Arcanist Fables by Shami Stovall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
War is coming thanks to the Second Ascension and the birth of new god creatures. Members of the Frith Guild and the Second Ascension are making their preparations for the battles to come and the book shows those preparations from their prospectives.
First and foremost, if you expect to see or learn anything new about Volke Savan prepare to be disappointed. Volke is mentioned, but no notable information about him is discussed. With that being said, the book is incredibly illuminating in regards to the Second Ascension. I'd mention details, but they are all significant spoilers.
Arcanist Fables isn't quite what I expected. On a plus we do have multiple point of view characters including Illia, Adelgis aka Moonbeam, Calisto, Hexa, the Kirin arcanist Orwyn Tellia, Everett Zelfree, new characters Ezril Rivers and The Keeper of Corpses, Fain, Ryker Blackwater, Mathis Weaversong (Luthair's first arcanist), and Rhys. The downside is the stories aren't all told directly after the book World Serpent. Many of the stories take place during World Serpent and some are before it. I was hoping for more current information on the characters, but that's a mixed bag with this book. The majority of the stories that happened during or before World Serpent didn't feel that worthwhile, but those that happened afterwards did provide some interesting prospectives and information.
The majority of the characters behave just the way you would expect. I was not a fan of Ryker. I hope he's not whining all the time moving forward. Ezril Rivers and the Keeper of Corpses were an unexpected plus. It will be interesting to see what the story has for them moving forward. Though not being a point of view characters, we learn a lot more about Theasin Venrover and the Autarch. Everett Zelfree's opinion of Theasin continues to be proven correct over time. Theasin is a particularly vile individual. I hope we learn more about the Autarch as he's far more complex than the outright villain Theasin.
Arcanist Fables was a solid story and seem to be necessary reading for those who plan to continue the series.
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