tl;dr
Powerful world building and a well-defined magic system set the stage for a likable hero and some strong supporting cast as they try to save the world. The front part of the book can be difficult to get through due to pacing and the number of terms.

About
Siyon Velo makes a living collecting alchemy ingredients from alternate planes of existence. It's dangerous, and lawfully dubious, work, but the wealthy alchemists of the city are always willing to pay. Siyon hopes to one day earn enough money to join the ranks of the alchemists himself, but one of the rare items he sells might put an end to that dream - and the entire city along with it.

Thoughts
Reading this book feels like watching someone playing with dominoes. The first half is dedicated to precise and meticulous world building. Characters, laws of magic, culture, politics, geography, and alternate universes are all placed carefully in line, and there's an almost overwhelming amount of things to collate and learn. But then the first domino tips and there's no place to catch your breath as everything falls into place in an fast-paced finale. I confess, it was definitely hard to get through the first part of the book for this very reason. There are a LOT of threads to hold on to. But every single one is stitched into the ending, for a decent payoff. Supporting cast are given a good deal of attention, with some winding up more complex that the lead himself. The author's notes mention Izmirlian was the most challenging character to get right, and I think the extra attention spent on him really shows. He's easily my favorite character of the bunch. The world building is probably the strongest part of the book - details about all aspects of the city and the people in it are thoroughly documented. This book should appeal to anyone looking for a fantasy with some hard world building and alternate plane adventures for a determined young man who finds himself out of his depth.

Rounded up from 4.5 stars.
This book hits the ground running, in terms of worldbuilding, and I certainly understand why reviewers have said that the first third of this book is a game of catch-up. This is the part where I admit I may have had a slight head start, having read an earlier iteration many years ago, on LiveJournal. I won't lie, the story has lived rent-free in my head ever since, and I still have the original fanfiction saved on my elderly laptop. That said, this book reaches a new level of cohesion and sophistication. While certainly I could still spot occasional nostalgic glimpses of the fanfiction that has haunted me for the better part of a decade (I Know What You Shipped Last Summer), the characters were lovingly crafted, the story was complex, and the world carefully built. I couldn't help but care about the characters. I was overjoyed to see that this story returned to the world as a true fantasy novel of full of heart, magic, dashing roguery, and overcoming the concept of impossibility. The book was wonderfully emotional and deliciously romantic. Certainly this book will haunt me as its precursor has, but I'm truly happy that this story came back into my life, and I can't wait for the next book.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this book. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to understand what was going on in Notorious Sorcerer. I’m talking at least 30% of the way into the book. I was totally and completely lost all because there was little to no explanation of the world the story is set in. Right away, the author throws around terms like we’re supposed to know what they mean — I Googled and could find no real-world equivalent for a good many of them. Notorious Sorcerer desperately needs a glossary or index of character names and terms right at the beginning of the book. There’s no shame in one of these — I love learning tidbits of the world before diving in. If there had been some explanation for frequently used terms, I think I would have enjoyed this book a hell of a lot more.

The world Davinia Evans sets up in Notorious Sorcerer is fascinating and deeply rich. However, I couldn’t place what culture she was basing things off of. And I know, not every fantasy book is based off of something in real life. It’s entirely possible this was just all in her head. But regardless, the city of Bezim reminded me a lot of Istanbul and Venice all mashed together. Evans name-drops certain alcoholic drinks that exist in real life, and mentions specific instruments and clothing styles just muddied the waters further for me. There is also the question of the law — alchemy is strictly illegal, but almost everyone gets away with it? Until things go south and then the inquisitors arrive to arrest people. Another confusing piece of the confusing puzzle.

It took much longer than it should have for me to get my legs steady in the world set up in this book. Once I did understand what was going on, I loved the story. The ending climax is fantastically well done. I really did love the characters as well — they all had very clear motivations, leaving few of them particularly flat or unexplored.

Siyon Velo is our main character. He is a supplier of alchemical ingredients. He is not an alchemist, but oh how he wishes he was. Siyon is poor, has no family, and does what he has to, to get by. He’s also extremely sassy. A brat, if you will. He reminded me of Locke Lamora in all good ways. But by the end of the novel, we’re really only given snippets of his past, leaving me (at least) wanting to know more about him. Zagiri and her sister, Anahid were extremely fun to read. They are complete opposites of one another, yet still care deeply for one another. Anahid, in particular, was my favorite. A high society woman finally figuring out she can get away with more than she thought. Izmirlian Hisarani, Siyon’s love interest, is left a little vague, but it mostly works. (I have some questions about what his arc is saying, honestly.) The various alchemists that dapple the pages are all equally entertaining and ridiculous.

Overall, my enjoyment of the book would have been vastly improved had I known what was going on sooner. If you’re willing to be lost for almost a quarter of the book, then you’re in for a wild ride.

Many thanks to Orbit Books and NetGalley for the ARC, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Notorious Sorcerer has an incredibly strong emotional core and this story, one that I at first thought would be more of a lighthearted jaunt, ended up being quite moving (in fact, it had me in tears for the final 20% or so) It centers around Siyon, an amateur street "practitioner," someone who makes a living selling alchemical materials obtained from other planes of existence to more experienced practitioners. He does this in hopes of gaining an education and becoming a full alchemist himself. When performs an unexpected and supposedly impossible feat, and this gains him possible entry into a circle of elite alchemists from the privileged class, while also getting him tangled up with the law, which officially outlaws alchemy. Siyon lacks the social cachet to avoid repercussions of his actions, and thus is forced into hiding, ironically taking refuge in the upper class home of the town's most skilled alchemist, Nihath Jeddani and his wife Anahid.

The characters in Notorious Sorceror are extremely sympathetic and human, with the main character, Siyon, at the center of a strong ensemble cast. Siyon is an incredibly endearing main character, an unlikely hero who despite having everything stacked against him, including his own suspicion that he's just not good enough, never stops trying. Siyon lacks the formal education of the elite alchemists, and suffers from imposter syndrome as a result. There is so much triumph in his rare bursts of confidence. Likewise, the strength he draws from those who believe in him make me love those characters even more. My heart broke for him with each setback and loss, and I was sincerely rooting for him to prevail.

Class issues are up front and center in Notorious Sorcerer, and they're handled well. There are unexpected alliances between the upper class and lower class characters, and while Siyon becomes more comfortable with, and even falls in love with someone from the ruling class, he never loses awareness of the fact that he is an outsider, and even when he gains nominal status and access to some privilege through his power, it is always conditional and can be revoked at any moment. Siyon spends most of the book acutely aware that he is doing things that would get him killed, whereas his upper class friends might receive a slap on the wrist. There is a scene in which Siyon is stuck outside after curfew and his upper class lover walks out brazenly into the night to rescue him, and the way Evans handles Siyon's warring emotions, the relief, gratitude, and resentment, is very well done.

The romance between Siyon and Izmirlian blooms slowly and is more satisfying for it. Izmirlian, an explorer with an insatiable curiosity, is drawn immediately to Siyon, whose alchemy is unconventional and often outside the boundaries of the known "rules" of the practice. They both defy borders, both socially, romantically, and magically, and in a book that establishes a "like attracts like" magical principle early on, there is certainly an element of these two being kindred spirits. While their romance does not dominate the story, it is very much present, and I found myself looking forward to scenes with Izmirlian. While their story is certainly not over, their goodbye in this book was heartwrenching and I sincerely hope there is something less bittersweet in store for them in future books.

I was surprised how attached I became to some of the other characters, such as Anahid, the society wife who learned only after her marriage that her new husband already had a live in lover. Her friendship with Siyon was unexpected and heartfelt. Her husband, Nihath, who could have been a cardboard villain type, is somewhat sympathetic. Anahid's younger sister, Zagiri, is endearing (if a bit naïve) as an emerging firebrand who has avoided fully joining upper class adult society but finally decides to do so specifically so that she can wield her privilege to enact change.

The prose is accessible and easy to read, if slightly quippy at times. The tone is almost deceptively light at first, but handles the switch between madcap action and quiet melancholy with relative ease. Sometimes overly quippy, modern sounding prose can be a miss for me in fantasy, particularly if it breaks immersion by recalling current modern slang or references too strongly (fantasy characters going "well that happened," which I've read in other books). Here, once I'd gotten into the story and was emotionally on the hook, which happened fairly early on, the breezy quippy prose, which was never really overdone anyway (the closest it came was a stray "get bent" early on) didn't really bother me.

Overall, Notorious Sorcerer is a strong recommend from me.

I LOVE physical magic systems. The more tangible, the better. Give me gross and fun and squishy hands-on magic: stirring pots and combing devilish ingredients and crawling around on the ground to draw summoning circles. I struggle with magic that feels ephemeral and theoretical, so it was a delight to see Davinia Evans make magic into a hard science of trial and error and hypotheses and action that makes my little researcher heart happy.

Yet, the magic system is only one star in the constellation that makes this story brilliant. I’m so a sucker for well-realized fantasy societies, and I loved learning about the hierarchies of the Azatani (the rich and privileged elite), the hilarious theatrics of the Bravi (Shakespearean gangs of play-fighting dandies), and even the dirty politics of the dockworkers (a close, clan-like society of criminal fisherman). The main characters are well-situated in their respective tribes, but stood out less to me as individuals and more as representative of their respective, memorable communities. My one disappointment is the world-building of the city of Bezim itself. For all that the inhabitants of the city and their dynamic were beautifully imagined, I struggled to place myself inside the physical location. Evans’ writing style is comedic and action-oriented but sometimes fails to linger on descriptions of the city. Bezim feels faceless: like a person you’ve talked to over the phone and can generally imagine, but not vividly picture in the same way you would a trusted friend.

Notorious Sorcerer was a fun, magical adventure romp. Do not go in expecting major character or magical system/world development. It started out as fanfiction according to the author and others may be able to pick out the original fandom. Some of the details and characters were rushed, but I wanted a fun read and I got one, so I was happy. However, I was not entirely happy with one character’s arc, but it is heavily hinted that this will be a major part of the second book, so I am willing to wait before I label it as a specific trope. (No spoilers here). The ending solution with some side characters felt a little too convenient but not too bad. All in all, I am giving it a 3.5 and rounding up for the fun factor.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Do you wish you could transport yourself into other dimensions using a rope and household items? A sprinkle of this, a dash of that and some wood shavings from a freshly sharpened pencil? This right here is a good book for you. This high-fantasy (occurs in a made up world and setting) alchemical romp is a race against time, and planes between the dreamers and the ones who mean to keep order. And we all know how well that worked for the Empire v Rebels. Even though the back and forth was a little obnoxious at first, you’ll be able to settle into the characters nicely by the halfway point. There’s a little romance but it doesn’t completely override the story. Altogether, 4 stars up for the Notorious Sorcerer.

Notorious Sorcerer has one of the most unique magic systems I've seen in a while, with a not-quite portal fantasy element when Siyon goes ingredient harvesting in other planes and an intricate, if not fully explained, system between the different planes and how they interact with Siyon's world. The novel is extremely fast-paced, and I felt that some of the character work suffered for it. There was a degree of disconnect between Siyon and everyone else where I felt the motivations never truly felt fully justified. I also wish we could have dived more into city's history and the academia aspect, especially since I never felt like I really understood what the law's definition of magic vs alchemy was. Luckily, it seems we will be diving much more into the city's history in the sequel! Overall, I rate this book a 3.5/5.

well, what a journey!

I'm a needy desperate sci-fi/fantasy reader and to be able to read Notorious Sorcerer before it's comes out, was an amazing experience. I enjoyed every single moment of this book and characters. Evans has done an amazing job writing this one. It definitely has potential to grab attention of diverse fantasy readers! i can't thank the publisher enough for this e-arc

It was ok. I enjoyed the world building and felt that the magic system could be explained a bit more. It works as a standalone I feel as the ending was satisfactory, I just wanted more from this story.

Sadly this was a DNF for me (at 35% of the way through). Going into this book, I was expecting a fun and charming fantasy; what I got, instead, was okay, but not compelling enough for me to keep reading. Nothing about what I read was bad, per se, but I found the pacing and character development to be really lacking. The book moves at such a breakneck speed that there is virtually no time for us to get to know these characters, or for them to actually process the events of the plot. It felt like every single scene we got had to move the plot forward, which is fine in itself, but there were barely any--or, from what I've read, no--scenes that were just about the characters: how they were feeling, their dynamics with each other. Those two things are not mutually exclusive--scenes can help progress both plot and character--but I felt like in the case of this novel, those two things didn't mesh well together. I really wanted to like this, but alas I didn't find what I read of it compelling enough for me to keep reading.

Thanks so much to Orbit for providing me with an eARC of this via NetGalley!