Book Review of The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso

Name of Book: The Obsidian Tower

Author: Melissa Caruso 

ISBN: 978-0-316-42509-4

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: Rooks and Ruin 

Type of book: Fantasy, politics, magic, deadly magic, secrets,  demons, wardens, outsider, forest, Vaskandar, neutrality, chaos, hell, negotiations, LGBtQIA+ characters 

Year it was published: 2020

Summary:

The mage-marked granddaughter of a ruler of Vaskandar, Ryx was destined for power and prestige at the top of Vaskandran society. But her magic is broken; all she can do is uncontrollably drain the life from everything she touches, and Vaskandar has no place for a mage with unusable powers.

Then, one night, two terrible accidents befall her: Ryx accidentally kills a visiting dignitary in self-defense, activating a mysterious magical artifact sealed in an ancient tower in the heart of her family’s castle.

Ryx flees, seeking a solution to her deadly magic. She falls in with a group of unlikely magical experts investigating the disturbance in Vaskandar—and Ryx realizes that her family is in danger and her domain is at stake. She and her new colleagues must return to the family stronghold to take control of the artifact that everyone wants to claim—before it destroys the world.

Characters:

Main character is Ryxander (Ryx), a Warden of Gloamingard who lives with her beloved grandmother,  Lady of the Owls (I don't think there's any relation to Cornaro line or to Lord of Crows) Ryx has a magic that kills everything and everyone around it, a twisted version of vivomancer (life) magic that her family is blessed with. She is also half Vaskandran and half Serene Empire. Ryx does the best she can with what she is given, but it often ends up damaging rather than making things better. There are plenty of secondary characters such as Ryx's new friends/co workers in Rookery that handle various magic as well as some of her family members and her beloved grandmother and several of her love interests. The characters were well done, although quite a few were reminiscent of the previous trilogy, and quite a few were fascinating surprises. I definitely think my favorite character would be Severin, the possible love interest to Ryx because of his conflicts and loyalties. I think I'm also dying to know from which lords and ladies of Vaskandar in first trilogy did these characters descend. 

Theme:

To own self be true

Plot:

The story is in first person narrative from Ryx's point of view. Something else that I had trouble with is the pacing in the book because it couldn't make up its mind on whether to be slow or fast. I had intuition for slow pacing because I thought that its a new trilogy and not everyone has had a chance to read the first trilogy. Aside from commenting on how Serene Empire is like, I got very little knowledge of Vaskandar nation. Yet in action and in stakes as well as politics the author shines very brightly because this time they are not just dealing with witch lords, but they are dealing with demons as well as different evil spirits. 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Melissa Caruso is the author of THE TETHERED MAGE, first in the Swords and Fire trilogy, out now from Orbit books.

Opinion:

I think the first thing I will mention is that reading the previous trilogy, SWORDS AND FIRE is definitely a must mainly because it sets up a lot of the current world in the book. Perhaps when beginning to read THE OBSIDIAN TOWER, I think I mainly hoped that we would get a lot more attention to the fascinating world of Vaskandar, something beyond what we learned in previous trilogy. I also have hoped for more mention of the previous protagonists from trilogy, and I do hope that in the future two books the author will bring them onstage. Unfortunately, in this book, I barely got either. The main character, Ryx, seems highly informed of Serene Empire when in fact I hoped that there would be a view like Serene Empire has of Vaskandar. And a lot of the story is quite similar to SWORDS AND FIRE trilogy, where politics play a very big role. (I hoped more for Vaskandar politics in the story rather than Serene Empire tactics I should mention.) A good continuation of the previous trilogy. 

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)