Thank you Allen & Unwin for this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
The third book in the page-turning Spellslinger fantasy series.
‘I was getting almost as good at running away from enemies as I was at making them in the first place. Turns out, I wasn’t running nearly fast enough.’
Kellen has begun to master his spellslinging and the Argosi tricks for staying alive, and he and Reichis have found a career that suits them both: taking down mercenary mages who make people’s lives miserable. But Ferius is concerned that Kellen is courting disaster . . .
Review:
Charmcaster draws you into a world unlike any other.
We join Kellen, an exiled mage, his mentor Ferius and the sassy squirrel car Reichis on a road trip, which isn’t exactly going to plan, as they try to outrun a mage who can induce lightning storms.
Following directly on from Shadowblack, Charmcaster takes us out from the desert and straight into the land of Gitabria, which De Castell introduces with ease. Instantly we find ourselves picturing Gitabria clearly in our minds, absorbing the new culture, learning about their politics and growing fond of new side characters in this vast and intriguing new setting. Kellen is still a wanted man which makes their goal of assisting the victims of the Jan’Tep conspiracy a struggle. However after arriving in the capital, they witness the unveiling of a new invention. An invention that in the wrong hands could cause a lot of devastation.
One of the things I adore about this series is while every book itself is captive adventure, collectively the books flow together smoothly, leaving no gap nor stone unturned. Though I did tend to fine this book a little repetitive in the layout of the story as well. The introduction is exactly the same as Shadowblack which is an attack on our characters who barely manage to get themselves out of a jam.
I wasn’t a fan of Nephenia coming back, though let’s face it as a love interest it is bound to happen, and even though her character has changed and matured, it doesn’t sit right with me. Nephenia is a character that I feel could betray them at the first real chance she gets.
Let’s not forget about Reichis and how bloody amazing he is. I generally laugh out loud at his remarks and he is the real pillar of humour in this series. There is so much sassy, crude and rude moments all rolled up into one liners to break up the tension of the story. He really does remind me of Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy, fun, dangerous and absolutely hilarious!
In the previous books I was waiting for Kellen to stop being naive and extremely sheltered at times, he should really have realised the harsh truth about the world, instead of holding onto so much faith. In Charmcaster he finally stopped being so naïve! Now, Kellen, is struggling with the effects of the shadowblack, learns the harsh reality about his family and realising that the life he once had will never return. That’s right Kellen finally had some character development and grew up!
Overall, this is a compelling series but unfortunately Charmcaster just wasn’t as amazing as Spellslinger and Shadowblack, nevertheless I am excited to pick up Soulbinder and see where the adventure continues.
Rating: 3.5/5
ISBN: 9781471406706
Publisher: Hot Key Books