It is hard to slot this book into a particular genre but in my view, this would fit into the genre of fantasy heist spy thriller ( if it exists).
The book has an engaging and fascinating lead in Aliyanna, a con woman with a mysterious past who is offered a way out of imprisonment by trying to obtain evidence against a Duke. But she has tow ork with the solider who captured her and not feel sympathy for the Duke ( who is actually a compassionate ruler).
The world building is detailed and interesting- the author has created an interesting geopolitical world that feels similar to our own with some of the same issues around refugees feeling war and how they received and poor people or people who are different not being treated the same as the rest of the population.
I enjoyed the magic in this world being attached to people by Obscuras, each one with their magical ability. There is plenty of action in this book and several twists that did catch me by surprise as well as some romance.
The book is the first in the series and I cant wait to read the next one and find out more about Aliyanna’s world

A master thief and the King’s captain of the constables have been caught in a game of cat and mouse for years. When the thief finally slips up, the captain thinks her nemesis has been put away for good. But when the King assigns her the task of gathering evidence against a treacherous duke in order to prevent a civil war, she finds that her old rival may be the only one with the skills she needs to pull off the job.

The Honorable Con by Michele C. Shaw is a fantasy novel that delivers with an engaging heist plot and a fun core cast of characters. The two main viewpoint characters have very distinct voices and are each very intriguing to follow in their own way. The worldbuilding is strong, effectively introducing the audience to interesting elements of this world including its magic, history, and politics. The book largely avoids long exposition dumps, instead opting to simply demonstrate elements of the worldbuilding in action with the expectation that the audience will be able to figure it out as they go. This style may not work for everyone, but it absolutely worked for me.

It is worth mentioning that The Honorable Con is the first book in what will be a series. That being the case, it sets up so much that could never possibly be paid off within one book. I won’t spoil anything here, but while the books final action set piece is very engaging, I couldn’t help but feel like the story kind of just stopped instead of reaching any kind of satisfying conclusion. So, if you’re looking for more of a standalone fantasy adventure, you won’t get that here. But if you’re looking for a world that you can get invested in for the long haul, The Honorable Con is a very strong start to a series. I would definitely recommend it to fantasy fans.

The Honorable Con
by Michele C. Shaw
The Obscura Saga #1
Science Fiction
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Sept 3, 2025
Indie/Self-Published
Ages: 16+

As a very talented Con (wo)man and lock picker, Ailyanna is trying to swindle enough to get a ticket East and escape the coming war.

After months of searching, catching, and having Ailyanna escape, Captain Kresta finally captured Ailyanna and locked her in the palace dungeon. But with the war looming, and rumors of a Duke's pending treason, Kresta recommends Ailyanna to the King, for the con's talent in pretending to be someone she's not.

Agreeing, instead of spending the rest of her life shackled in the small cell, but with plans of escape, Ailyanna joins the captain and three others, taking the train to find the evidence of the Duke's plans to overthrow the King.

Posing as the Duke's long-lost love, Ailyanna and her group discover the Duke's plans, but also the King's, and when all is revealed, so is Ailyanna's secret.


Told from the POVs of Ailyanna and Kresta, each chapter opens with a 'flashback' of the characters' lives, which some I found unnecessary, but there were others that did add depth and a little foreshadowing to the characters. But another way, like including them into the story itself, (especially hints of Ailyanna's secret), would have blended in with the story/chapter instead of the jolt at the chapter's beginning. Sometimes italics are distracting and feel 'skip/skimable'.

For the first half of the story, I also found it difficult to distinguish between the MCs because they felt very similar, but both did begin to develop into interesting characters.

The story flowed at a good pace, and the plot and characters were well created, but I do feel that the world lacked history. More about the people, places, and history would add a lot more depth to the story and characters.

Overall good story, and the cover/title were eye-catching, and in sync with the story. I would be interested in reading the next book in this series.

3 Stars

I have to admit, something about the writing at the beginning of the book had me bouncing off it a bit and struggling to get engaged. But I was really intrigued by the story and the characters (both of the leads are character archetypes I tend to really enjoy), so I kept going, and I'm glad I did. I'm not sure whether the writing got stronger later or whether I just got into the groove with it, but after about 30% it definitely picked up for me and I became really invested. Overall, I ended up really enjoying the story and the various reveals and reversals of expectations, I was very intrigued by the worldbuilding, and I'll definitely be looking out for later books in the series. If I had to give a silly/flippant one-sentence pitch, I'd say "Throne of Glass (but good) meets Six of Crows. With trains."

This was a fun fantasy heist novel that went refreshingly off the rails (ha, because there's a train). The world building was rich and woven intricately, but at times a tad subtly, so some surprises didn't pay off since I had missed the set up. The final plot twists, though, felt very deserved and rewarding. I ended the book wanting to know more about the world and characters, which is what you want from book one of a series!

If you're looking for a fantasy following a rag-tag team of interesting characters trying to pull off a mission with several obstacles in the way, this book is the one for you.

The crew of characters was the best part in my opinion, I really enjoyed watching them work together, even when it was them having doubts about each other, bickering and trying to come up with a desperate plan. As well as how exactly they get out of situations that seem pretty inescapable.

This book faces a certain critique that I don't give books often which is that it could have benefitted from being a little longer. A few more pages allowing us a more in-depth look into the entire crew of characters and more into the world, history and places. More world building details spruced into the story would have made the two big plot twists in the finale hit harder.
Apart from this, I do feel as though the story was a bit too convenient in some places. MINOR SPOILERS HERE: a huge part of this book involves the main character being in a disguise (multiple disguises) and I found it a bit difficult to believe that it took the time it did for someone to even question or place any suspicion on her. Especially because Ailyanna has little to no information about what Cecily (the person she's disguised as) was like. I could understand that it has been 15 years since the people knew Cecily originally but it seemed unrealistic to only have two characters that knew her personally.

But overall, I'm invested enough in the characters to give the second book a chance!
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for letting me read the ARC of The Honorable Con.

'World building' is an important element of any fantasy series, and it can make the first book of a series particularly tricky. The author needs to introduce readers to a new world with its own geography, politics, history, magic and concepts, as well as to the characters. That has to be done as naturally as possible whilst also telling a readable story and not becoming dull. Skimp on the explanation and readers won't know what's going on; overdo it, and it will read like a textbook about somewhere that isn't even real. Michele C Shaw errs a bit too much towards the former in this first book in a planned series.

The story is set in a complicated fantasy land set up with various countries and territories, some of which are at war. There are also different peoples with different powers - mainly the humans and the Lamorians (an elf-like people). None of that is explained very well. The narrative is from the perspective of two viewpoint characters - a con artist called Aliyanna, and the senior police officer who has finally caught her. To avoid prison, Aliyanna must join the captain and a small band of misfits in a con on behalf of the king, to find evidence of treason by his powerful technocrat cousin. Aliyanna will play the part of his long lost love, now apparently returned. But she quickly realises her mark this time is not a dim noble, but a clever operator busily preparing his people for war. Which doesn't bode well for the mission...

I found the start of the book slow. I took a while to warm to the characters, and I found the short italicised flashback sections at the start of each chapter a bit annoying. I did eventually come to like both Aliyanna and captain Kresta, and the supporting characters too, and was quite invested in the outcome of their mission. Not that you will get much of an outcome - it's very much a taster for what I imagine will be at least a trilogy. The second half is more exciting and the plot and character development went in directions I didn't necessarily expect. But even by the end I still felt a bit at sea about who was fighting whom and who had powers and how. A bit more explanation would really have helped and I could have enjoyed the story better if I wasn't trying to work out what was going on and if I'd missed something. Another annoyance was the character names, some of which I found very hard to pronounce in my head. If a writer is going to use unconventional names with complex spellings, it is better to include a note on how to say them, rather than leaving the reader to stumble over them every couple of pages. It breaks the flow of the story and makes for a less enjoyable reading experience.

Overall I'd rate the first half of the book a 2, and the second half a 4, so the average comes out at 3 stars. I will probably give the next instalment a go, to see where it goes and in the hope that now things are up and running, it will keep getting better. Shaw strikes me as a writer who is maybe better at writing people and plots than the whole 'world-building' element. The very best fantasy novels will score highly on all aspects. But two out of three isn't bad.

What an interesting story! There were twists that took me completely by surprise, and I was loving the girl power, y’all! The plot follows thief, Aillyana, who gets conscripted to help the crown in exchange for freedom, and boy what a ride it was [iykyk ;)] At first, I struggled to connect with the characters. However, it didn’t take long to become hooked and reeling for more. I’m looking forward to book 2!

Ailyanna es una estafadora brillante en una ciudad donde la riqueza se esconde tras normas rígidas y secretos peligrosos. Tras años burlando a nobles y constables, es finalmente capturada por su peor enemiga: la temida capitana Kresta, también conocida como “la Sabueso”. Pero en lugar de prisión o muerte, Ailyanna recibe una oferta imposible de rechazar: infiltrarse en la vida de un poderoso duque y descubrir sus posibles traiciones al rey. A cambio, se le promete libertad… y un pasaje seguro fuera del país. Con la identidad de una noble desaparecida, un equipo heterogéneo a su lado y un destino lleno de trampas y secretos, Ailyanna debe enfrentarse no solo a los enemigos del reino, sino a los fantasmas de su pasado. Porque en un mundo de máscaras, mentiras y juegos políticos, confiar incluso en uno mismo puede ser el mayor riesgo.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest