Kyrie
There were no running pony jokes in this one. THANK GOODNESS.
I'll take the running Evil Overlord list over pony jokes any day.
This book in general had a more mature tone than the first. There aren't as many jokes and crammed in moments of snappy dialogue. The writing gives the more serious moments a chance to settle in and breathe, without immediately undercutting the scene. Callum and the rest of the group are forced into more morally grey situations. They do right things for the wrong reasons, and wrong things for the right reasons. I always love seeing fantasy worlds that aren't strictly Good vs Evil, and I love even more seeing them in books written for children.The plot is still a bit erratic, though, especially at the start of the book. The first few months of the time at the Magisterium flash by - several months pass while the book focuses on Havoc's daily walk routine. And once the main plot kicks in, all semblance of this being a “magical boarding school” gets thrown out of the metaphorical window.
In general, the book is an improvement on The Iron Trial. I was going to just ignore this series, but I came across the next few books, so I suppose I'll continue on with it.
There were no running pony jokes in this one. THANK GOODNESS.
I'll take the running Evil Overlord list over pony jokes any day.
This book in general had a more mature tone than the first. There aren't as many jokes and crammed in moments of snappy dialogue. The writing gives the more serious moments a chance to settle in and breathe, without immediately undercutting the scene. Callum and the rest of the group are forced into more morally grey situations. They do right things for the wrong reasons, and wrong things for the right reasons. I always love seeing fantasy worlds that aren't strictly Good vs Evil, and I love even more seeing them in books written for children.The plot is still a bit erratic, though, especially at the start of the book. The first few months of the time at the Magisterium flash by - several months pass while the book focuses on Havoc's daily walk routine. And once the main plot kicks in, all semblance of this being a “magical boarding school” gets thrown out of the metaphorical window.
In general, the book is an improvement on The Iron Trial. I was going to just ignore this series, but I came across the next few books, so I suppose I'll continue on with it.