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jitterbugbear's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
wheel_of_mushroom's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
3.0
squeakypenguin's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Enjoyable read. Great opener and introduction to the world and characters. Though some bits of the book were repetitive, which I understand being a YA, it was an overall easy read and a book that I just wanted to keep reading. Cannot wait to begin the second book. I have very high hopes for the series.
minion56789's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
thebookwormsfeast's review against another edition
5.0
“First thing you learn wandering the long roads, kid. Everyone thinks they're the hero of their own story."
Although the storyline is pretty dark, this was quite a fun read. I went in with zero expectations, hell, I didn’t even read the blurb. The cover drew me in and I'd heard it was meant to be pretty fun. As I've said, I agree with that, but I didn’t expect the darkness of the story due to that.
Kellen's clan is divided into two classes; the Jan'Tep, powerful mages of which his father is one of the strongest - and Sha'Tep, those who show no magical promise and become servants, but essentially slaves, to the Jan'Tep. Already, not fun.
Kellen is fast approaching his mage trials where he'll earn his mage name, or be forced to join the Sha'Tep. His problem is, he's never shown much promise at anything magical - failing to spark any of his bands (there are six, one for each of the types of magic). He does have one thing going for him though, his wits.
To briefly sum up, Spellslinger follows Kellen's story up to his trial. We meet a mysterious woman, a feisty squirrel cat who's my favourite, and uncover secrets along the way. The main characters bring so much life and humour to the story, that’s it's still enjoyable - which isn't a word I find I can usually give a book with these sorts of themes. I can still think they're amazing, well written etc., but not a joy like this one.
To bring it back to, this isn’t a sunshine and rainbows kind of story, trigger warning for animal cruelty/abuse.
Although the storyline is pretty dark, this was quite a fun read. I went in with zero expectations, hell, I didn’t even read the blurb. The cover drew me in and I'd heard it was meant to be pretty fun. As I've said, I agree with that, but I didn’t expect the darkness of the story due to that.
Kellen's clan is divided into two classes; the Jan'Tep, powerful mages of which his father is one of the strongest - and Sha'Tep, those who show no magical promise and become servants, but essentially slaves, to the Jan'Tep. Already, not fun.
Kellen is fast approaching his mage trials where he'll earn his mage name, or be forced to join the Sha'Tep. His problem is, he's never shown much promise at anything magical - failing to spark any of his bands (there are six, one for each of the types of magic). He does have one thing going for him though, his wits.
To briefly sum up, Spellslinger follows Kellen's story up to his trial. We meet a mysterious woman, a feisty squirrel cat who's my favourite, and uncover secrets along the way. The main characters bring so much life and humour to the story, that’s it's still enjoyable - which isn't a word I find I can usually give a book with these sorts of themes. I can still think they're amazing, well written etc., but not a joy like this one.
To bring it back to, this isn’t a sunshine and rainbows kind of story, trigger warning for animal cruelty/abuse.
austinpowersbooks's review against another edition
5.0
And another fantastic book written by Sebastien De Castell. Seriously don't understand, the character work is so good and the magic system is so fun. Really love the cards/western feel to this and really look Forward to continuing the series!
cindyc's review against another edition
5.0
Originally published on: https://midnightbluebookreview.com/2019/02/24/spellslinger-spellslinger-1-sebastien-de-castell/
Another book series by Sebastien de Castell! I now invite you to have a mental image of me excitedly dancing around my living room. I loved the Greatcoats series and honestly, it has taken me too long to pick up the Spellslinger books. Now that I have though I’m completely hooked. De Castell is a master storyteller and can get you invested in his characters and their storylines in a heartbeat.
Kellen’s backstory might seem familiar: son of a powerful Jan’Tep Spellcaster who is destined to become the next Clan Prince, brother to an equally powerful sister who is living up to the potential of the family legacy. But Kellen is different. The closer he gets to his sixteenth birthday, the more his powers seem to fade. He is however very clever and uses trickery to try and pass his trials. Unfortunately that doesn’t turn out as he had hoped it would.
The magic system was very interesting. There are different powers connected to certain elements: Breath, Silver, Blood, etc. These elements are tattooed in bands on every child’s arms. To access the full potential of that power they have to “spark the band”. In my imagination this is something like a black tattoo suddenly becoming full, vivid colour. Their magic also seems dependent on a place they call an “oasis”. It basically seems to be a hub of power and the closer you get to it, the stronger your powers become. Every Jan’Tep city is built around an oasis.
The Jan’Tep society is not a peaceful and loving community and is based around an oppressive tier system. People with no or insufficient magic who didn’t pass their trials are called Sha’Tep and become servants. Some of them even work in the mines to dig up some of the elements needed for the Jan’Tep to channel their magic. Jan’Tep themselves can’t access the mines because proximity to such a big dose of the elements makes them ill. It’s clear early on in the book that power is everything for this community and if you are not strong enough, you will be cast out.
The bullying Kellen has to endure when it becomes more and more apparent he will probably not be able to pass his trials is heart-breaking. His only allies are an Argosi wanderer who saved his life and a creature thought to have been extinct and that the Jan’Tep fear and hate.
I was pleasantly surprised when the book veered away from its focus on the trials and Kellen’s personal struggles with them and instead delved deeper into the history of the Jan’Tep. Though Kellen firmly remains at the center of the story, he gets tangled up in something that runs far deeper than just his lack of magic. This made the book immediately feel more mature and brought a lot more depth.
There is a certain part in the book where a big secret is revealed and Kellen’s parents reaction to that absolutely broke my heart into pieces. Only an extremely talented writer like de Castell can convey the surge of emotions I felt while reading this chapter.
I’m once again in awe of the way de Castell crafts his stories. I thought it would be hard to keep the momentum of magnificent storytelling that we got in the Greatcoats going when crossing over to a different story, but I was wrong. De Castell has done an amazing job and I can’t recommend his books enough!
Another book series by Sebastien de Castell! I now invite you to have a mental image of me excitedly dancing around my living room. I loved the Greatcoats series and honestly, it has taken me too long to pick up the Spellslinger books. Now that I have though I’m completely hooked. De Castell is a master storyteller and can get you invested in his characters and their storylines in a heartbeat.
Kellen’s backstory might seem familiar: son of a powerful Jan’Tep Spellcaster who is destined to become the next Clan Prince, brother to an equally powerful sister who is living up to the potential of the family legacy. But Kellen is different. The closer he gets to his sixteenth birthday, the more his powers seem to fade. He is however very clever and uses trickery to try and pass his trials. Unfortunately that doesn’t turn out as he had hoped it would.
The magic system was very interesting. There are different powers connected to certain elements: Breath, Silver, Blood, etc. These elements are tattooed in bands on every child’s arms. To access the full potential of that power they have to “spark the band”. In my imagination this is something like a black tattoo suddenly becoming full, vivid colour. Their magic also seems dependent on a place they call an “oasis”. It basically seems to be a hub of power and the closer you get to it, the stronger your powers become. Every Jan’Tep city is built around an oasis.
The Jan’Tep society is not a peaceful and loving community and is based around an oppressive tier system. People with no or insufficient magic who didn’t pass their trials are called Sha’Tep and become servants. Some of them even work in the mines to dig up some of the elements needed for the Jan’Tep to channel their magic. Jan’Tep themselves can’t access the mines because proximity to such a big dose of the elements makes them ill. It’s clear early on in the book that power is everything for this community and if you are not strong enough, you will be cast out.
The bullying Kellen has to endure when it becomes more and more apparent he will probably not be able to pass his trials is heart-breaking. His only allies are an Argosi wanderer who saved his life and a creature thought to have been extinct and that the Jan’Tep fear and hate.
I was pleasantly surprised when the book veered away from its focus on the trials and Kellen’s personal struggles with them and instead delved deeper into the history of the Jan’Tep. Though Kellen firmly remains at the center of the story, he gets tangled up in something that runs far deeper than just his lack of magic. This made the book immediately feel more mature and brought a lot more depth.
There is a certain part in the book where a big secret is revealed and Kellen’s parents reaction to that absolutely broke my heart into pieces. Only an extremely talented writer like de Castell can convey the surge of emotions I felt while reading this chapter.
I’m once again in awe of the way de Castell crafts his stories. I thought it would be hard to keep the momentum of magnificent storytelling that we got in the Greatcoats going when crossing over to a different story, but I was wrong. De Castell has done an amazing job and I can’t recommend his books enough!
celiapowell's review against another edition
3.0
This is classified as YA I think, but it doesn't feel particularly YA - it does have a teenage protagonist discovering things about himself and his people, but it also has some pretty dark and heavy stuff go down. It's a great creative world, and I enjoyed it, but not enough to continue with the very long series.
batsinthecastle's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you Goodreads for sending a copy of this!
Review to come later.
Review to come later.