A concept that I really tried to enjoy, but stalled out one too many times after my readings felt a bit hollow. Realized that the publication date slid past a few days ago and pressed to finish because progress had stalled out.

First and foremost I have to give a huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me and ARC of this book.

"Notorious Sorcerer" by Davinia Evans is a super face paced (middle easter inspired) fantasy about a world where alchemy and magic are strictly policed and Siyo Velo ends up on the wrong side when an errand he's running goes airy. Siyo is someone who was born into the lower cast of society and he wants to save up money to be able to study alchemy. When he's thrust into trying to save they city of Benzim.

That being said I am giving this book a 3 star because it was just too fast paced for me. I kept getting confused. I wish there was more world building and I found myself not connecting to the characters like I would like. I just don't think this book was for me. I'm sure there will be many other people to love this book. I just like slower paced fantasy.

What an interesting novel full of quirky, entertaining magic, wit, banter, action... one for Fantasy fans to not look over.

I’m admittedly not a fan of multi-POV books since I usually up hating all of the POV characters except for 1 or 2 of them. Notorious Sorcerer is one of the very few exceptions to that, and a book I ended up enjoying much more than expected.

What I liked the most, and what I think the strongest part of the book was, was the unique set of characters. The characters have their own lives and motivations outside of the main plot while still continuing to be relevant to it. Anahid’s character development, for example, was done largely outside of her interactions with the main group, or so to speak, even though she was an extremely important source of help for them. Izmirlian- who I have to add is one of my favourite characters out of all the books I’ve read so far in 2022- never wavers in his desire to accomplish his almost insane goal even as his relationships with the other characters develop throughout the book. The characters existed for more than to just play off of one another and create an entertaining cast, and that made them all the more compelling.

As much as I liked the book though, I have to admit that the writing was a bit weak. Characters frequently suffered from having the same internal voice, and the pacing was a bit too fast. I get that the author tried to fit in exposition naturally, but it ended up being drawn out for so long that a large chunk of the beginning of the book was difficult to understand (took me way too long to figure out exactly what the Bravi were).

That being said, I still found the book to be enjoyable despite its flaws. The author is clearly very talented, and I’m looking forward to their future releases (the sequel to Notorious Sorcerer will definitely be a day 1 purchase for me). To anyone reading this is who is considering trying the book, I highly recommend you do :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the e-arc, and congrats to the author on their debut!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with this ARC.

Notorious Sorcerer is a debut fantasy novel written by Davinia Evans. This novel follows a cast of characters in a city called Bezim. What makes this novel totally unique is this setting, a half-submerged city, which was practically destroyed by a previous sundering of the planes of reality. Since that day, Inquisitors have strictly patrolled the streets of the town, policing the use of alchemy, which they blamed for the collapse of the planes.

Naturally our protagonist is a self taught alchemist (more accurately, a wannabe or slap-dash alchemist), named Siyon Velo, who starts the novel with a bang by jumping amongst the planes, with only a tether to keep him tied to his current plane. In this other plane, Siyon is almost immediately attacked by (thankfully not biblically accurate) angels, but manages to bring back those priceless materials used for alchemy. But before too long, Siyon gets caught up in way more than a little alchemy dabbling, and will have to use all of his wits in order to save not only his own skin, but all of the planes themselves.

"'Don't worry.' Siyon grinned, the thrill of what he was about to do starting to tug at him as surely as a tether. It never got old. 'I'll be right here. Well. Right here, and on the other side of reality at the same time.'"


Notorious Sorcererexcels at creating a unique world and magical system of alchemy. But I found myself often confused at the nitty-gritty details. This is not the type of fantasy novel where every last detail of the world, its cultures, and practices are explained. Instead, the reader is very much immersed in the world from the get-go, with nothing but context to go on. Though I managed to grasp the terms "bravi" (the roof-top running sword fighters) and "azanata" (those of noble birth and standing in Bezim), fairly quickly, it did leave me scrambling and confused to figure them out initially. And if that weren't enough, I got confused by the switching of using first and last names to refer to the same characters. Embarrassingly, I mixed up one of the main side characters with an antagonist Inquisitor at one point, and was forced to do a fair bit of rereading to get a better grasp of the events.

Though I could have done with some more explanation or detail, I was still able to be interested in all of the different alternating narratives. The readers' view of this world of Bezim is bolstered by the perspective and perceptions of a cast of characters from a variety of backgrounds, who are perfectly poised to provide different perspectives and commentary on the events of the novel. There was not a single character amongst the cast whom I did not like, but I wouldn't really say that I loved any of them either. I especially liked steadfast and composed Anahid, who manages to get embroiled in Siyon’s schemes and those of her practicing alchemist husband. I loved Anahid’s longing for something more, but not knowing what that something is, and watching her find the courage to pursue figuring that out. I also delighted in her quick thinking, good humor, and loyalty.

Likewise, Anahid's younger sister Zaigiri offers another interesting and very different perspective from that of her sister. She eschews her life of privilege, preferring to run along the rooftops with the Bravi among whom Siyon himself had previously found a home of sorts. Despite Siyon getting caught up in the potentially deadly politics of alchemy and Inquisitors and the tricky business of saving the world, Siyon even manages to form a romantic attachment with a young male noble named Izmirlian Hisaranti, who commissions Siyon's expertise to send him beyond the planes of existence, out of some idle curiosity to know what's out there, noble boredom, a death wise...or something.

"'Velo.' Hisarani smiled, and it was little condescending, but also a little bleak. 'Here is the secret of the azatani: Ask for everything and be appalled if you don't get it.'"


Though I didn't really fully understand or at all relate to Izmirlian's motivations, especially when it would spell his death or at least his failure to exist on the current plane—or everyone's support of it for that matter—I definitely understood the mutual attraction between Izmirlian and Siyon. Siyon can literally do anything—save the world, teach himself alchemy (somehow), and seduce a noble. And to top it off, in this budding queer relationship and throughout the entirety of Notorious Sorcerer, runs an undercurrent of commentary on the class divisions of Bezim.

There is so much to love in Notorious Sorcerer—the unique world-building, the complex characters, the humor and banter, and the magic system, but I unfortunately found it just wasn’t my cup of tea. To me, the novel was either rushing at breakneck speed (to the point that I usually wasn’t certain I grasped what had actually happened), or slowed to a standstill for long-winded explanations on alchemy and political meetings. Instead of finding alchemy as fascinating as I did in the beginning of the novel when Siyon was traversing the other planes to look for ingredients, I found these discussions on techniques, theory, and methods, quite sadly, tedious, and consistently struggled to keep my eyes open whenever a discussion on alchemic theory popped up. And these topics do come up quite frequently.

"When no hurrying feet were heard, Joddani continued, more quietly, 'I don't know what has been unearthed that make its possible for you to—He waved an irritable hand. 'To ignore all the rules. But they exist for a reason, and your willful ignorance will not save you from destruction—nor me, nor the rest of this house, nor indeed the entire plane!'"


For those that love unique world-building and scrappy characters with the odds stacked against them, look no further than Notorious Sorcerer Though the novel was ultimately not to my taste, I still found it entertaining. And though I have no plans to read future installments in this series, I will definitely check out future works by the author, Davinia Evans, who I think is a talented new voice in the fantasy genre.

I am reviewing an ARC of this novel provided by Orbit via NetGalley. I'm disappointed to give this book a 2-star rating because it started off promising. The beginning of the book immediately hooked me and had me intrigued about the world, magic system, and Siyon (the protagonist). Unfortunately, my interest quickly waned as the novel devolved into a convoluted plot in which the city of Bezim and its machinations were underdeveloped; an exploration of the same magic system that grasped me within the first pages needed further exploration. Although I was interested in Siyon from the start, the story introduces too many other characters too fast, and I found it difficult to keep track of them all of them and their connections. If you can make it through this novel it's possible that future entries into the world will improve (as there's lots of directions for the author to go), but it was difficult for me to be fully immersed in the world as presented in this first novel.

This book is the first in The Burnished Ciry series. It takes place in Bezim, a city permanently changed by an event called the Sundering, which has caused the inquisitors to police the practice of alchemy brutally. Siyon Velo of the Bracken bravi, scrapes together a living by fetching interplanar material for those who have received tutelage in the Art, while fervently wishing to be able to afford lessons himself.
When he tries to save a friend from falling to her death, he ends up being targeted by the inquisitors as he performs a piece of magic no one understands.

Before you get into this, be aware that it might not be for everybody since it is not the easiest story to follow. I found the first half a little hard to read, but things definitely did get better and wild as the tale progressed. And I mean that it is WILD and CHAOTIC.

The magic system is dazzling, and the reader is expected to learn along with Siyon, as he pieces things together for himself. Siyon himself is rough around the edges, but he’s the one I felt the most for, at the end of the story. He is loyal and fair, and most of all, empathetic.

What didn’t work for me very well was that the book, being heavy on the theme of class and privilege, felt a little repetitive at times. There are multiple characters who all recognize their or another characters privilege, and this seems to be repeated constantly across chapters. But the good part was that despite having an ensemble of characters from differing social backgrounds, they did work together and stick up for each other.

I do not recommend this others to everyone since it can be a little overwhelming to follow. Personally, I found it a bit too long for my liking, but feel warmly enough to try to read book two when it’s available. But if you like chaotic stories where you have to pay attention and deduce things for yourself, this is the book for you.

I enjoyed this book though I wish there was a glossary or a map of the world. I liked the alchemy system and the world though.

A new magical world. Vaguely Middle Eastern influences. I know I usually complain when high fantasy has too much worldbuilding, but this had absolutely none.

What had a wonderful premise fell flat immediately. This isn’t it, y’all.

This is one of those books where the title was doing a lot of the work in my reasoning for picking it up to review. Plus, I thought the cover was pretty cool. Other than that, I really only understood it to be a fantasy novel that involved alchemy somehow and may or may not be a portal fantasy. But I’m always game for an unknown debut book, so I was excited when I received an ARC from the author.

Bezim is a land strictly divided by the haves and have nots. Those in the upper class have easy access to education and, through that education, magic, while those in the lower classes must struggle by. Of course, alchemy is a magic that has its dangers as well as its powers, so a firm understanding of its uses is necessary to prevent some of the horrific disasters that have been suffered in the past. But for Siyon, he’s happy enough to live somewhere in the middle, patching together his own small time alchemy with very little adherence to the rules that are meant to govern it. That is until he performs a shocking act of magic that both impresses and concerns all who witness it. For now, the future of Bezim is in question again and it seems only an unlearned amateur may be capable of saving it.

This was definitely one of those middle-of-the-road books for me. There was nothing glaringly wrong with any of it. And, in fact, much that was right. Yet, I still struggled to feel fully immersed in the story. The pacing is fast right from the start, with the story galloping along from one action-packed scene to the next. On one hand, this made the story a fun, quick read. But on the other hand, I felt like I was struggling to fully connect to the characters I was meeting on the page, as they were so quickly vaulting from one action set piece to another, with very little time given to any sort of introspection.

I did really like the magic system we were given, and the interesting ways that staples from classic portal fantasy and other alchemy stories were woven together. There was enough that was familiar to make the story approachable (and to help with the fact that, again, the fast pacing left less room for lengthy explanations than other, slower fantasy novels), but there were a lot a lot of original ideas on display as well.

I had also heard a lot of references in early blurbs of the book to the funny and light-hearted tone of the story, and those definitely check out. But, again, I wasn’t necessarily blown away by any of comedic elements. For one thing, I began to struggle with Siyon as a main character when it came to this balance of comedy and primary protagonist. His character is introduced as an “act first, think second” type of person, and we see that again and again. Some of this plays to great comedic affect. But there also came a point when he had been warned again and again about the dangers of alchemy and continued to hand-wave these warnings away. After a bit, I began to feel more frustrated by his poor decision-making than amused.

Overall, this was a perfectly fine debut fantasy novel. There was a lot of potential every where you looked: intriguing world-building, humorous writing, interesting characters. But it also felt like every one of these aspects could have been fleshed out just a bit more to make something truly noteworthy. That said, fans of fast-moving, action-packed fantasy novels should definitely check this one out.

Rating 7: A quick, fun read, but perhaps lacking some of the depth I look for to make a book really feel like it’s going to stick with me.

(Link will go live 9/23)

HIGHLIGHTS
~phoenix-feathers and angel fire
~tribes of delightfully performative trouble-makers
~meet-cute? try meet-snark
~what’s the difference between alchemy and sorcery?
~time to hit the rooftops

Oh, Notorious Sorcerer, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

Picture a city by a sea. Now split it in half, just like the Sundering did. Make it rich and make it poor. Give it fisher-clans that work together or die alone; give it Flower Houses whose occupants laugh at little things like curfews while they play cards for fortunes. Give it a Harbormaster and a Prefect and inquisitors in grey, give it noble azatani with their calling cards and turbans, give it tribes of playful warrior bravi who rule the rooftops and go to war to entertain their city.

Now make it the only place in the world where alchemy works.

This is our setting, Bezim, and it’s wonderful and beautiful, but far from perfect. Especially when it comes to alchemy – what the rest of us would call magic – which is pretty much exclusively the domain of the wealthy and influential. Alchemy is complicated to learn, expensive to practice, and viewed with suspicion by the authorities – so if you don’t have access to a teacher and their library, all the necessary ingredients and tools, and the protection of an upper-class family?

Well, good luck with that.

Despite this, becoming an alchemist is exactly what our main character, Siyon, desperately wants. And to be honest, it’s quite a shock to learn that he isn’t one, because the incredible opening scene sees him entering another plane of existence to gather alchemical ingredients (which all come from one of the other planes, rather than the Mundane, aka the realm of humanity) in what is one of the most exciting, gorgeous, and illuminating story openers I have read in a long time.

And the Empyreal itself – the plane he visits? Is both beautifully described and brilliantly envisioned – a desert where the sand isn’t sand and angels do not look kindly on visitors. I loved every second we saw of it, and how Evans used metaphors and simile to get across the inherent nature of the plane!

<Not actually sand, not here. Tiny grains of duty, or conscience, or something equally uncomfortable and insistent.>

It’s thrilling and badass and honestly wondrous, so to discover after all that that Siyon isn’t an alchemist – is in fact held in contempt by ‘proper’ alchemists, considered a procurer of ingredients and nothing more – is pretty mind-boggling.

Which is to say, Evans wastes no time in establishing that a) Siyon is awesome, and b) the system is messed up.

<The sound of an angel’s wings, scything through excuses.>

Of course, things start changing pretty rapidly when Siyon sets off a domino chain of disasters and miracles by accomplishing the impossible – completely by accident.

Notorious Sorcerer moves, for the most part, like a bravi running the rooftops; I wouldn’t call it frenetic, but the story never has a dull page – even if we do get breathing room for small but poignant human moments throughout. There’s a great deal going on, but it never feels like too much, or like Evans has lost control of all the balls she has in the air; instead the interlocking plotlines all feel very organic, like natural extensions of each other, which is especially wonderful because the various storylines cross and recross Bezim’s class lines – which helps us understand and perceive the city as a whole, single organism. The characters themselves see Bezim as divided – and it is – but by the very nature of the different plotlines and how they intersect, Evans shows us how divided doesn’t actually mean separate, much as some of the characters might wish it did!

They’re all in this together, whether they like it or not.

<He was right. He was wrong. That was different.>

So it’s lucky we have an incredible cast; Siyon, who is in love with magic and has a hunger for more; Zagiri, a noble-born young woman who is not, in fact, ‘playing’ at being bravi; Zagiri’s older sister Anahid, stuck in a frustrating marriage and struggling to define herself; and Izmirlian, who dreams.

<Siyon grinned, or at least he bared his teeth. “Sure. I’m the best practitioner you’ve never heard of. I make angels dance and harpies weep. I make the others look staid, boring, uninspired.” He leaned forward; it was a feral relief to vent a little bile. “I could make all your wildest dreams come true.”

The azatan tilted his head in a careful and practised gesture, but there was a glint in his eye. Like the spark of light off a drawn sabre, like the thrill of leaping from one gutter to the next, like the flash of nothing between the planes. “You don’t know what I dream about.”>

They’re each so perfectly distinct, and they play off and with each other so well. The relationships in this book – between the four PoV characters, and between them and the marvellous secondary cast – are fantastic, and best of all they evolve over the course of the book, even as they’re all built on different but solid foundations; the comradery of the bravi, blood-family and found-family, friendship and sisterhood, shared backgrounds, shared class, shared dreams.

<“Boy, why jump through their hoops when you just leapt over the moon?”>

And just as the interlacing of the different plotlines reinforces that everyone is part of the same story, mixing characters from different social classes does a really excellent job of critiquing the class system. We’re never lectured about it, but it’s impossible to miss who has privilege and who doesn’t, and how that affects the characters on a personal and plot level. Siyon, as the only non-noble in the main cast, is forever aware of the fact that the wealthy are playing by a different set of rules, and one of the things I loved about him was how he never forgets how freaking lucky he is when good things start happening, how he always remembers that the people he knows – other would-be alchemists, other non-nobles – aren’t getting the same chances he is. I was pleased that Zagiri woke up to her own privilege so quickly, and delighted when she started to use it to help those who needed help.

Izmirlian gets it too, but I already loved him for dreaming such strange, incredible dreams.

<He didn’t spend much time berating himself for past mistakes. He’d made too many; no one had that much time.>

There’s absolutely nothing I don’t adore about this book. The setting feels so real and so different from anything I’ve come across before; the worldbuilding delights me right down to the tiniest detail (colour-coded cafe umbrellas!); the magic system is exquisitely intricate and full of secrets and mysteries; the prose is so rich and lush and gorgeous that I want to eat it; and all of it together is so gloriously indulgent. It feels like the best kind of wish fulfilment even while it manages to twist and turn and surprise you, somehow managing to capture the warm glow of a much cosier, lower-stakes story despite being neither cosy nor low-stakes in the slightest; it fills you with glee and giggles one moment and then has you gasping the next. It’s absolutely flawless.

I need so much more of these characters and their world and their magic, okay. I’m so grateful this is just the start of a series!

Notorious Sorcerer is thrilling and exciting, unpredictable, and completely irresistible from the very first page to the very last. This isn’t a book you read; it’s a book you fall in love with, and undoubtedly one of the best of 2022.

Don’t miss it!

Let me start off by saying that this was not a bad book.

The setting and magic system were interesting, the characters were varied and for the most part likable, the story was decent.

But.

Through the whole book I never felt as though I got enough of anything.

The worldbuilding was good, but under-explained, leaving the reader with a sense of a whole world just slightly out of reach and unrealised. The magic was or alchemy was interesting, but you never fully understood how or why it worked, just that it did for some mysterious reason. The characters were likable and had unique view points, but you never got to fully know or understand any of them, even Siyon the main character is left with a blank spot for most of his life until the story starts.

That being said Notorious Sorcerer certainly isn't a bad book and if you like your fantasy titles a bit lighter and easier and not requiring an encyclopedia to fully understand what's going on, then I would recommend picking it up.

This was not a favorite.

From the start the world setup and character introductions were fairly confusing. The reader is thrusted into a chaotic scheme of maneuver with an unexplained magic system and barely introduced characters. The transitions from perspectives and scenes were clunky and ended up creating even more distraction from the plot line. Siyon as a character did slowly grow on me, however, at the beginning I was picturing a grumpy old man only to later have the realization he was a young and rather sassy man. I did find the flirtations between Siyon and Hosarani to be refreshing and fun! In fact, the most interesting part of this book were the people and distinctive classes within the society. However, even with 400 pages there was not enough explanation for such an expansive societal set up. The upside to this book was that between the exclusive classes of people, the secretive alchemy sessions, and confusing jargon, this book unintentionally gives off dark academia vibes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the free ARC to review!

I lost interest in this quickly and did not finish, but here's what I did experience.

To start, I LOVE that this is a queer fantasy. We need more of them! I was a little let down by the romance but it was not the worst, just not to my taste. This was a straightforward adventure story which I was not quite expecting.

The magic system was sort of cool, but the infodumping was really what pushed me away from this one in the end.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I didn’t know much about Notorious Sorcerer going in, but after finishing it, I’m impressed. While a lot of medieval-ish fantasy tends to blend together after a certain point, I love how this one sets itself apart from the pack in a few distinct ways. For one, I love the focus on alchemy, even if I’m not super knowledgeable about how it works. And the way it involves ingredient-harvesting in different planes of existence is pretty freaking cool.
Unlike other fantasies which take their time to subtly give you hints at the world and magic, while also slowly developing character/plot, you kind of get thrown in without much context and have to pick it up as you go along. It takes time to really get your bearings, but I think it effectively manages the introductions to everything, while still delivering a solid first installment. The pacing once you become situated also remains relatively consistent, without much lull throughout.
I really liked how the characters both represented something in the wider scheme of things as well as being people in their own right. The narrative’s commentary of class is poignantly drawn, as we explore the situations of different people from different walks of life.
Siyon, the protagonist, is a lot of fun, with a lot of different sides to him, including being rough-around-the-edges and somewhat cocky, but also incredibly intelligent and great in a pinch.
While there’s room for some growth and development, this is a solid first book that leaves me excited for more. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys fast-paced fantasy with a unique world and magic system.

DNF

The writing is good enough, however I've stopped and gone back to this multiple times and it's not holding my interest. Also, there's an unecessary amount of cussing.

Thank you to Orbit books for sending me an eArc through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 30%.

I've started and stopped this book so many times because I want to like so, SO badly. It has a great plot and cool world, but there's absolutely no character development. I have no understanding of anyone's motivations and their actions seem totally out of sync with the supposedly stark class division the author describes. The beginning was also deeply confusing given the lack of background given to the reader about the world & magic system.

I'll probably try to pick this up again at a later date, because I really want it to succeed, but for now I can't keep forcing myself to read something that confuses and frustrates me.

Oh wow, I loved this book. It's probably one of my favorite reads of the year for me (and I'm up to 130 or so reads all year, so that's no small feat!)

I found the pacing to be extremely good -- everything lingered for as long as it needed to, but momentum was never lost. It gave just enough time for the character interactions to resonate and for mistakes and decisions to lead very deliberately onto the next beat.

The characters were great. I LOVED all the leads, and it was so nice to have a m/m-focused book (with both the protagonist and the LI as bisexual, mind) with such strong female point of view characters in it; I LOVED Zagiri and Anahid, not just Siyon and Izmirlian. Everyone's pov provided something different and unique but they all had compelling stories and strong drive in pushing the plot.

The themes held incredibly solid throughout and there were several cases where something worked out differently than I expected but in a way that made so, so much sense. (I'm still not sure why this one city is the only one where alchemy works, but I imagine future books might go into that).

The worldbuilding was very slightly confusing at first -- it was very environmental, with no explanations, but around the 30% mark I'd picked up the gist of the social structures and expectations in the different classes, and by the 50% mark I more or less felt like I understood everything and anticipated people's roles in the world.

Basically: A fun, well-written and complex fast-paced fantasy that cared as much for character growth and desires as it did for the plot; it sold me on the romance and ripped my heart out more than once.

<spoiler>I also appreciated that Evans did everything she could to promise that Siyon and Izmirlian would be reunited.</spoiler>

Very very much looking forward to book two.

Thank you to Orbit Books and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3,5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love Notorious Sorcerer because it seemed like it had a bunch of stuff I like: alchemy! sword fights! accidental bouts of impossible magic! But alas, it didn't quite pan out for me. I spent a lot of time being extremely confused and/or being just on the cusp of grasping what was going on, and while I actually do prefer being dropped in fantasy worlds without a lot being explained and then having it slowly revealed to me (this makes re-reads more rewarding for me!), by the end of the novel I still didn't quote understand what everything was. Which was an odd feeling, because the novel did feel like it knew what it was and I got a sense Evans knew her world very well, but it just didn't translate over well for me. I always expect some bumps and mishaps in a debut, and while I think this was an interesting and imaginative debut, I also think it struggled to let me in and was a fairly bumpy ride. From what I got of the characters I liked them, but a lot of the time I felt like I only understood them in broad strokes, and the plot started off incredibly strong and then petered out a bit.

However, I will say that it's very well this is the rare novel that I struggle to read on an e-reader, and from what I did glean I did quite enjoy, so I think it'd be worth it to re-read this one in print. And, even though it was rough, I think I'd really like it once I figure out how to break into the story. That's a lot of work to ask a new reader, but I'm definitely willing to try because the ideas going on here were really interesting.

Such a great blend of Sci-Fi, fantasy, and historical! I absolutely loved the physical magic system and how our dimension is in balance with three other planes. Unfortunately, there’s been a imbalance between the four planes and our underdog hero, Siyon, must step in and try to save the day as a surprisingly talented, but untrained, alchemist. All the characters had interesting arcs, but my favorite characters were definitely Izmirlian and Anahid. The queer romance was *chef’s kiss*. The classism made the storyline even more dynamic and was a huge factor amongst the various characters. The worldbuilding was rich, though it did take me some time to get into it and understand. There was a lot of humor in the dialogue, with Siyon especially, and that helped keep the story light. Despite being a first book in a series, this was wholly satisfying and did well to set up the next book without leaving the reader with a cliffhanger. Overall, fantastic introduction to this world and its characters! I cannot wait to continue on with the series.

4.5 ⭐️