Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans

[lightreads]

Notorious Sorcerer

3/5. Fantasy about a messy bisexual street gang dude doing illegal interdimensional magic item smuggling who gets tangled up in bigger events involving aristocratic politics and the stability of reality.

That makes this sound more interesting than it is. One of those debuts which, somehow, manages to be 20,000 words too long and also simultaneously missing some important story glue things. Wy do we need this POV at all? I thought, and at another point, wait, bake this relationship longer, please.

It’s not bad if you’re in need of a fantasy about a messy bisexual (that the author thinks is way way cooler than I do, but okay). Bonus points for the storyline about an aristocratic woman floundering to find herself after making a bad call in marrying a queer man. She finds herself at the gaming table, which is entertaining. And the multiple dimensions part is vivid and fun. Just, you know, this series will probably be way better in three or four books.

Comments

[thefourthvine]

I had such a strong conviction of what this would be about based on its title alone that I can never read this. The disappointment would be overwhelming.

[lightreads]

I know, isn't it a great title? Unfortunately, what it is really referring to is the plot device of magic being illegal for blah blah made up historical reasons, but the real reason is that the author thinks that makes it so much cooler.

[thefourthvine]

Oh no. Now I’m definitely sad. Some part of me instantly leapt to the conclusion that this would be about the louche, over-sexed, decadent bisexual character that was like every third fantasy villain in books from the ‘80s and ‘90s, but from his point of view. And I’m sorry but that is just so much cooler than illegal magic blah.

[go_gentle]

the storyline about an aristocratic woman floundering to find herself

I think this was my favorite storyline of the sequel, I really enjoyed watching her continue to grow