*This review includes spoilers for House of Bane and Blood*
The Order and Chaos series concludes (at least, for now) with a high-stakes, suspenseful sequel that once again blends mafia-esque dynamics with a stunning, unique world, and an action-packed plot. City of Mirth and Malice by Alexis Menard is a heart-stopping finale to Nico and Camilla’s story.
House of Bane and Blood, the first book in the series, ends with a cliffhanger. Camilla is locked in the Hightower prison, and Nico, after believing she was dead for a grueling three weeks, has vowed to do anything in his power to rescue her. City of Mirth and Malice picks up immediately where the first book left off.
The story is immediately life-or-death, not only for Nico and Camilla but for all the remnants on the Isle. The author does not gently reunite the reader with the world before the action kicks off, instead, it is a plunge into the plot, and it works.
Nico is willing to do all manner of reckless and dangerous shit to get Camilla back, much to the chagrin of everyone else who cares about him. Camilla is in Hightower, desperately trying to survive the horrors she’s faced with there.
Camilla discovered her remnant at the end of the last book, and she is damn near all-powerful now. I am so very fond of when authors do this with their female characters. Everyone thinks she’s human and then something happens and she becomes the most powerful force in the world. It’s such a spectacular journey for a character and one of my most-loved fantasy tropes.
My favorite thing about this book and the series as a whole is the creativity of the world and the magic system. So many of our fantasy books are set in the same kind of world, and don’t get me wrong, Prythian is my home in my mind. Give me faeries and dragons and stories based on ancient myth and legend any day of the week and I will devour it all with joy, but there is something special about reading a fantasy that eschews large portions of that tradition and creates something entirely different.
The industrial, steampunk setting of this book feels so different and compelling. If you liked Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco, then you will likely appreciate the kind of creative world that Alexis Menard built with this series.
For a good portion of the middle of this book, there appears to be a very obvious twist coming. But then the author manages to twist it into a satisfying ending that leaves the door open for future books in this world but also leaves the main characters’ storyline settled. It’s the perfect end to a delightfully distinctive fantasy.
Spice: 2
Writing: 4
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