My fault as I didn't see it was the second in a series. That said I searched all I could find about the Godstone world and it was worth the effort as this is a complex and fascinating world.
A well plotted, action packed and complex fantasy that I loved.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Healer Mage Fenra Lowens knows that the world is ending. It told her so at the end of The Godstone. It will not be something easily fixed, as the magic controlling White Court would rather blame her for the world’s increasing instability than change their hidebound ways. On top of this, the non-mages of the Red Court see this internal conflict as their chance to conquer and control their rivals. Fenra finds herself caught between two entrenched institutions that are too invested in their never-ending conflict to see the real problem. It’s up to her and her allies to placate an increasingly fractious World, keep the courts from destroying the city, and save as many people as possible from their own idiocy.VERDICT This novel is a whole lot of fun. Fenra and her gang are both smart and smart-alecky, keeping themselves and readers going on a rising tide of witty banter and out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire action. Highly recommended for those who like a little swash in their buckle and enjoy watching smart people save the day.

You will be so completely lost if you don’t read The Godstone first! The world building is quite intricate. There’s different areas, the tech level changes overnight sometimes the folks with magic notice the changes but the mundane people think things are the way they’ve always been. Add to that the different factions and players in the political game and there’s lots to keep track of. It’s hard to describe a book two without descending into spoilers!
Her older series that starts with The Sleeping God was a great deal of fun too. It’s been years and years since I read it but I remember it fondly. It’s worth taking a look at too.

Welcome to the world of The Godstone.

A world of different modes (counties) reaching out from the court of practitioners (like mages) The White Court, and it’s balancing group, the Red Court (wherein lies the law) The world is out of balance we slowly learn, caused it appears by the creation of the Godstone, an artefact locked away for many years by a gifted practitioner
Practitioner Fenra Lowens and Elvanyn Karamisk know what’s at stake but before they can state the case for World health things come to a head. She has to persuade the Courts via the Council to work together to heal the World. This should be their highest priority.
Fenra has been commanded to convince the Council that, “The world … and everything in it, the Modes, practitioners, mundanes, rivers, mountains, animals, everything is a piece of one organism. The World had already begun to fail, and when … the Godstone [was torn]from it, it lost the ability to act in its own defense, and it lost the ability to heal.”
The problem is the Council doesn’t believe Fenra. They are sceptical and view Fenra as a lowly no nothing third class practitioner. We know she’s so much more. The political games have begun!
The old ways might heal the World but it seems no-one’s listening. Fenra begins to suspect there’s something off key than she first thought, but with deep fissures opening up in the earth, avoiding being arrested and quakes happening her attention is somewhat divided.
Interesting to note that Dadian philosophy where the world seen as a sentient being seems somewhat akin to to some concepts of Deep Ecology.
Tension builds slowly but in a distinct Violette Malan way that we’ve come to appreciate.

A DAW ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

After the events of The Godstone, Fenra Lowens goes to the council of the White Court of magic practitioners to encourage them to return to the old ways, when practitioners traveled through the different Modes and kept the World healthy. But the council is set in its ways and sees its job as keeping power for themselves at the expense of others- and is happy to make Fenra the scapegoat when things start to go wrong. When the Red Court nonmagical council declares war on the White Court to try and take the White's power for itself, chaos descends. The average people are the ones in danger. The World is not happy and is ready to create chaos to prove it. And Fenra is caught in the middle of all of the battles.

Fenra is in the unenviable position of knowing how to save the World and has pretty much no one in power who is willing to listen. Fortunately, she's incredibly stubborn and determined and has the dogged instincts of a healer who will fight to the end for her patient. And her allies are as stubborn as she is, particularly Elva. I quite liked that about both of them. It was never a question of "if" something could be done with them, but "how". They were also smart enough to question who they could trust, but once someone had earned their trust they would do whatever it took to rescue them if needed. Which happened often because there were plenty of backstabbing politicians and others out only for themselves!

Once again, Violette Malan shows her incredible talent as a world-builder in The Court War. She builds not one world but multiple ones (personally, I hope we get to spend more time exploring the New Zone if there's a third book- there sounds like a lot that could be done with a world and different magic there!) as well as the sentient World itself; there are a variety of belief systems that fit together; magic with carefully constructed rules that we never feel we're being lectured over but discover in often unique ways. From the very food and drink to the clothes and architecture around our heroes, Malan seems to effortlessly create her wonderful worlds. Yet she never forgets that the most important thing, perhaps the most grounding thing, of the story are the human beings. Humans in all their extremes, both good and bad, are what make the world go round, and that is certainly true here.

I definitely recommend reading The Godstone before reading The Court War, since the events of book 1 lead directly to book 2. You can start with book 2 and catch up, but you'll enjoy it more reading them in order.


I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

This book is almost out, so be ready! If you enjoyed the first one, you won't be disappointed by this one. At all!
I have to admit I was a tad scared because my favorite character wasn't in here and.... how can I enjoy a book without my favorite character in there?? But Fenra and Elva are here, and they bring reinforcement! Some of the new characters are intriguing, and you should really meet them for yourself! Sure, we have a number of despicable ones to balance things out, and in this group, I would put the World, too, because hey! He is not playing nice here. Bad World, no cookies for you!

But the best feature of this book remains the world-building, and in this second volume, we have a lot of political intrigues too. And they just up the game! And that's not only that, but the pace as a whole picks up, because there is so much happening, and they all are on borrowed time so... things get complicated, things get dangerous, and they get so really quickly!
But aside from this, there is also some good news around, especially what Fenra and Elva are trying to do, and I know that this sounds nebulous and over-mysterious but... I don't want to spoiler anything for you!

It is quite hard to write a review for a second book without spoilering anything, both for this one and for the previous, but things are all coming together, there is so much happening, and if you are curious about this series, I suggest you try the fist book out! And if you are already coming from there, well... be ready, because this would be a hell of a ride!

<b>6 / 10 ✪</b>

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/07/20/the-court-war-by-violette-malan-review/

Like the first book, this switches POVs between 1st and 3rd person perspectives; both Fenra and Tamari use 1st, Elva and Witt use 3rd. As with the first book, there are two of each perspective. This didn’t take quite as long to get used to since the first was written the same way, however, the pacing still suffered from the back and forth, routinely in the middle of a single chapter, a single event.

There’s not a lot new in the Court War; the main creative element from the first book—the Wards—played even less of a part in the second, in fact, they were mostly taken for granted. As were many of the more creative features from before: the Godstone itself, the locket, the New Zones, the practitioners and their abilities. Instead, the book mostly revolves around politics and intrigue, rather than the intrigue and adventure from the Godstone. There are some new bits, but they seemed to only spring to life when the story had painted itself into a corner and needed some convenient, but hitherto unknown magic power, or something that is COMMON in the New Zone. The first time it happened, I rolled my eyes. The second time, however, I made more of a note of it. The first one is forgivable, but twice in a sub-300 page story, the second book in a series, no less? That just seems a bit lazy.

The story of the Court War is interesting—a war between the Red and White Courts of the City. And the POV characters (as well as a few more) trying to subvert both to force a peace. As I said, it’s an interesting story, though hardly a unique one. The World is impatient, but instead of facing their problem together, the factions squabble, deny, and blame. As main character and a bit of an outcast at that, it should come as no surprise that Fenra fields much of their blame. Which brings me to the characters.

There was a point in the Court War where Fenra and Elva discuss going somewhere and whether or not they will be walking into a trap. They both agree that, yes, it’s almost certainly a trap. Nevertheless, they leave without making a plan, and act surprised when, in fact, they get there and it’s a trap. Now—along with this being out of character for both of them—I found this entirely stupid. If the author wanted them to walk into a trap, she should’ve just made it so. Why they stopped and talked about it, only to do nothing further, flabbergasted me. I mean, it helped drive the plot, but in the stupidest possible way. Luckily, it was the only thing that I found so completely out of character. Well—everything apart from the Witt and Tamari romance (that I’m not getting into). In general, and in spite of this hiccup, I found the characters of the Court War to be its strongest asset. Their witty interactions, the casual way they have about each other, their reality and humanity even when the world stutters about them.

<b>TL;DR</b>

The sequel to the interesting but underwhelming fantasy The Godstone, The Court War produces a new and interesting story, full of political intrigue and measured disobedience. Unfortunately, it does little else new, instead simply repeating the same creations featured in the first installment, but with a tone that almost takes them for granted. But, not to worry, when needed something new and innovative appears, just in time to save a character from some horrible fate, only to be immediately forgotten. While I generally enjoyed my time with the book, this was largely down to the characters and their interactions. The plot was alright—though political fantasy has never been my forte. While on the whole I still found it enjoyable, it’s rather a disappointing followup, and a series I likely won’t be continuing.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- unfortunately, like the first book in the series, i felt confused by the formatting of the book and the way the character arcs were heading, and that soured my reading experience. Malan is a talented writer, but the formatting of her books is what really deters me from her work.

- there will be people who like her book, as she does explore court politics decently, and the fantasy world is a little more intriguing.

I enjoyed the incorporation of the New World Practitioners, which added a charming Cowboy Wizard vibe to the book's elegant academic genre. I found it amusing and impressive how diverse their abilities were and how their unconventional approaches came naturally to them. However, compared to the first book, the stakes weren't as high, and the plot lacked the same momentum that led us into the second story. Even though there were constant rivalries and captures, I never felt concerned for anyone since the whole cast was repeatedly captured and imprisoned, but escaped just as quickly. I felt that these occurrences happened too frequently and resolved too easily, failing to create any impactful moments.

I appreciated that using their abilities had consequences for the characters and that it wasn't an endless source of magical power. However, I felt that Fenra recovered too quickly after her intensive efforts towards the end.

The end was intriguing, particularly with the unexpected inclusion of Witt, who had not been previously introduced as helpful in any way. It would have been satisfying to see some of his capabilities earlier on in the story. However, I felt that the resolution wrapped up too quickly and neatly, only requiring a few paragraphs to sort out the entire conflict.

I was excited about the possibility of Fenra's new court and was curious to see how the healing of the world would result in more hands-on practice for the practitioners. If there were ever a sequel that focused on these aspects, I would be eager to read it.

'The Court War' by Violette Malan was an exciting sequel to the incredible the first book, 'The Godstone'.
While I'm not certain where the books are heading--whether this is a duology or a trilogy, or perhaps the start of something much bigger--it certainly was packed to the rafters with intense inter-court drama.
I loved the inclusion of the New World Practitioners, setting a delightful Cowboy Wizard flavour through the regal academic genre that ran the book. I thought it hilarious and fantastic the diversity of their gifts and the unorthodox methods that were first instinct to them.
It wasn't as high-stakes as the first, and seemed to lack the escalating momentum that rolled us into the second story. While there were certainly constant rivalries and captures happening, I was never really worried for anyone, as the whole cast was captured and imprisoned half a dozen times, and out just as fast. I felt that they just happened too frequently and resolved too easily for it to pack a punch in any way.
I appreciated that using the practice took its toll on the characters, and wasn't an endless magical well of power, but felt maybe Fenra was up and running a little too fast for the amount of work she was doing near the end.
The end itself was interesting, especially with the inclusion of Whit, since he wasn't really foreshadowed to help in any way. It would have been nice to see some of that capability earlier on. But I felt it also wrapped up way too fast and simple, taking just a few breezy paragraphs to sort out the whole stories conflict.
I was so keen for Fenra's new court, though, and am desperately intrigued with seeing how that would play out, and how the healing of the World would mean more travelling and hands-on practice from the practitioners. If there's ever another book where we get to focus on that, that would be rad.

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

I always enjoy reading Violette Malan's work, it did everything that I was looking for. The plot has what I was looking for and it was what I was expecting from the author. I had enjoyed The Godstone by the same author and it worked with that book. I can't wait for more from Violette Malan.

"Yes, of course they can all pick the lock!” Elva called from the other side of the door. “This is no time to be coy. Get me out!” Lizz and Randd stood to one side and bowed to Donn with mock solemnity. The old man grinned, cracked his knuckles, and pulled a flat leather case, like a note case, out of an inner pocket of his jacket. He went down on one knee and squinted through the lock with one eye."