Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia EvansMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Wow. I loved this!
The story follows Siyon, a bit of a street urchin with a curiosity for alchemy. Bezim is a city that practices this art that involves connection to the three other planes of existence: Aethyr, Empyre and Abyss. No magic here, kids, just pure
From the very beginning, I was hooked. I mostly had no clue what was happening with all the 'alchemy' but I was content to just ride along with Siyon as he did his thing. It was such a fascinating, unique concept to me and I loved his quest for more.
The characters were a lot of fun - Zagiri, the girl resisting her heritage and taking part in street brawls and alchemical rituals instead of wearing dresses and going to tea; Izmirlian, the cocky rich kid using his influence because he has a thirst for discovery and a heart bigger than expected; feisty Anahid who is starting to push the boundaries of propriety to discover who she really wants to be ... and of course Siyon, who is not the typical street rat who likes to complain about rich people. I mean, he does complain of course, but he still gets things done and he's not one to judge the rich people until he's actually met them. So that was kind of refreshing. Siyon knows what he wants and goes after it, but he still cares a great deal for the people around him.
The city of Bezim was a lot of fun, and the down side to getting an ARC is that I wanted the map. I had a glance at a final copy and I think I could get lost tracing the paths of the characters through this city. It really has its own personality, and I could very much feel the atmosphere of it.
My only real complaint is the world-building - I feel like this story barely scraped the surface, and I wanted more. I wanted history, and descriptions, and just a better understanding of alchemy and its purpose. But I am patient enough to wait for the sequel to flesh things out a little more.
I never got bored reading this and it took so many twists and shared so many little adventures that I never quite knew what would come next. I enjoyed the growing relationship between Siyon and Izmilrlian, and felt it was the perfect balance of softness and honesty. They worked incredibly well together.
I wasn't quite expecting this to impress me as much as it did, but I'll be recommending it to all fantasy lovers looking for something unique. It was a really fun read that kept me hooked the entire time.
With thanks to the publisher for an ARC
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