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All hail Garth Nix and the incredible fantasy worlds he builds!

I’ve mulled this over. Fuck it I loved it so I’m upping my rating from 4 to 5 stars ⭐️

I had high hopes for this one because I loved the Old Kingdom series so much. Although this one is adult fantasy rather than YA and the premises couldn’t be more different Garth Nix just has a way of storytelling and getting me invested in characters that few authors do.

The city of Ystara was destroyed long ago and its people fled if not killed. No one is entirely sure of what caused the destruction - whether the people are cursed, and if so why.
All those who fled Ystara are known as ‘refusers��. Where the rest of the kingdom use icons and are able to call on angels and use their magic anyone who uses angelic magic near a refuser will either give them a terrible blood ash plague or turn them into a ‘beastling.��

Meanwhile we have 4 main characters, all different but all connected in some way. Quick tangent - found family!! I love that trope 😊

Dorotea - my personal fave. I got kind of a Luna Lovegood vibe from her. She makes icons and seems to have gifts no other icon makers have shown before.

Simeon - Training to be a doctor both through the usual medical training and also through use of angelic magic.

Henri - A clerk, very intelligent and organised. Comes from a huge family and keen to make a name for himself.

Agnez - A new recruited member of the Queens musketeers. Punch first ask questions later.

All four find themselves in the same location. It turns out they are part of a much bigger and more dangerous plan than they could ever have known.

This brings me into my next point. I saw a few people were disappointed by the book because they were expecting a retelling of the three musketeers. I’m not entirely sure where they’ve seen that this is the case as it’s not on the plot summary of my copy. However I don’t know a great deal about the three musketeers so whether it is connected is something I wouldn’t notice. From where I am sitting there are a few characters with names from the three musketeers (Dartaghan, Rochefort etc.) But for me this book stands entirely on its own anyway.

I loved the world building, I loved he characters. It was a wonderfully intricate and enjoyable high fantasy. 😊



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Book Christmas present 2020 🎁

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I adored the Sabriel series so I am ALL OVER THIS!!!