only to have more and more inexplicable stuff happen as the story progresses, until around the halfway point of the game you're killing little grey men and brain-sucker monsters (Lovecraft). There are also extremely unexpected creatures that appear later in the book that end up giving a strangely horror aspect to this book that was appreciated even though there was zero leadup to it. The world was unique and yet not too dissimilar to other fantastical settings that I have read about, so easy to immerse one's self in.

Overall, I enjoyed these characters more than I enjoyed those in the first Powder Mage trilogy, and I liked them on-par or a little better than those in the second Powder Mage trilogy. I agree with the reviewers - who read the author's Powder Mage trilogy - saying that the book does not live up to the expectation.Now, Demir must find allies, old friends and rivals alike, confront the powerful guild-families who are only interested in making the most of the scraps left at the table and uncover the invisible hand that threatens the Empire. At the same time, it never felt like the tension got too hot; by swapping between so many POV characters, when one of them was doing something exciting, another is doing something less interesting, so the reader never gets overwhelmed or bored.

Now that she’d been snuffed out he cursed himself for not visiting more—and for failing to live up to her expectations for a child prodigy. The powerful guild-families seem untouchable until one of them is murdered and the hunt for who is responsible begins.

The plot slowed considerably after the first few chapters, as the author shifted gears towards more explanation and world-building, resulting in a mystery that was more slow-burn and going nowhere fast.