Reviews with content warning for Violence - Divotvůrce

TL;DR: A fun story that in comparison to my expectations had less actual con game, and more we live in a society (but in a good way). Characters good, gonna see how this continues.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first part of the series, and I will certainly read book 2.

It's not exactly what I expected: I thought I was getting a story about a smart con-artist, which this story has some of, but at its heart, this is a true underdog story. Not just because the main character is an underdog, but it centrally thematizes the power structure that put him in this position - and what he's going to do with it.
Kellen gets nothing. Not even the power of friendship. All he has are some tricks and innovation. And he has to work with that, as he unravels the secrets of his world. This is the concept that the story never betrays, and that's why I liked it so much.

The story is a quick and entertaining read with a surprising depth (and darkness) to its setting. I liked the characters, Kellen is a cool guy and Ferius Parfax is the most fun mentor character I've seen in a long time. It has a cool card motive (a trope I'm weak for) that it uses in a smart way in one scene in particular. I'm gonna hold off on final judgement until I've read more of the series, but so far, I think I might have stumbled over a real undiscovered gem.

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bluejayreads's review against another edition

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adventurous

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This review is hard to write because is the kind of book I call a Perfectly Enjoyable Reading Experience. It was entertaining, I very much enjoyed it while reading, but it’s not particularly memorable and I don’t feel much of a need to continue the series.

Which is a bit amusing, because this book was trying to have big things to say. This society is stratified into an upper class of people who can do magic and an underclass of people who can’t. The “exile” Kellen is facing is not being thrown out of the city and whatnot, it’s being relegated to second-class citizen and having no options but menial labor or being a servant, probably to his definitely-magical sister. Considering some events that I can’t mention because spoilers, there was definitely an anti-classism message here. It just didn’t come up until almost the very end and thus got overshadowed by Kellen’s magic struggles.

I am still not sure what the setting was supposed to be. The title of the book, which made me think of a play on “gunslinger,” and Ferius Parfax’s entire character had a very strong Wild West vibe. But the rest of the setting seemed to be Generic Magical City with that roughly-1800s-but-magic-instead-of-tech thing that I think of as generic fantasy. There were interesting details, but I was very confused about what the big picture was supposed to look like.

And you know, after all that criticism, I’m going to come back and say that I really enjoyed the read. Kellen had definite character growth, putting together all the puzzle pieces of information he discovered was fun, and I loved his efforts to succeed with brains and wit since magic didn’t seem to be coming to his rescue. If you’re at all trope-savvy you’ll see the reason for his magic issues coming from a long way off, but I was pleasantly surprised to be surprised by some of the details.

The ending wrapped up well enough, and I’m not enamored with this story enough to keep going. There was some wasted potential, especially in regards to magic-less people being a societal underclass, but for as much as I love absurdly powerful characters I also love characters with no power who succeed by cunning and trickery, and so I thoroughly enjoyed Kellen. Though it’s not particularly memorable after I finished it and it’s definitely not making any top books lists for me, it was a perfectly enjoyable read

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pinksystem's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.0

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chloehey's review against another edition

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dark funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I wanted to like this, but it disappointed me to so much. I saw a grand story full of intrigue and interesting plot points and character dynamics. But sadly I dreamed to big, and I got.... not what I wanted. And it pains me to give this 2 stars, it really was written well! But- it wasn't planned well. The question the back of the book asks (who and why is Ferius Parfax) isn't answered- or even focused on. Kellen is a nice character, but he, and everyone else is underwritten. This is a personal thing, and since it is a thing prominent in other cultures I understand why it happens. But names written with apostrophes (i.e.Ke'Heops, Jan'Tep Sha'Tep,) bug me, my eyes snag on them and it pulls me out of reading. There are many, and they bugged me everytime.

So intro to Kellen, bravely stomping onto the dueling ground to fight this "big bad" while all his "buddies" tell him to stop. Interesting. Okay, so he tricks Tennat into hurting himself, nice, Shalla does her bit of Drama, Kellen is dying. And he stays fully conscious-yet dying- for quite a while while we get a little peek into how the magic is done. Someone mutters about linking hearts- oh- but they are too weak. ENTER Ferius Parfax! The random cow-boy-woman(yes- I think she'd like that description. She's not your regular cowgirl) And she does uhhh.... CPR! with some magic powder thrown in. Hilarious, yet I thought she was going to link her heart to his and he'd have to be her sidekick. Much more interesting than her flitting in and out of the story at random moments, only there for a funny joke (and they were okay funny- but not the best, they were slightly sexist and of course very arrogant.)
The talking beasts Kellen made friends with were interesting, I liked how they were written. The magic was intriguing, but in the end nothing was tied together in a satisfying way.

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kittykatrin's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I love stories about magic, cunning and character growth. Kellen has no magic and has to rely on his intelligence more than other people, for whom magic is their first (and sometimes only) skill.
Our MC isn't a perfect guy but has grown up in a society with a lot of prejudice and discrimination. I really like how Ferius (a badass woman from outside his Jan'Tep society) helps Kellen reflect on himself and his actions whereas the talking squirrel cat (who appears halfway through the book) always jumps to the more violent options. This leaves Kellen in more of a middle ground and leads to an interesting dynamic between them.
The world-building was really interesting and engaging. The first half explores the magic trials and society of Jan'Tep and the second half reveled more about the history, the other societies of this world and had more action.
I wish we saw more of the other characters at Kellen's school, especially his love interest, however hopefully we will see them again in the sequels. Also, I did find the book to go very fast towards the end which was great fun but I sometimes got a little lost in everything that was happening!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book a lot, one of my new favourites and I will definitely be collecting the series!

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