Solid worldbuilding and mostly interesting characters, this is an enjoyable secondary world fantasy that I occasional find frustrating. There's a tiresome pattern to a lot of Lukan's conversations that turn into arguments and someone tells him to shut up, because he's being an idiot. And the visit to the shadowy organized crime king is cliched and a bit eyerolling in its depravity and brutality. Still, I'm intrigued at the mystery and I'm curious to see what happens next. 

A lively strong debut! There is good stuff here. The biggest strength is probably the smooth fast pacing and how easy it is to read. The characters are another strong point. The main character feels well rounded as a person and has witty and stubborn streaks that make for an enjoyable time. He's an underdog type trying to run from his past yet continuing to get himself into trouble. The supporting characters are equally distinct in their own ways with their own voices. The fantasy setting is well written and does enough of it's own thing creatively to stand out. It's built up in the writing organically without reliance on prolonged exposition. There is regular action keeping things moving.
The plot arc wraps up in a satisfying way while still providing a compelling case to check out the sequel. Everything is done pretty well and nothing stands out as a real low point. It's worth checking out!

 

 

Thoughts💡

This was a fast paced and exciting adventure to solve a mysterious crime, I loved the story even if it took me a minute to appreciate Lukan. The side characters though, those ladies were epic, especially Flea and The Shadow Queen. And they all helped Lukan develop into an endearing character that I was rooting for by the end. 

The plot was filled with magic, was fast paced, and loaded with a lot of the setbacks that the characters had to navigate. The city and its monsters gave me Stargate vibes (the OG movie); and the rich world building brought it alive. It made all the challenges and setbacks the characters faced exciting and tense. 

The audio was a lot of fun to listen to because Brenock has a very deep voice with clear pronunciations and a fast pace. All of it combined to make some epic storytelling that I want more of. 

 

⚜️ Endearing Characters 

⚜️ Epic Plot Twists & Challenges 

⚜️ Very Cool Ancient Civilization 

⚜️ Magic is Science and Science is Magic 

⚜️ Badass, Accomplished Women Getting Shit Done, (and one very cool dude leading the charge) 

 

✨Note✨¨This is book one in the series, but comes to a nice conclusion that sets up the next book. 

 

⚠️Content Warning⚠️

loss of a parent,violence, murder, blood, gore,🍺,🚬,💊, imprisonment, torture 

 

Stats📊

(no romance) 

Characters: 💙💙💙💙💙

Audio & Narrator: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

Sci-fi Fantasy: swords & sorcery, mysterious crime, exiled son, chasing a legacy, wild adventure, rag tag team, ancient civilization, aliens and magic, monsters, political machinations, corruption 

Third Person, Past Tense, Multi POV 

(but mostly just the MC’s POV) 

This is a delightfully fun classic fantasy novel, beautifully narrated by Brenock O'Connor and made compulsively readable by the mysteries - big and small - woven throughout.

It's a bit slow to start and probably a bit too long, but it nonetheless had me hooked till the very end; the worldbuilding is fascinating, hinting at much more to come, the plot engaging, well-paced and full of fun twists and turns (though Lukan's exceptional luck does ocassionally lean towards glaringly obvious plot armour). Lukan is pretty generic as fantasy protags go, but not offensively so, and Flea - the street urchin turned Lukan's guide/sidekick/friend - is a highlight among the supporting characters, bound to become a reader-favourite. Their dynamic is deeply endearing. I do have some criticisms - kinda sucks that the only fat character in the story is a stereotype, for example - but I definitely want to see where it all goes from here.

Overall, yeah, it doesn't really bring anything new to the genre, but it sure is FUN, so [shrugs] I really can't wait to get my hands on the sequel, especially with the great setup at the end of this book 🫶

(Thanks to Quercus Audio and Netgalley for the ARC!)

3.25 stars. 
Audiobook is very well read. 

First, I hate the main character. The sidekick(s) are absolutely delightful and the story is a fairly fast- paced, fun adventure to save the world (or at least prevent a war). It’s definitely a well-written book. 

Compared to the average urban fantasy adventure, the world-building is great. Each piece of the puzzle slides into a perfectly-shaped space held for it.  There are levels upon levels. Ten years ago (before I knew that so much more was both possible and available), I might have loved this book wholeheartedly. 

But here’s the thing, writers holding great privilege in our culture always seem to bring the systemic failures that keep everyone else marginalized, along into the worlds they create. Sure, there are loads of strong, capable women in this story…. But why create a whole new world that brings deep-seated patriarchy, late-stage capitalism, racism, ableism into it? Why does every white, male author always drag the worst parts of our society into the worlds they build? Why do they attempt to demonstrate equality with a handful of strong female characters, but ensure that women have fleeting influence and that most social constructs in their worlds ultimately denote obvious constraints against them? Why relegate all females outside if the few great characters to either sex objects or domestics?  It’s so utterly boring, unimaginative and aimed at a certain audience.

Why can I pick up a fantasy or sci.fi written by someone of another gender, or from the Global Majority, or by a disabled and/or queer author, and be immersed into a TRULY different world?

Ok. Now, the main character is abrasive, nauseatingly patriarchal and always either drunk or hungover. It’s vile. As much as I adore the side characters who aid him in this adventure, I would have given up this audiobook prior to finishing it had I not been reading an AudioARC. We don’t need another James Bond or macho amateur PI. This story could have worked just as well (better) with an inclusive, not drunk, semi-lost/confused main who actually showed some character development. Honestly, I would have been incredibly excited for the next book in that case. 

Ultimately, this book is a textbook urban fantasy, well-written AND maintaining each and every stereotype, trope and social injustice that makes our own world so difficult for so very many. The main character uses wine as therapy. 

Huge gratitude to NetGalley and the publisher, Macmillan Audio for the generous gift of this AudioARC, in exchange for my overbearingly honest review.