None
4 stars
Sitting in the shadows, with a killer, in an empty building, gazing at the corpse of another killer. When had her life grown so strange?
This was quite an enjoyable read! Lots of fast-paced action, witty banter, political conspiracies, threatening the empire in order to save the emperor—what's not to love? I really want to continue with the series now, to see what other adventures the team that got assembled in this book is going to head on. The characters are, without a doubt, the main strength of this story, especially the leads: Amaranthe and Sicarius. I also really liked Sespian and his journey. I wish he got a few more chapters.
I must note that it's the kind of story that requires some suspension of disbelief to enjoy. I don't mean the way you always have to suspend your disbelief when you read about a fantastical setting (the speculative …
Sitting in the shadows, with a killer, in an empty building, gazing at the corpse of another killer. When had her life grown so strange?
This was quite an enjoyable read! Lots of fast-paced action, witty banter, political conspiracies, threatening the empire in order to save the emperor—what's not to love? I really want to continue with the series now, to see what other adventures the team that got assembled in this book is going to head on. The characters are, without a doubt, the main strength of this story, especially the leads: Amaranthe and Sicarius. I also really liked Sespian and his journey. I wish he got a few more chapters.
I must note that it's the kind of story that requires some suspension of disbelief to enjoy. I don't mean the way you always have to suspend your disbelief when you read about a fantastical setting (the speculative elements here are actually almost downplayed; I can think of only 2 or 3 times where it really mattered that the story was taking place in a steampunk world with magic). What I mean is... Well, let's put it that way: everyone here follows the Rule of Cool.
"This plan is full of holes, doomed to fail, somewhat naive, and yeah, in the highly unlikely chance that it does work, we're going to be gloriously victorious, but I can't imagine it actually working out. Obviously, let's do this!"
"I'm a villain who turned the emperor into his puppet, and I've overlooked a single small thing: the emperor talked to the wrong person and liked her. Obviously, I can't let this slide. I now have to come up with more evil plans and create a lot of upheaval in the name of stability!"
Yeah. This sort of thing. It's especially visible in the beginning—the first 25% or so. Then, well, I don't think the book ever required me to make fewer wild leaps of logic, but I got used to it and simply enjoyed the ride. Sometimes, you just want to relax and read about witty, likable characters doing cool stuff, and this is just the book for that.
