bradley P. Beaulieu which features a healthy smattering of dragon bonding and lore, an empire that has long oppressed the kin, the people of the Holt, a great forest full of magic and wonder where Faedryn, the trickster god, is imprisoned.
Firstly, let’s talk about the characters: Rylan and his Umbral dragon Vedron are an absolute delight to follow and share a relationship that urges you to read on. Rylan is part kin, the oppressed people that are still recovering from the plight the empire has put them under. Beaulieu does a good job of making Rylan human, he’s a dragon singer that deals with all kinds of dragon ailments for high society, who are booked in with the help of his dad, a high ranking member of the empire; though, this has added facets when you find out that he feels like he does not belong there, or to his own family, and feels more at home with his kin heritage. His father is absent, awful, and his siblings could care less. Though, this is all part of the backdrop of this epic story which sees Rylan take on his most daring robbery yet, stealing the wisp/soul of the leader of the Red Knives’ sister, a powerful witch. Other POVs included Rhiannon, a young girl from the Holt with a penchant for dealing with wisps, souls of animals and people; Azariah, The Hissing Man and Lorelei, an agoraphobic inquisitor for the Empire.
What I love about this cast of characters is that you’ve got a bit of everything, and characters that are far from simple; you have the young but adept magic user, the thief on a dragon, the detective and the corruptable priest. There’s a lot of staple character archetypes from fantasy there, but ones that are great to see.
The magic system is something quite intricate and based off the energy the light Light Sun, Lux and the Dark Sun, Nox give off; this in turn is tied to where the magical energy settles in either day or night, and also the two types of dragon, Radiant and Umbral – who also have abilities they can impart through their lucertae, a special scale between their eyes. Add this to the fact that there’s research and science tied to this magic system in-world and you’ve got one of the most intriguing and believable magic systems I’ve read in a while. It goes without saying that this is a hard magic system, with a lot of world-building to go with it.
In terms of the readability, Beaulieus writing is simple and elegant, I found myself tearing through the pages without any hindrance. It tries to be effective and not fancy and succeeds in doing just that.
My only gripe about the book is that perhaps the magic system as explained above was a little too hard for my liking. Because there’s in-world scientific research happening regarding Lux and Nox it starts to feel like a real science and not so magical for me – this is perhaps a ridiculous thing to bring up but it slightly dented my immersion a little.
As for plot, I really liked the pacing here and the fact that there was room for mystery, detective work, all interspersed in ancient lore and was done so effectively and avoided the ‘reads book and finds answer’ trope that sometimes appears when you have intelligent characters who have access to a library.
Overall, this is a stunning book with a lot of heart and more than a boot load of dragons. If you’re into very hard magic systems, and books with a high number of POV characters, this would definitely be up your street.
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