I'm a huge fan of assassins creed, so this was a book I had high expectations for! The setting was my favourite, and I really enjoyed seeing the world. The plot itself was fairly straightforward and action-y though, and I found it to be only alright. I also hoped for more assassin lore, but was disappointed. Overall a decent read though!

I always love reading Assassin's Creed books and this is no different. Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy was such a great read and is set in on of my favourite time periods and locations. I really liked following Simeon and Peirrette and how the travelled through the world.

This was the first time I have read something from Kate Heartfield and I will be reading more from her in the future.

Assassin's Creed, The Magus Conspiracy is the first book in this universe that I have had the opportunity to read and after reading it, I can assure you that it will not be the last.
Set during the Victorian era, with strong and well-developed characters, some of whom are historical figures such as Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage and Dante Gabriel Rossetti; an attractive plot that absorbs the reader and does not let go.
This book has it all: action, betrayal, a very subtle sense of humor, some romance, a dash of philosophy, plenty of friendship and honor, and enough twists and turns without actually confusing the reader. The perfect recipe for an excellent book.
A very enjoyable and entertaining read. I highly recommend this book, which is a must read for Assassin's Creed fans.
I thank the author Kate Heartfield, Aconyte Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
The opinion I have expressed above is based solely on what I think and feel about this book.

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Assassins Creed book The Magus Conspiracy by the wonderful Kate Heartfield, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

So let’s crack on with a review then!

What is Assassin Creed
Assassins Creed is an adventure game franchise published by Ubisoft (One of my Edge of Empire Co-hosts used to work there as well I should probably mention), and depicts a millennia-old conflict between the Assassins, who fight to preserve free will, and the Templars who desire to bring around peace by controlling people.

The games take place throughout various historical periods, the original 2007 game being set in the era of the 3rd Crusades, and the latest game Assassins Creed Valhalla, set in the Viking Invasion of Britain, and the next game Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be set in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age.

The Story
This book takes place over about a decade before Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, starting in 1851 with the passing of Ada Lovelace, the genius daughter of Lord Byron. Confessing to her friend, the 19 year old acrobat Pierrette Arnaud, her concerns over technology and ideas she may have passed onto a shadowy mysterious correspondent, known only as the Magus.

Meanwhile, Adas childhood friend Simeon Price, is shipwreaked when the troopship, HMS Birkenhead, carrying him and his regiment to the Cape Colony runs aground. After being saved by a mysterious cloaked stranger, he decides to take the strangers advice, and desert from the army, and seek out a new brotherhood in Vienna.

When Ada finally passes away, she leaves Pierrette with instructions to seek out Simeon, having received word that he survived, believing that he may be able to undo what she has done and stop the Magus.

And thus our characters are thrown into a decade spanning adventure, as they encounter the Assassin’s and learn that Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted.

Conclusion
Look, I am always gonna look on an Assassin’s Creed book with a fairly high opinion as its one of my favourite video game IPs, I am currently replaying Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, so I may be a bit biased in that regard.

The Magus Conspiracy weaves through a period of history that in the UK, we kind of look back on as being fairly stable and an era of massive industrial revolution, but on the continent it was an age of upheaval, revolution and brutal repression.

This particular story, as with many Assassin’s Creed games, takes us through historic events, such as the 1853 attempted assassination of Emperor Franz Joseph and the Orsini Affair and has us encounter historic characters, such as Julius Jacob von Haynau, the Habsburg Tiger, John Ruskin and Lizzie Siddal.

This book feels like a love letter to the period and gives us a fantastic trip through parts of Europe as events such as the unification of Italy are in full swing, the Crimean war is underway and Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself as Napoleon III.

Crack is this book, stands on its own quite well, knowing a bit about the games, will help ease you in, but its easy enough to grasp the key concepts.

The characters are nicely well rounded and feel like whole people, and I am very much looking forward to the publication of the rest of the trilogy, to encounter them some more.

Now the Magus, well, I clocked who he was pretty quickly, which was a bit of a shame, but sometimes that’s just the way things need to work, after all, I was holding more facts than the characters were.

There is plenty of action here, and I loved the little decision that Pierrette made that meshes up with the real history and is an obvious place for a sequel!

I came away from this book, kinda hoping that Ubisoft do something with the characters and put them in a game, oh and meeting Ethan Frye and Jayadeep Mir again was a nice little treat!

Easy 5 out of 5 Stars!

Sadly I chose to not finish this book close to 50%. It did stay for a few months "on hold", but every time I got the chance to open and read a bit I noticed I simply didn't want to. It's not a bad book, it just doesn't do anything for me. Maybe if we had a bit more of Pierrette so far I'd be more interested? Overall it's a generic adventure story, you don't really need to know the whole Assassin's Creed backstory/side stories or anything like that to read, understand, or enjoy The Magnus Conspiracy. It flows fast but I didn't care much about the characters or the plot so far.

My first foray into the Assassin's Creed novel-verse and I wasn't disappointed. I as a fan of the games I was curious to see how this universe translated from a active experience to a more passive reading experience. The author does a great job taking everything that is AC and distilling it into a novel. A reader does not need to be versed in the full AC lore but there are a few bits that might be confusing when the more mystical things or the Templar war comes into play. But other than that this fast paced romp through the Victorian Era is a enjoyable read.

**digital ARC provided by NetGalley and Aconyte in exchange for a honest review**

I was so excited to get an ARC of this book, as someone who plays Assassin's Creed religiously (Arno is my favourite), I couldn't wait to read more about the history of the Creed, and the Assassin's who are a part of it.

The Magus Conspiracy follows Simeon Price in 1851, part of the 74th regiment and whom we initially meet on a sinking ship. Rather than protect the soldiers on board, Simeon soon realises that the lieutenants are more interested in saving the ship and it's cargo, rather the soldiers who are trapped below deck, which is rapidly filling up with water. Whilst actively defying his lieutenants orders, and trying to save as many soldiers below deck as he can, Simeon comes face to face with an assassin who, after helping Simeon save the soldiers, suggests that when he's willing to leave this controlled and dictated life behind, there's a brotherhood in Vienna, that would allow him to make decisions based on his own conscience and protect innocents. Thus starts Simeon Price's journey into the Assassin's Creed brotherhood. Meanwhile in London, during a circus event in Hyde Park's Hippodrome, Ada Byron is almost kidnapped by several men, Pierrette uses her act to save Ada and they become firm friends, but as Ada's health deteriorates, she asks Pierette to find Simeon to help stop Magus and save innocents lives.

I loved reading about the complexity of the brotherhood and Simeon's journey in not only reaching them, and avoiding being captured for but the heavy training that is involved in becoming recruited into said brotherhood. This was a really engaging story with many twists and I enjoyed seeing Pierette and Simon's personalities shine through, and their stories develop leading to some really incredible development with the two main characters. Seeing the bond develop between the two was also a real joy to read, two people with completely different lives and personalities coming together to defeat a common threat.

As is always that way with Assassin's Creed games and books, there was a big twist, but I have to say I did guess it early on in the book, but this is something I do even with the games so I think that's more of a mew problem than an issue with the writing here. The ending tied up a few loose ends but there were a few things that still left me with questions.

Overall, this was a really engaging and fun read, especially for anyone who loves the games. It really shows the intricacies and complexity of the brotherhood, and how much training the initiates go through to become fully recruited. I loved the two main characters and watching their journeys and personalities change and develop with all they face. Just a very solid Assassin's creed novel with twists and lots of action.

This book was a lot of fun! I'm a big fan of the games, and this book definitely feels like the games. It takes place over a number of years, and cities, and introduces us to two new Assassin initiates. Following their training was a highlight for me. The last few games have barely featured the Brotherhood of Assassins at all, so this was very welcome. While there's not a ton of action other than the finale, what's there feels exactly as it should; directly from the games. Being the first book of a trilogy, some of the more sci-fi aspects of the series are only hinted at here, but this is definitely a solid beginning. This was the first AC novel that I've read, since the majority of the others are only adaptations of the games. But I'm so glad that we're getting this new, original trilogy to continue the franchise!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Assassin’s Creed: The Magus Conspiracy – Kate Heartfield



I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in order to provide an honest review.



Kate Heartfield is a Canadian author who has written fiction books such as “The Embroidered Book” and “Armed in Her Fashion”.



Assassin’s Creed: The Magus Conspiracy follows the story of a young man, a Simeon Price, who was in His Majesty’s service when the ship he was on became shipwrecked. This is also the time when he became acquainted with a gentleman, he would later learn to be a member of an ancient order, a brotherhood known as Assassins.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world, a dear friend, Ada Lovelace, was passing from this life. But not before she entrusted a circus performer, a French lady named Pierrette, with a secret and a message to find a Simeon Price.

Together they would be thrust in the midst of an ancient battle that has been waging against Assassins and their enemies, known as The Templars. It would be a race for survival, to stop the impending doom the Templars planned, all the had to do was uncover the mystery of a person known only to Ada as the Magus.

This Magus was someone she had mistakenly entrusted certain secrets with and now is using for his own evil purposes. Yet when Simeon finds out who this Magus person really is – he will feel a keen betrayal.



Assassin’s Creed: The Magus Conspiracy is a book set in the world of one of my favourite video games – the world of Assassin’s Creed. I do note that Kate Heartfield isn’t the original author of the Assassin Creed books but appears to be one of many writers that have written small spin off stories. That may be why, though I enjoyed the book, it didn’t have the feel and enjoyment of the originals. Don’t get me wrong it was a good book and was well written it just didn’t have the finesse of the original. Some aspects of the story weren’t answered properly or clearly in my opinion and honestly barely mentioned the creed and their lore. So, while it was a good read it wasn’t a true Assassin’s Creed story which would have elevated it.

This book was a nice discovery. Even if I didn't fall in love with it, I enjoyed it quite a lot and I had a pleasant time with it.
It is true that I didn't really connect with the characters, and since I am mainly a characters-driven kind of reader, this is what went "wrong" here, but the world-building was spectacular! The thing that I love more in the <i>Assassin's Creed</i> videogames are the setting. Because when you play them the details of the city in which the videogame is set are astounding, it is almost like you are really there taking a stroll in Florence, or London, or whichever city the story takes place in. You can go sightseeing while playing, and it is the same with this book.
Sure, maybe I wasn't really invested in the characters and in their story, but I had a great time exploring.
And to be honest, it is not that the characters are bad. They have a distinct voice, and a proper personality and they are quite all true to themselves, so I am not saying that they are not worth meeting in general, I think that they are quite well developed. Sure, not in a masterful way, but in a decent enough way? Sure!

A light, difficult to summarize adventure story with some jarring narrative shifts, The Magus Conspiracy may be more interesting for fans of Assassin's Creed than for casual readers. Trying to keep Ada Lovelace's designs out of the hands of malign actors, two strangers cross Europe in a series of increasingly implausible adventures. Secret societies are represented by isolated individuals and grand speeches are made, but not a lot to hold on to afterwards.

Thank you to the publisher Aconyte and to NetGalley for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

As a huge Assassin's Creed fan, I was thrilled to be given an ARC for this book and even more delighted to find that it's such a fun read. The highlight of Assassin's Creed for me has always been the immersion into history, and the crossing of the games with real-life events; here in the "Magus Conspiracy", this is done brilliantly. Kate Heartfeld introduces us to Pierette, an acrobat in a performing troupe based in 1851 London, who befriends Ada Lovelace after the woman is attacked after a performance. The two women grow close, and before Ada dies of long term illness, she confides in Pierette that she created a weapon that could be used to destroy Europe. On the other side of the story is Simeon, an English Army deserter who falls into the life of an Assassin after witnessing the brutality of the English Army in Ireland. Simeon wanders to Vienna where he befriends a man named Oscar Kane, who aims to bring Simeon into the fold in the Assassins' war against the Templars.

This was a thrilling and enjoyable addition to the Assassin's Creed universe, without the reliance of characters from the games. I loved how Kate Heartfeld has wound the tensions of Europe at the time into the storytelling, and taken the reader from Vienna to Paris to London. I especially loved the inclusion of real life historical figures like Dante Gabriel and Elizabeth Rosetti, Ada Lovelace and Fanny Eaton as well. "The Magus Conspiracy" can be read by anyone, not just a fan of the series but the easter eggs and nods to the games made this all the more enjoyable for.

Whilst I haven't played every game in the Assassin's Creed series, there seems to be too many games and not enough time anymore, I did play and complete Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, a game set in Victorian Era London. I have a soft spot for stories set in that time period, perhaps coming from my love for Sherlock Holmes, and getting to play a game set around that time where you can do all of the fun things you come to expect from this series was just delightful for me. As such, when I saw that Aconyte Books were bringing out a new, original Assassin's Creed novel set in a similar era (beginning less than two decades before the game), I knew it was one that I wanted to check out.

Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy introduces readers to two new characters, Pierette and Simeon Price. When we meet Simeon he's a soldier on board a British ship off the coast of Africa. When disaster strikes and the ship begins to sink Simeon meets a mysterious, hooded figure on board, whom he helps to rescue trapped soldiers from below decks. The mystery man tells Simeon about a secret brotherhood, one that may offer him a better life than the army, if he only has the will to discover it. The ship sinks, and Simeon is counted amongst the dead and missing.

Simeon spends the next few months making his way across the world to Vienna, where he manages to find a man who's part of this secret brotherhood of assassins. Simeon learns about the deadly conflict that has been raging in secret for centuries, and begins his training to become an assassin.

In England, we are introduced to Pierette, a talented young circus performer. During one of her performances Pierette notices a woman being perused by a group of dangerous looking men, and steps in to help the lady. Escaping from the men, the woman introduces herself as Ada Lovelace, and invited Pierette to come and see her at her home. The two of them soon strike up a friendship, and Pierette and Ada become incredibly close. Unfortunately, Ada's heath deteriorates, and she eventually passes away.

However, on her deathbed she tells Pierette of a mysterious man called the Magus, who had Ada develop a new form of technology for him. Realising that the Magus would turn her invention into a weapon, Ada hid her notebook from him. With the Magus and his men after her work, and knowing it could lead to terrible things, she makes Pierette promise her that she will take her notes and deliver them to her long lost friend Simeon Price, who will know of a way of stopping the Magus.

The set-up for The Magus Conspiracy is a pretty basic kind of plot, the villain wants the secret plans. It's nicely succinct, and simple, with everyone's motivations easy to see. But where this book really shines is how it takes this simple set-up and turns it into a layered and complex mystery that spans multiple countries and years as our two heroes find their lives being drawn inexorably closer and closer to this shadowy figure.

There are sections of this book that don't really deal much with the main plot, and it takes a while for Pierette and Simeon to even meet for the first time. During these sections of the book we get to spend time getting to know them, watching as they're set on this important path. Pierette's story here is the more basic of the two, as she realises that she needs to deliver these documents to a missing man, and develops a pretty interesting way of contacting him as she and her circus travels across Europe. Simeon's story is much more eventful, however, as we get to watch him being inducted into the Assassin order, learning the skills that most of the characters in this franchise take for granted, and we get to explore Vienna and this part of history with him.

These moments are quite nice, and make for enjoyable character and world building. By the time the two characters do actually meet you've almost forgotten that their stories were due to connect, and you'd fallen into reading about these two people and their lives rather than the big story.

However, this isn't just a story of two people and their journeys around Europe, as there's something important that they need to stop. The central plot, the Magus and his plans, is one of the more enjoyable Assassin's Creed stories for sure, and like all good tales set in this universe it touches upon real world events, and features some appearances from notable figures. I won't go into who the Magus is or what they want, because I don't want to give any clues away to the big mystery, but I really enjoyed them as a character. They made for an interesting opponent for Pierette and Simeon, always being one step ahead, always knowing what moves their enemies were going to make. The Magus uses their intelligence more than physical violence in order to achieve their goals, and this makes them incredibly dangerous.

As you'd expect from an Assassin's Creed book, there's ample action and moments of adventure spread throughout the story too, and there are some interesting moments where you're not sure if your heroes are going to make it out alive or not.

Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy was a wonderful read. It had some great characters who we are given enough time to get to know and to like, the story takes you across the world, interacting with events and people that you don't expect, and it's set in one of my favourite literary periods. How could I not come away from this book not loving it?

An amazing book that not only takes us on an amazing journey, but also takes a deep look at the philosophy that surrounds Assassin's Creed.

The author had also done a great job of not only giving a story that is familiar to Assassin's Creed fans, but feels new and exciting that anyone can pick up and read, regardless of if they have played the games.

Will 100% recommend this book to all my friends

Thoroughly enjoyed this book as a lover of the gaming community as well as a reader. It touches on the lore of the franchise which is nice for those who enjoy the games while it is also just as easily a great historical fiction read for a non-lover of the games. Highly recommend for those who enjoy historical fiction.

Sometimes in the war between the Templars and the Assassin's you need some downtime and that's what this novel felt like. If you're a fan of the games and have read the novelizations of said games many times it feels like world changing, history altering events that will shape the future of humanity. The Magus Conspiracy felt more like the times between those huge, universe shifting events, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Beginning in the early 1850s the story of The Magus Conspiracy follows two main characters, Simeon Price and Pierette, a member of a traveling circus. A chance encounter with famed mathematician Ada Lovelace wraps Pierette into the ever growing war between the Assassin's and the Templars. From there the book travels across various parts of Europe, mostly London and Paris, but with brief sidetrips elsewhere.

Conspiracy, betrayal and the usual narrative twists and turns follow both characters as they try to track down the mysterious character known as the Magus who is trying to get their hands on the Analytical Engine, a computer being designed by Lovelace and Charles Babbage. The book has the familiar ties to the real world and blend historical with fantasy in a way that has become very familiar to fans of the Assassin's Creed series.

There is plenty of action and political intrigue that is all very well written and keeps pushing you forward to find out what happens next. The two main characters, while not fully fledged members of the Assassin's Order, spend plenty of time on the rooftops hiding and watching events unfold. It doesn't feel, necessarily, like the main course of an Assassin's Creed plot, but more like a side story that's going on at the same time with plenty of direct and indirect links to the main story.

Overall, it's a really great addition to the Assassin's Creed lore as a whole and has some ties to the video games, Syndicate in particular, and is worth checking out if you're a fan of the franchise and want to immerse yourself further in that world.

The Magus Conspiracy begins during The Great Exhibition in 1851 after talking about the sinking of the HMS Birkenhead and it never stops. Following solder Simeon Price and acrobat Pierrette Arnaud as they try and come to terms of what their mutual friend Ada Lovelace wrote before her death and what it could mean for the world if it fell into the wrong hands embroils these two into the never ending conflict between the Assassins and Templars a conflict that leave both scarred and wondering what Ada got herself into.

As the story unfolds the two are rarely together but that never feels like a determent to the story. Seeing how they come together and how their paths cross is really the meat of this novel with multiple historic events playing key to how they develop as characters. The hints of the larger Assassin's Creed world is a nice touch and kept me wanting to read more.

The way Katie Heartfield wrote the novel I was never left wondering how a scene played out, no matter if it was a fight or if it was a part of Pierrette's acrobatics. I was never left questioning what was happening but when it was all said and done I wanted more time with the characters and hope to get more with them.

The war between Assassins and Templars wreaks havoc in the Victorian era, in this breakneck thriller which opens up a whole new chapter of the Assassin’s Creed universe and of course I really enjoyed reading it as it's full of the rivalries between Assassin's and Templars.
I liked the storyline and the writing but I would prefer it to be more action packed. It seems that all the action happened towards the end. However I really liked how we got to the ending and the plot twists.
I also really liked our main characters and especially Pierrette, who is strong willed and smart.
As with every Assassin's Creed novel I really liked the historical elements and the historical figures that we meet.

I recommend this book even if you are new to the Assassin's Creed franchise.

As always, I want to start by saying that this was given access to an early a copy of this title to review. My review is honest and left voluntarily.
The Magus Conspiracy is everything we didn’t know we needed for an Assassin’s Creed story. This fast paced thriller is sure to hook fans of the games, novels and hopefully new fans to the fandom. Set in Victorian London and grounded in historical fact we see the tension and battle between the Templars and Assassins reach new heights! (I’m sorry for the pun, I couldn’t resist).

London, 1851 – When Pierrette, a daring acrobat performing at the Great Exhibition, rescues the mathematician Ada Lovelace from a gang of thugs, she becomes immersed in an ancient feud between Assassins and Templars. But Lovelace is gravely ill, and shares her secrets with Pierrette, sending the acrobat in search of a terrible weapon which she’d been developing for a shadowy figure known as “the Magus”. Pierrette’s only ally is Simeon Price, Lovelace’s childhood friend, who belongs to a Brotherhood devoted to free will. With Simeon’s aid, they uncover a startling web of political assassinations destabilizing Europe. As they race to foil the Templars’ deadly plot, murders and bombs are everywhere they look, but hope is nowhere in sight.

Being a fan of the Assassin’s Creed (AC) universe I knew I would enjoy this book if not love it. I wasn’t prepared for how much. A punchy thriller with a daring herorine, witty banter and much more this was an amazing entry into the AC cannon. I also want to say I had a bit of geek/fangirl moment with other historical figures showing up, Ada Lovelace, Ruskin, Rossetti and William Morris to name a few. It was like one of my wildest dreams come true. AC and Historical figures interacting and being part of the narrative? You get one very happy reviewer.

On top of this the writing style and plot are top notch. Heartfield gives us a real sense of our surroundings and the people that inhabit them. The wonder of the Circus, the fight of the ‘innocent’ common man, the war between Templars and Assassin’s and many other wonderous things. You literally feel like you are transported to the 1800s and one thing I loved it was without the romanticism of the period. There’s dirt, there’s grim, there’s danger. In short it is perfection.

The characters are also amazing, Pierrette may have become one of my favourite heroines and I do hope we get to read more of her adventures in the future. It may sound a bit weird but I also loved how she wasn’t always on top, she got injured, she made wrong calls in short she was entirely human and so you end up loving her early on. The same can be said for Simeon (although I did take a little longer to like him). He has faults, he makes mistakes but he learns and grows for them. The banter between the two is just, perfection. I hope it isn’t the last we see of them. But despite this the other supporting cast all have a time to shine and show their growth and skills. Even the Historical figures have their moments (again this created a major fangirl moment for me!).

As always I don’t spoil books in my review but I will say although I had my suspicion who the Magus was the way we learn along with the characters and can start to piece together the evidence was brilliant. It built tension and suspense, it kept you guessing yourself and really helped immerse you in the world as if you were along side Pierrette and Simeon.

As a final note, despite the somewhat programmatic era the novel is set in Heartfield and Aconyte manage to do what they do best genuine inclusivity that does realistically reflect the time. It isn’t there for the sake of it, it isn’t in your face. It’s natural, normal and just how it should be.

In case you hadn’t guessed already I adored this book. Definitely a new favourite. I would recommend to any AC fan, new or old, or any fan of historical thrillers! You will not be disappointed!

ARC provided by Aconyte Books and Netgalley.

As someone who's been a big fan of the Assassin's Creed games for years, I was thrilled to get this ARC for the newest novel and I really enjoyed it!

The plot is fast paced and has an intricacy that is appreciated the more into the mystery you get, with a plot twist that felt satisfying and like I should have picked up on the clues earlier. The characters are also witty and interesting, in particular Pierrette who is a wonderful addition to the series' lacking cast of female assassins, accompanied by an extended cast of historical figures from the time, which altogether reminds me a lot of the older AC games. The novel very much channels their spirit and provides references for fans while also being independent enough that someone who has never heard of Assassin's Creed will enjoy it.