Exciting political drama, great revenge plot, main character was great. I absolutely devoured this! The magic and worldbuilding were incredibly interesting and I am a sucker for a political plot.

The politics in the book was amazing. The world building was so detailed and you could imagine it in your head. The magic was well written and very detailed. And the fact there was revenge made it even better to me. I’m hoping for another book in this series soon

Multiple POV's, political conspiracy, detailed world building, complex magic system and ultimately a story of revenge.

The world building and development took a huge chunk of the book and didn't allow for the best character development, however there is now room for this in the sequel!

There is also a heap of little illustrations throughout the book especially at the end of chapters- super cool!

I really liked the politics in this book. Brendan Noble is a talented writer and I'm excited to see what they do next.

I really don't like DNFing books, but after 100 pages I had no idea what was going on.

I think the main idea of this book is quite interesting and has a lot of potential, but it was all over the place, sometimes just throwing ideas around and not really linking them in a seamless and pleasant way.

I appreciate being able to read and review this novel but unfortunately for this one I rounded up my rating.

I really wanted to love it, but it completely fell flat. I didn’t actually enjoy it until the last 20%.

World building was incredible and overwhelming at the same time. The amount of “houses” and who belonged where took me quite a bit to remember without having to flip back and forth.

The novel I thought was coming to an end until I realized I was only 65% of the way through. There were details that were unnecessary to the story, including certain storylines that I could have done without ie. Radais. If you took out all of his chapters the novel still would have made sense and been complete.

Overall it was a great concept that needed a lot of weeding and a better focus of what was actually important to the story.

A highly immersive world with a deep and detailed story. I did throughly enjoy this book though I feel the characters could use a little more development. Some of the lore explanations felt like info dumping and could use some work to make it seem less daunting of a read. It is a massive chunk of a read so I feel not everything had to be explained as deeply and as quickly as it was.

DNF. I tried very hard to get into this story, but unfortunately it was not for me. It had a fairly interesting premise, but it was difficult for me to get I to.

This book was set in a fantasy world where the Scion's controlled the king and magic existed in the form of reaching into a different realm. There were malevolent spirits as well as gentle ones. The malevolent ones, were called the awakened, they ate humans to survive, the drifters, or gentle spirits, would usually find newborn babies to inhibit or they just roam the country. There are six major scion houses that control everything.

Kasia came from a strong, wealthy house. Her father had the trust of the former King and they prospered from it. When Kasia was only 12 years old, her father was murdered while he hid her away. A few years later she found a list her father left, telling her who was behind his murder and the King's. She's spent a decade chasing these men, killing them for revenge. But the last item on the list was the Crimson Court. The only way to get to them was to join them.

Kasia is a death reacher, which is extremely rare. She has a crystal talon on her left hand that can kill someone if she chooses to. There are 15 different types of reachers, all of them are scions. Each reacher represents what realm they can call and control: water, fire, air, truth, mind, death, body, possibility, etc.

This book was told in 5 POVs. The thief, Nex, the Princess Nikoza-granddaughter of the current King, a truth reacher, Zinarus, a master of the Glassblade Order, Radais, and Kasia. Kasia was so bent on revenge at first, she didn't see the whole picture until it was almost too late. That's when her small group of allies found themselves in the middle of a conspiracy to dethrone the current King, start a war, and unleash a Second Awakening, that had killed thousands many years ago.

I loved how they all worked together despite being so different with their backgrounds, personalities, and personal motivations., Each chapter had me snared in that POVs world.

A good story, can't wait for the next book.

*Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

If you're fan of high fantasy, political plots, rich world building and diverse characters, this book is just for you. Better yet, if you're a fan of strong female main characters after revenge, this is THE book for you.
I was completely in love with Kasia's character from the very beginning.
In a world where power and magic is held by the noble and the rich, Kasia is set on avenging her father's death who died at the hands of the Crimson Court, a secret group of nobles who plotted against the former king which led to his and her father's death. And nothing and no one can stop her.
With her outlawed Death Reaching magic she is capable of destroying them, but magic comes at a price that Kasia is willing to pay.
After her father's death she becomes the matriarch of her House, which met its downfall after the tragedy. She has worked hard to rise from the ashes, and now with her newfound power and wealth, she's after the murderers in the King's court who call themselves the Crimson Court.
In her quest for revenge she is determined to see their ruination, but is she willing to lose herself and all that she believes in to do it? That's for you to find out.
With the help of unexpected allies she discovers the atrocities the Crimson Court has been doing for the last ten years, and understands that it's not just about her revenge, it's about the lives of all the Realm.
.
If you can get through the confusion of a very rich and intense world building, this book will completely blow your mind. I must admit tho that I still don't get some things about the world building, like the breathless/Saleshi/Vanashel/awakened LIKE WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE I DON'T GET IT. And they kept talking about an everdark (?) still no idea what that is, but that might be because English is not my native language. Please someone explain it to me.
The author describes a kingdom which really walks a fine line into tyranny, so I found myself questioning every single thing. For example, magic is only for the people who can afford it, but not everyone is capable of Reaching into other Realms... that seems rather convenient for the rich who seek only to keep their power.
That's the thing I love about political fantasy books: the questioning and guessing at every character's storyline because everyone has their own agenda.
I absolutely love Kasia's character and determination to see her revenge through even after the circumstances change, she doesn't stop even if she knows that will cost her her morality and beliefs. And after this book she still has demons, both real and not, to face. And I can't f*cking wait.
I really hope that all of her traumas will be explored in depth in the following books... it would be really empowering to see her take back control of her mind (iykyk).
Like any great fantasy book, the last 100 pages were a freaking rollercoaster, to say the least, but they really served their purpose because now I need to know more.
THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED.
So yes, you should definitely read this.

This book was written well and I enjoyed reading it. It made for a very enjoyable fantasy book, and has a good, but easy to understand world building. It wasn’t crazy and chaotic because you could flip back and forth between the meaning of everything at the beginning and can understand the story. The Crimson Court is crazy and that’s all I want to say on the subject.

This was a really detailed book with an interesting magic system built around reaching into different worlds to harness the power. The worldbuilding was really good and there were lots of details.

There were lots of different characters and PoVs, and some were easier to connect with than others. Sometimes it was frustrating to see these characters follow selfish desires instead of pursuing what's right, but I do like that they are flawed characters and seemingly very human in their natures.

My only real complaint is that it got a bit long-winded, at times, which slowed the pacing down, and made it drag. Some parts felt a bit superfluous, and I think with a bit of an edit to cut down on some bits to streamline it a bit more, this book could be even better.

I will definitely be looking forward to the next one.

It’s a very interesting book filled with diverse names. Kind of exciting and frustrating at the same time. It’s not my go to genre but I gave it a shot. The writing is done well but I feel like a lot was introduced too early in the book.

The story is told by multiple points of view but is really centered around Kasia, the matriarch of a once powerful house consumed by revenge.
Through her quest and with the help of the other point of view characters, a high level conspiracy is unveiled, but too late to prevent the consequences which will likely be the focus of book 2.
There is a very detailed worlbuilding, with a complex magic system and very divided society. The world description takes a huge part of the book.

It was a pleasant read and the writing was good, but I found the characters lacked depth, despite the time spent with them through their POV. For a book that long with a pretty straightforward story, I hoped for more complex characters.

This fantasy book was amazing ! It is full of characters with an interesting plot full of revenge and politics
Very easy to read and follow along

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read the ARC!

This book is a lot. It reminds me of those board game kickstarters which sell thousands of copies based on some killer art and the promise of lots of features, but which doesn't necessarily take the experience into account.

Everything about this book looks and sounds cool, but ultimately it just feels like it's offering a grab bag of fantasy elements without considering why they should be put together.

Still fun, but there are a lot of other epic fantasy books that I would recommend first.

Not a huge fan of the multiple prologues as a reader. Either turn them into a chapter or wrap them into the story.

Spirits haunt the realm of Zekiaz. Flee them, fight them, or wield them. But they bow to no master.

The upstart matriarch of a fallen house, Kasia Niezik has sworn to destroy the elusive Crimson Court who assassinated her father. They are near immortal, wielding the spirits that once ended civilization a millennium ago, but she is a Reacher of the realm of Death. Their worst fear.

But to kill her deceitful foes, first she must find them.

Kasia travels to the capital, seeking allies either brave or foolish enough to help her infiltrate the Crimson elites. Whether spirit hunter, princess, or thief, though, everyone has a hidden agenda. And those with the widest smiles hold daggers behind their backs.

Step into a new world of fantasy intrigue where flintlock guns, epic magic, gaslamp technology, and spirits clash amid shadowy bids for power. Revenge is sweet, but at what cost?


A very good debut with a lot of what I love in fantasy. A bit more polical than I usually go for, but with enough action to keep the pacing almost perfect. Will continue with this series forsure!

This book was a joy to read, the full color illustrations was a nice surprise, you don't see that much in books anymore and I love it.

It was such a complex book with multiple unique aspects to it, I can see myself re-reading this multiple times!

Brendan, it was a pleasure to read your book! Thanks to you and Netgalley for giving me a chance to read this book early.

Typically I devour Fantasy, but that was a daunting task with this Novel. That wasn't the issue because it was slow, or poorly written; it was the sheer size of the novel and the complexity of most elements of the story.

Thanks for the index of families, realms, and magic, because it was a great help!

The book has Sandwrson level magic systems which allow different users to have different abilities based on what they are imbued with naturally. The types, the abilities & the way these energies are used is immense and unique.

The story itself has many intricacies because of political and familiar intrigue, and cloak and dagger details. The strong female protagonist is a breathe of fresh air and she goes on the offensive almost immediately to discover the crimson Court and why they......well you will have to read and see.

Highly recommend 👌