An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors by Curtis CraddockMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great book. Super fun to read. I'm a new fan.
A sundered world, made up of floating land masses reached by sailing ships, with royal families distinguished by their unusual family magic, make this an exciting place to explore even before we get to the plot. Such a setting is amazing, full of possibility, and though I've seen *similar* settings I've never found one that seemed so real or felt so possible as this one. The lands are reminiscent of France and Spain and the like, but only enough to suggest nationalities, giving the wild setting a slight grip on familiarity which I appreciated.
Princess Isabelle, born with a defect, is almost killed at birth, and is only saved by Jean-Claude, a musketeer who becomes her lifelong defender and ally. I found them easy to like and root for. Both of these characters are capable in their own way but also flawed, and they face a series of antagonists who are similarly round as well as morally gray. More so than in many novels, the characters here make sense to me; their reactions and their motivations, even speaking of the bad guys, seem to add up, and I credit the author for peopling his wildly imaginative fantasy with actual human beings. Some of them are really, really horrible, but even those characters are not wholly evil or incomprehensible.
The plot is centered around palace intrigue, with many factions working to place the prince of their choice on the throne of Aragoth. This leads to murders, assassinations, kidnappings, battles, ambushes, and all the action a reader could hope for. The airships and sky islands are handled better here than in any novel I can think of, and the unusual magic--blood shadows and mirror walking and the like--are convincing and well used. The same with the bits and pieces of ancient technology.
In fact, I don't really have any notes. It was both a refreshing book and a great read. The next book in the series is ordered.
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