did not realize this was a sequel. god bless. i didn't hate the style so i guess i may go back to look at the first book

External Forces is the second fantasy alternate-history adventure novel by Shannon Fay. Released 8th Nov 2022, it's 507 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The first book in the series, Innate Magic , is also currently available on KU.

This is an entirely action driven plot and the ensemble cast careen from drama to crisis and back again without pause, more or less throughout. There's not a lot of dramatic range in the individual characters, and the good ones are misunderstood and generally good and the bad ones are thoroughly despicable more or less throughout. There are a couple of redemption arcs, but for the most part, the characters continue on the path they're on from start to finish.

The world building is quite interesting and the schools of magic and how they work are clearly the product of a lot of work and planning by the author. The basic framework of the world is *very* loosely based on our own world, and despite the stated time setting of 1958, the dialogue, setting, and character interactions really hearken back to a much earlier time period (Georgian or Victorian); so much so that mentions of automobiles or James Dean (for example) are quite anachronistic and jarring.

The draw for many YA/NA readers will be the exploration of gender roles, romance, and romantic entanglements. Several of the primary characters are gay, bi, curious, ace, and/or aro. There is a fair bit of cross dressing and fun inclusion of cloth magic as a tool for cross dressing expression included in a non-judgemental way.

There is some graphic violence, including a shocking disfiguring death-by-fall, consensual and non-consensual torture and body horror, and murder. There's an extended torture scene which sensitive readers will probably want to skim. There's also some undead(ish) horror-lite, as well as a fair bit of consensual strongly implied intimate physical contact.

Well written but often meandering. Worth a look for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Cassandra Clare. It's not explicit or steamy, but there is strongly implied physical contact. It's the second book in the series and doesn't work super well as a standalone read.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I really enjoyed this read. It's kind of outside of what I normally read and I flew through this quickly. The characters were well written, the magic element was great. I also love the cover artwork.

This was such an improvement compared to the first book, Innate Magic. I liked the first book, but its meandering plot felt like it was going nowhere for most of the story. External Forces, on the other hand, had a fairly tight and engaging main story with incredibly high stakes. There was quite a bit of action in this book, and the violence and torture were graphic enough to make me squirm in my seat while reading. The story also deepened the world-building and provided a lot of interesting information about the magic system that makes me excited to see what comes next for this series. The alternate 1950's Britain was still a fun setting, and it allowed for the exploration of some timely topics, including queer and women's rights and the fight against fascism growing under the guise of 'safety.' The characters, especially Paul, seemed much more mature in this book compared to the first. Paul felt less like the stereotypical bisexual man and more well-rounded. He had to grapple with severe challenges to his morals and handled all the crises with a surprising amount of grace. He still made plenty of reckless, selfish choices too, though. I guess he wouldn't be Paul without them. lol. One thing I love about this series is that it centers a bisexual man who primarily pursues long term relationships with women (at least during the time we're with him on the page). This representation is sorely lacking, and it was nice to get a story where the bi guy ends up with a woman even if the romance felt a bit forced at times. Most, if not all, of the bi male rep I've read has the bi man experiencing a bi awakening and choosing to pursue relationships with men. So, it was a nice change of pace to have Paul confident in his identity from the beginning and not shy away from relationships with women in an effort to make the story 'more queer' because bi men in love with a woman are just as queer as gold star gays. ***Steps off soap box.*** The only other qualm I had with this book was the large time gap since the first book. It felt like so much character growth happened during that time, and I was a little let down we didn't get to see it on the page. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and am curious to see where it goes next. Therefore, I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

What a RIDE.

Paul Gallagher is back and just as charming and brooding as before. I genuinely think he's one of my favourite protagonists - his voice is so distinct and lovely to read.

Shannon Fay has done a masterful job, once again, of reimagining historical events with a magical twist. The magic system is detailed and well thought out, and easy to picture in our own world. The pacing is wonderful, characters are fleshed out and complex, and I found myself reading until 4am because telling myself "one more chapter" just wasn't working the way I intended.

It's worth noting that there are some intense descriptions of violence here which are difficult to stomach. However, they make sense and are entirely plot relevant which, for me, makes them manageable.

I can't WAIT to read more of this world. If you're looking for political intrigue, magic, and clothes (magic clothing!!), please get into this series. You won't be disappointed!

Thank you to NetGalley and 47north for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

It was a fun read and enjoyed through many pages. The setting of 1950 London is also great. But the story description in my opinion was unnecessarily long. When I started to understand Paul’s thoughts he suddenly moved to something totally different. This thing kept me confused throughout the book. That’s why I rated it as 3.5 stars.

But the story in my opinion was interesting. The palace politics was described very well. I loved the political aspect of this book and that’s the reason I requested it.

This is the 2nd book of The Marrowbone Spells. But I thins this book can be read as a stand alone.

"A mage for the British royals matches wits with a power-mad old foe in a beguiling novel of enchantments and daring by Shannon Fay, author of Innate Magic.

London, 1958. By crafting magical outfits for his friend, Princess Katherine, cloth mage Paul Gallagher is getting ahead. It's not a seamless path. Not since the Virtuis Party came to power. The far-right faction is using criminals to create a protective barrier around England. The enchanted uniforms the prisoners wear may beget a demand for mages, but using luckless convicts as tools for warmongering reactionaries isn't Paul's dream for cloth magic.

His road to success takes an even darker turn when the unexpected death of a member of the royal family plunges the country into chaos. The Virtuis Party is rising, its mysterious puppet master is gaining control, and Paul and his allies are prepared to do anything to protect the princess, the throne, and ultimately, the soul of the country. That means falling back on the innate magic Paul dreads using again. It's illegal, dangerous, and so potent it can raise the dead.

But as the fate of the entire nation hangs by a thread, dire times call for extreme magic."

British period magic, yes please.

- 2.5 Stars -
When I started this book I didn’t realize that it was a sequel so that was a little bit unfortunate. There were definitely parts of the story that were discussed based off of the first book, but it was definitely still readable without having read the first book.

This book took a long time to get to the point. It spends a lot of time reintroducing Paul and who he is/what he does/why he does it. But the story doesn’t even start off with him as our main character. It is shown that Thomas is the main character, but that initial plotline is kind of abandoned until over halfway through the book? It was a little weird to me.

There were a few things that happened in this book that turned me off of it a little bit. The pacing was a little funky and would be off in parts where it shouldn’t be and was too quick in places it shouldn’t be. It led to a bit of reader whiplash. Another thing I didn’t love was the amount of time discussing clothing/outfits created by the mages instead of time spent in the plot. It just left a little bit to be desired.

The middle of the book was actually great! Probably the middle like 15% of the book was exactly what I was looking for, however, the rest of the book was a little bit of a letdown. I also felt a little left in the dust due to not having read the first book, but that’s my own fault for not realizing it was a sequel!

⚠️TW: gore, murder, death

Thank you @amazonpublishing for this finished copy in exchange for my honest review! All of the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

External Forces is an odd one for me. I really enjoyed Innate Magic when I read it last year, so I was obviously expecting to like this one too. And then I started it.

The book opens about 5 years after the events of Innate Magic, with Lady Fife showing up to collect Thomas from his retirement as a spy for her, because a man they thought had died, turns out not to have. And then. We forget that plotline for a large chunk of the book and switch back to Paul, who finds himself drawn into a conspiracy(ish) involving the Crown Prince and his unborn child.

So, it’s probably pretty clear what my main issue with this book was and that’s the pacing. The actual (conspiracy) plot doesn’t kick in until about a quarter through, and I found it pretty tedious going until that stage. Once it started, though, I thought maybe I could rate this at least 3 stars. Because the middle of this book was genuinely good, and genuinely something I wanted to read instead of forcing myself through. And then I got to the last third.

This is a point at which the excitement should have skyrocketed. They had started a revolution! Gone against the establishment to try bring down the throne! And it was a snoozefest. Instead of doing things, these characters bogged themselves down in conversation after conversation, while the revolution seemed limited to a few radio broadcasts. And the bad guys did nothing in the meantime either! The final third should have been the most exciting part. And yet.

Granted I wasn’t enjoying this one already so much as the first—this, in part, was down to the pacing (especially early on, when it seemed as though nothing was happening). In part, I was simply in the wrong mood for this book. The middle 40% or so (I checked) was great and, if the rest of it had been like this, I’d have probably liked the whole of it as much as I did the first.

But it wasn’t, so I was left with this.

If you’re looking for something a different then this series might be right up your alley. Not only is the magic super interesting, especially the cloth magic, but there’s an incredibly diverse cast of characters which is 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive. This book is filled with tons of political intrigue, world changing decisions that never stops till the end. This series has some tough stuff in it so be sure to check the CWs. This is the book two in the Marrowbone Spells series and I would strongly suggest reading the first book, Innate Magic, so that you don’t miss out on anything. I can’t wait to read what Fay comes up with next.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and 47North in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Set in cold war era Britain, this is a story full of an alternate history infused with magic.

Our morally grey hero, Paul Gallagher, is a cloth magician who secretly has the ability to do innate magic.

When an ultra Conservative party tries to take over the country in an effort to shut out women, people of color, and progress, Gallagher et al have other plans.

The concept of this book is intriguing and it’s entertaining. Parts of it were a bit dry and honestly it could’ve been shorter and still told a great story. Also be warned there are some fairly gruesome pieces to this story.

First of all, I didn't realize this is the second book of the series. But, since the blurbs seems so interesting I picked up the first book and totally love it. External Forces sure Forced me to jump into magical world in history

3.5/5 didnt get to finish cuz life got a bit busy but it looked v good and it seems like such a fun read i dont exactly know what audience its for but it seems fun

I loved the first book, and so I was very excited to read this one and it did not disappoint. Shannon Fay as the ability to write books that grab your attention and get you so lost in the world that you before you know it, the book is over and you realize you haven’t moved since starting the book.

I loved being able to return the world that she has created. Her world building is strong, and she has dynamic characters. Along with this, she’s a master at pacing a story to keep you hooked. This book, and the first in the series, is definitely a must read for fantasy lovers.