Luck in the Shadows

Slow paced, dispassionate writing style, full of descriptions and info-dumps.

See here for a good review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1600037280?book_show_action=true

SUMMARY

Alec is young naive boy who is being tortured in a prison. Seregil, a well lived gentlemen, is a spy that just let himself being arrested on account of a mission. When Seregil decides to escape, he feels sorry for the young Alec and decides to take him along with him.

On the way to some city, they talk to each other and Seregil can't help but see something he likes about Alec, enough to offer to take him as an apprentice. Alec is reticent at first, because he wants nothing but to live an honorable life, and a spy is nothing but a professional liar thief in his eyes.

When arriving at the city, Seregil assumes one of his many disguises, as a bard, a famous one at that. They lodge themselves in an inn and offer their singing and storytelling services as a part of payment for they stay. All the while Seregil is busy at work, trying to find out information about an upcoming war.

Read 2:06 / 15:56 12%

It started off slow, had to drop and pick it up again. Glad I did because in the middle, the characters got interesting. towards the end it turned into a fantasy detective case ? lmao ?

anyways what I didn't like about this book is the new names being thrown at me every 10 mins. dear god, if you ask me where is where and who is who with a gun to my head I'll be dead within seconds

I came for the promise of a high fantasy m/m, and I stayed for the Locke Lamorean thievery. Seriously, I didn't expect to find another gentleman thieves HF like LL (and yes, I'm aware that this one came WAY before LL), but I was pleasantly surprised that the book took that turn! I don't know why I thought it would be high fantasy, but I'm happy that it became a spy/thief thing instead (that's definitely my jam).

Seregil, whom I lovingly compare to Howl from Howl's Moving Castle in my head, was a delight to read and discover across the pages. I adored his quirky personality and his need to take a bath every two minutes, combined with his deep loyalty to his friends and strong emotions. Alec, our second protagonist, was equally charming, albeit slightly annoying with the overly emphasized modesty thing. Still, I really enjoyed seeing his progress as a Watcher under Seregil and Nysander's expert tutelage.

In my opinion, Nysander and Thero were the unsung heroes of this first volume. Thero was especially useful and endearing despite the fact that he and Seregil are mortal nemeses (not really, but they like to think so). As for Micum, well, I don't have much of an opinion really. He seemed to be just ‘there' and didn't really pique my interest all that much.

As for the m/m, the first half of the book had basically nothing in it in terms of romance, but I think that works well in showing how Seregil and Alec's relationship develops over time. I hate instalove stories, so this type of slow progression was much more realistic and believable. In the second half of the book, you can start picking up small clues here and there, especially from Seregil who slowly starts to see Alec in a different light. Ever since the prophecy, Seregil begins to notice small things about his companion, which makes the slow burning romance all the more delicious.

Naturally, the romance here is just a side plot to the bigger, political storyline that takes place. I loved the complex politics of the land, and all the different factions, governments, cities, etc. The fact that the monarch is, and always has been, a queen makes it all the more interesting.

Overall, this first book in the Nightrunner series was very enjoyable with lots of twists and turns, and I can't wait to tackle the next one!