Corax Trilogy #2
Thanks Netgalley and Orbit for the ARC of Saevus Corax Captures the Castle, I appreciated the chance to read early. This review is my honest opinion.
I didn’t realize this was book two of a three book series, so now I’m going to have to hunt down book one and see what additional context it gives. I did find the plot to be pretty self contained so I don’t think I lost out on too much by skipping ahead.
The writing of this book has a rhythm to it. Short, declarative sentences with first person narration. I found it a bit jarring at first, but I was reading it at the cabin on Sept long weekend, so I was easily distracted and that didn’t help. Once I got home and settled into the last half of the book, I didn’t notice it at all.
The main character, Saevus Corax does a lot of detailed exposition throughout the book. Saevus seems like a combination of a university history professor and a ne’re-do-well scoundrel. By the end of the book, he’d grown on me a lot. Saevus Corax might be a little hapless, but he came across as well intentioned and ultimately, savvy. His banter with his colleagues and opponents is top-notch.
I will be looking for books one and three when they come out, as book two left me both curious about what happened before and excited about what’s happening next.
Highlights:
- Interesting time period, a new perspective on a job that somebody had to do
- Lots of good details about the setting/world.
- Unreliable narrator and characters
Lowlights:
- Writing style took some getting used to
- All the details and explanations made it feel a little too in the weeds and like I missed a bigger picture
