The Ancient's Game

Rating: 3.5

A decent read, with great descriptions and story potential but a weak execution.

The world building in this book is immense, with vivid descriptions into not only the City of Riz, but into the ‘magic' system - carving into metal. Our protagonist is a teenager that shouldn't have the opportunities that she has, but through lots of luck and talent, Mesny offers her a chance at something more.

I loved the mentor/mentee interactions that the two had, it felt a lot more natural, with Mesny really showing that she cares about Kellan, compared to what I felt between Axel/Kellan. The romantic relationship that was slotted in the midst of the plot didn't feel necessary. Perhaps if we had more of a character development into Axel, then I would root for them more.

The weakest, by far, were the trials. Despite being such a big plot point of whether Kellan will/won't get the spot, they aren't the main focus at all. They felt rushed and sidelined by other action/plot lines to progress into the big build up that the author wanted, when I wanted more description, more stress, more information about them.

In the end, the ending didn't feel great either, finishing with a lot of unanswered questions. Perhaps there will be a sequel to unravel the remain mysteries, but ultimately this book didn't feel complete without them.