Notorious Sorcerer

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit Books for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to understand what was going on in Notorious Sorcerer. I'm talking at least 30% of the way into the book. I was totally and completely lost all because there was little to no explanation of the world the story is set in. Right away, the author throws around terms like we're supposed to know what they mean — I Googled and could find no real-world equivalent for a good many of them. Notorious Sorcerer desperately needs a glossary or index of character names and terms right at the beginning of the book. There's no shame in one of these — I love learning tidbits of the world before diving in. If there had been some explanation for frequently used terms, I think I would have enjoyed this book a hell of a lot more.

The world Davinia Evans sets up in Notorious Sorcerer is fascinating and deeply rich. However, I couldn't place what culture she was basing things off of. And I know, not every fantasy book is based off of something in real life. It's entirely possible this was just all in her head. But regardless, the city of Bezim reminded me a lot of Istanbul and Venice all mashed together. Evans name-drops certain alcoholic drinks that exist in real life, and mentions specific instruments and clothing styles just muddied the waters further for me. There is also the question of the law — alchemy is strictly illegal, but almost everyone gets away with it? Until things go south and then the inquisitors arrive to arrest people. Another confusing piece of the confusing puzzle.

It took much longer than it should have for me to get my legs steady in the world set up in this book. Once I did understand what was going on, I loved the story. The ending climax is fantastically well done. I really did love the characters as well — they all had very clear motivations, leaving few of them particularly flat or unexplored.

Siyon Velo is our main character. He is a supplier of alchemical ingredients. He is not an alchemist, but oh how he wishes he was. Siyon is poor, has no family, and does what he has to, to get by. He's also extremely sassy. A brat, if you will. He reminded me of Locke Lamora in all good ways. But by the end of the novel, we're really only given snippets of his past, leaving me (at least) wanting to know more about him. Zagiri and her sister, Anahid were extremely fun to read. They are complete opposites of one another, yet still care deeply for one another. Anahid, in particular, was my favorite. A high society woman finally figuring out she can get away with more than she thought. Izmirlian Hisarani, Siyon's love interest, is left a little vague, but it mostly works. (I have some questions about what his arc is saying, honestly.) The various alchemists that dapple the pages are all equally entertaining and ridiculous.

Overall, my enjoyment of the book would have been vastly improved had I known what was going on sooner. If you're willing to be lost for almost a quarter of the book, then you're in for a wild ride.

Also, it bothers me that his coat is PUPRLE in the book and very clearly bright red on the cover.