I loved Charlie N Holmberg’s Paper Magician series so I was really excited to dip into her new series. I devoured the book in an afternoon and decided I had to write a review.
This is so much darker. Ms Holmberg paints the world beautifully, giving the right combination of detail and hints. The complex setting gradually unfolds as the characters progress through the smoky, polluted city, a metaphor for the corrupt and desperate society.
This dystopian setting is a wonderful backdrop for the two main characters. Sandis, the slave mystically linked to something dreadful from another plane of existence, and Rone, the rogue who tries to make the right decisions and gets things dreadfully wrong at times. The layers of their respective backgrounds and the stories that have made them are gently peeled back through the course of the well paced story.
And, darn it, the story ended on a cliff hanger and I can’t wait to read the next book. I totally recommend this story.
