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Archcrafter by Sarah Lin (2021)
A lot of Cultivation series have to start slow. The whole point of the genre is that you start at the bottom and, through hard work and perseverance, you work your way to the top, slowly getting more powerful as you do. This means that, while later on you can have a lot of characters with really cool move sets, to begin with you’re very much leaning on the world and characters to be interesting enough to keep you engaged.
Luckily in the Weirkey series the characters and world are more than strong enough but it is nice that by this book we’ve gotten to the point where the interesting techniques are beginning to show themselves.
This is a great book in the series as we get to see more of the worlds and see consequences from previous actions still chasing them. It also allows them to slow down a bit, which bring up a lot of interesting interactions and questions about how their goals relate to one another. I really do love how the characters interact around each other. It’s a nice spectrum. On one end you’ve got Fiyu, who comes from a lovely world of darkness, where people are mostly solitary and touching is reserved only for those you share great affection with. On the other there’s Nauda, who comes from a world of sunshine and community (even if her place in that world is a little mysterious), where half of communication is through touch. And in the middle there’s Theo, who is well travelled enough to know about both of their traditions but is also fundamentally a bit of a broken person who doesn’t really like anyone. It’s nice to see them having to think about how they relate to each other, how what one of them says as a joke could be taken as an insult. It’s interesting and complicated and I love it.
All in all this is another great book in the series. If you’re looking for highstakes, constant action then you won’t find it here but you will find a well crafted world and interesting people.
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Rainhorn by Sarah Lin (2021)
The second book in the Weirkey Chronicles continues from where the last one left off. Our heroes, Theo, Nauda and Fiyu have set off on their own to gather more materials, become stronger crafters and, in the case of Theo, discover more about the deadly enemy hunting them from behind the scenes. In this they must travel to the farthest corners of Tatian and even into another world.
What I really like about this series is how varied and alive the different worlds feel. There’s the old complaint about Star Wars that there’s the desert planet, the swamp planet, the grass planet. Just one biome covering a whole planet, everything homogenised. This is not the case here. There are Nine Worlds and we’ve seen three of them by the end of this book but the variety within them is impressive. And each of the world are very different, while still seeming very natural. There’s even mention in the book about how such different societies could come to be It makes the world feel vibrant and alive.
The story is good as well, though still a little slow paced. We get to see from several of our heroes points of view throughout this novel, my favourite being Fiyu’s. It’s fascinating to see how she categorises everyone she comes across and how those categories shift organically. Again, it’s another part of the different cultures and world building that help elevate it over other works.
This is a great second novel and I look forward to what comes next.
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Soulhome by Sarah Lin (2020)
Soulhome is a new Cultivation series from Sarah Lin, who also wrote the Street Cultivation series. As in that one, although this is a Cultivation series, it’s got a different system to what you’d usually find. In this case to gain and use power you have to construct a house inside your soul, using sublime materials from the Nine World. It’s a really interesting system, though as with Street Cultivation you might not want to make this the first Cultivation novel you read.
The story is really interesting. Theo is from Earth, and accidentally found himself cast into the Nine Worlds. He gained allies and grew strong, only to be betrayed, everyone he knew murdered and then thrown out, back to Earth and his comatose body.
Forty Earth Years later and he’s back, in a young body but with a bitter soul on a quest for vengeance. I love this as it makes a much more interesting story. Yes, it might have been cool to see the rise of Theo before his fall but it works so well as a backstory. Meanwhile we’ve got one of my favourite tropes, someone who used to be powerful reset to zero and having to work his way back up.
It’s the first book in the series and as such is much more about setting the foundation, introducing characters and systems that’ll become important later. But it was a lot of fun to read and sets everything else up nicely for the rest of the series. If you’re interested in Cultivation novels I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
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Dreadgod by Will Wight (2022)
Reaper, the previous book in the series, was so good that I was worried that Will Wright wouldn’t be able to follow it up.
I should have had more faith.
It’s been a long series but it still managed to find way to keep me glued to the page and surprise me. We’re really coming into the endgame now and much of the characters, locations and events we need to know about have appeared. Though it’s really impressive that new stuff can still crop up 11 books into the series.
The problem with this series is that it’s been written to such a high standard that it’s difficult to say things about the newest book that I haven’t said about previous ones, at least without spoiling it. And I really don’t want to do that because you have to read this for yourselves. If you’ve got this far then you know everything this book will contain, from epic moments, to fantastic fights to good characters and an enchanting world. And if you’re reading this having not read any of the others, wondering if it’s worth starting the series then yes, it absolutely is.
Unfortunately it looks like the next book, Waybound, will be the last one. But what a series this has been!
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Reaper by Will Wright (2021)
It’s been a few months since I first read Reaper but I keep getting drawn back and rereading the ending. It may be one of the best things I have ever read.
It brings everything together in such an amazing way. Rereading the series I’ve seen threads of it introduced almost as far back as the very beginning and it all comes together in an explosive way. The long term plotting is something that I just have to admire but the writing is amazing as well. It builds up nicely, the tension is amazing and then it breaks into what is honestly one of my favourite moments in literature. I really like epic moments and the series is full of them but this blows them all away. If you are a writer then study this series to learn because there’s so many lessons in so many things here.
Just the ending alone would make this book a must read but good news! There’s a whole other novel before it.
It’s got a nice slow start with everyone recovering from the aftermath of the last book. I really liked it. As the characters in the book remark themselves, everything has been a race against time, with the ever present need to advance that it’s nice to see them just living their lives for a while. You feel they earned the break. And then of course comes the action, which is as good as ever. It’s a book that knows how to properly pace itself and I’m amazed that ten books in we’re still learning new and pertinent things about the world and the characters within it. And then of course comes the ending. Have I mentioned the amazing ending yet?
This book was a delight to read and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
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Bloodline by Will Wright (2021)
Bloodlines sits in a bit of a weird place to me. It’s great, let’s not get it twisted, but it’s sandwiched between two of my favourite books of the series. Wintersteel is the dramatic culmination of the three book Uncrowned Tournament Arc and has so many great moments in it that it’s hard to list them all. And Reaper rivals it.
Then between them both is Bloodlines, which in some ways is a more reflective book. It’s technically the culmination of what set Lindon on this path all those books ago but in another way it’s about coming home and seeing that, while it might not have changed, you certainly have. It’s about being a new person and how you don’t quite fit into the ways that things used to be. It’s about learning that who you are now isn’t who you used to be and isn’t who you will become.
It’s definitely not the end. It makes it very clear that it’s building up to something big and the last three sentences are great. There’s everything you know and love about the previous books from snappy conversations, Eithan, and solid world building. I really enjoyed reading it but when looking back it’s hard to see it between the twin stars that come before and after.
It’s a good book. Read it.
Then go onto Reaper.
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The Enchanter by Tobias Begley (2022)
I first picked up this book because it was recommended at the end of John Bierce’s Tongue Eater. And I’m really glad I did.
There’s a lot of similarities between the two series actually. Both have a main character with anxiety arrive at a magic school that they’re not prepared for. Both series have pretty good LGBT representation. Apart from that though this book has it’s own identity that shines through.
I loved the world in this book. There’s a well thought out system of governance and it’s got a few innovations that are more modern than in your standard fantasy (trains and pistols being two examples). But it preserves the feeling of magic that all good fantasy stories have. The academy is in a large tree, there’s magical creatures and fae and in general it’s just a really nice world to exist in and explore. The magic system is equally varied. It really felt like a science, that there was a lot you could do with it but that there was so much more to still discover. Also the main character chose to be an Enchanter and I love main characters who make magical gadgets.
The main character himself is interesting. He has severe social anxiety, to the point that he can’t actually go to one of his classes. But he is very determined about succeeding and growing his power and towards the end of the book is definitely coming out of his shell a bit. I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops in later books.
The plot is pretty slow paced and arguably non-existent. A lot of it is just surviving a normal term at university, albeit a magical university. The ending was a lot of fun but hadn’t been set up as such. I felt it came naturally and wasn’t tacked on, like some endings of that sort can be, but for people who don’t like such a slow burn this book could be irritating.
Honestly I loved every minute of it and recommended it to my book group. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next from Tobias Begley.
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Wintersteel by Will Wright (2020)
This book brings the Uncrowned King arc to a wonderful, crashing conclusion.
This is the 8th book in the series and, as I’m reading them one after another and then writing reviews about them, it’s hard to think of new things to say. But it must be even worse writing a series and yet the books keep getting better and better. The action scenes are sharp and snappy, the characters move in interesting ways and the world just keeps expanding. However it’s the epic moments that really strike me about this series and this book in particular. Every time a character says the name of their Path it’s followed by some of the hypest moments. The ending to this book is amazing and that’s because it’s been build up over at least three novels. The shear patience the author must have gone through is just amazing.
Look, I love the series and I think this might be my favourite novel in it (Though it’s currently in a heated battle with Reaper.) I just can’t praise it enough.
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Uncrowned by Will Wright (2019)
This is the next part of the Uncrowned King tournament arc and the first book that actually features it. And honestly, this is the best book yet.
If you’ve come this far, the 7th book in the series, then you know basically what you’re getting into. Everything I love about the last few books is here, from the character progression, to the action scenes, to the world building. What I really love about this book though is that all the little thing introduced in previous books are starting to pay off. There’s more cool moments in this book than every before and they are, all of them, earned. It’s a joy to read and I’m not going to make this review any longer so you can go and read it now.
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A Conjuring of Ravens by Azalea Ellis (2021)
This is a fun story about a mage that accidentally is made an accomplice to a crime that her father commits and has to go into hiding and take on a false identity so that she can study at magic university. It’s a nice premise to a story and I enjoyed reading it.
A lot of thought was obviously put into how the world and, specifically, the magic works. This is the sort of thing I love to see and happily the main character starts going to magic university so we get a lot of explanations. It’s also stated a number of times that what they’re teaching, especially at that level, might not be 100% accurate or the whole story. This extends to the police, who have many wild theories as to who Siobhan, the main character, is and what her plans are.
The characters are fine. The really interesting one is Oliver, who is a sort of rogue noble who wants to make things better for the common man and also runs a street gang. Siobhan, is fine, if a little uncomplicated. It was enjoyable reading about her, though more as a vehicle for exploring the world, rather than she’s going anything particular going on with her personally.
The book did, however, end a little abruptly. There didn’t feel like enough build up to the ending and, because there a 30 page glossary of magical terms at the end, when it did end it caught me by surprise. I felt that mostly a lot of things had happened but that we hadn’t got to the end of any sort of arc, plot, character or otherwise. It left a lot of things up in the air. In summery there’s a lot of interesting things going on in this book but I’m not sure that it’s all brought together in a satisfying way. I am very interested in reading the next book though.
Library of Alexander 