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jalyth's review
5.0
I'm pretty sure the author used she/woman for every hypothetical about a person doing something. A two-woman boat or pathway. Yet the main characters are men. It took me 5 books to notice, but I like it!
tessisreading2's review
4.0
I just love the light touch Scott uses with magic in her worldbuilding; Astreiant feels fully-realized and entirely realistic, even with all the wizards. Eslingen and Rathe's relationship, here, too, feels fully-realized and entirely realistic, including petty moments of jealousy and quiet moments of affection... it's just a pleasant constant underlying the mystery and drama of the larger plot: while they have their conflicts and challenges, they are very much together now, which is something of a relief after some of the clashes between their goals and hopes in earlier books.
siavahda's review
4.0
So worth the wait; after being unable to read anything for a while, I couldn't put this down. Astreiant continues to be one of my favourite fictional worlds and I always love seeing more of it - and Rathe and Eslingen are still one of my favourite couples. As usual, Scott managed to hook me into the mysteries that needed solving, despite the fact that I've never enjoyed a 'detective' type storyline written by anyone but her, and I'm still in awe of how deftly she conveys her worldbuilding, without ever once needing to info-dump the reader.
A fantastic addition to one of my very favourite and most beloved series.
A fantastic addition to one of my very favourite and most beloved series.
snazel's review
5.0
This falls into my favourite genre of storytelling styles, where things are so intricately and effortlessly knitted together that you can get two thirds of the way through the book and a single throwaway line carries so much WEIGHT that you have to set the book down and take a short walk. In this case it's Eslingen saying he doesn't take fees, which if you've READ the series you know (oh, you know) the weight of that, and if you haven't makes no sense as a comment.
This also falls into my favourite genre of plotting style, where the worldbuilding flawlessly informs the plot and back around again, to the point that a murder investigation can turn on the price of a pound of tea, and that's fully understandable to the reader.
This ALSO falls into my favourite genre of character interactions, where people refer to each other by their last names and are very correct and then are given away by how expensive the wine they order for each is, and onlookers whisper behind their hands about how in love they are.
All of which is to say that I am pretty sure this book is amazing, but I really can't make that judgement call because it is basically constructed as though someone was playing bingo with a sheet made out of entirely my favourite things in story. Okay admittedly there could be more ladies and we could see more of my favourite necromancer, but I'm patient, I can wait for the university story.
This also falls into my favourite genre of plotting style, where the worldbuilding flawlessly informs the plot and back around again, to the point that a murder investigation can turn on the price of a pound of tea, and that's fully understandable to the reader.
This ALSO falls into my favourite genre of character interactions, where people refer to each other by their last names and are very correct and then are given away by how expensive the wine they order for each is, and onlookers whisper behind their hands about how in love they are.
All of which is to say that I am pretty sure this book is amazing, but I really can't make that judgement call because it is basically constructed as though someone was playing bingo with a sheet made out of entirely my favourite things in story. Okay admittedly there could be more ladies and we could see more of my favourite necromancer, but I'm patient, I can wait for the university story.
losthitsu's review
5.0
Best one yet.
I picked up this series in my neverending quest to find something similar to my beloved Nightrunner, and I'm happy to say I finally found what I was looking for - the two are very different in terms of plot, pacing and genre, but at their core they unite everything I love in my favourite books: a vibrant, vivid world that I just want to return to again and again, a well-thought-through society that is blissfully non-patriarchal and non-heteronormative, and a low-key queer romance that quietly and happily exists at the background of the main storyline.
I picked up this series in my neverending quest to find something similar to my beloved Nightrunner, and I'm happy to say I finally found what I was looking for - the two are very different in terms of plot, pacing and genre, but at their core they unite everything I love in my favourite books: a vibrant, vivid world that I just want to return to again and again, a well-thought-through society that is blissfully non-patriarchal and non-heteronormative, and a low-key queer romance that quietly and happily exists at the background of the main storyline.
cleo_reads's review
4.0
Fantasy police procedural set in a world similar to early Renaissance Europe, with a matriarchal, bisexual society where astrology is real and can be deadly.
5th book is a return to what makes this a fun series. This mystery wasn’t astrology based, and the plot twists were a little more obvious than some previous books. But it was such a pleasure to spend time with our crime solving team of Nico and Philip - romantic partners who work for (sometimes) competing organizations.
Part of Nico’s character is that he’s a pointsman (policeman) who doesn’t take fees (bribes) - I’ve read the “only honest policeman” trope in other fantasies and I just accepted it at face value in this series. But this book had me wanting to know more - why doesn’t he, when everyone else does? I’m not sure it really makes sense.
5th book is a return to what makes this a fun series. This mystery wasn’t astrology based, and the plot twists were a little more obvious than some previous books. But it was such a pleasure to spend time with our crime solving team of Nico and Philip - romantic partners who work for (sometimes) competing organizations.
Part of Nico’s character is that he’s a pointsman (policeman) who doesn’t take fees (bribes) - I’ve read the “only honest policeman” trope in other fantasies and I just accepted it at face value in this series. But this book had me wanting to know more - why doesn’t he, when everyone else does? I’m not sure it really makes sense.