Reviews with content warning for Confinement - The Fragile Threads of Power

I am so so glad I got a hold of this at my library! What an electrifying return to one of my favorite series. I loved that we got the perspectives of known characters and new ones with a really interesting plot that delves further into this universe’s magic and politics. The writing style is just endlessly compelling and one of my favorite things about the fantasy genre crossed with these characters. They’re so dramatic and sharp-witted!

My favorite character coming out of this was Tes though I’m a long-time Lila stan. I really enjoyed her personality and the choices she made that felt true to her background. There were so many intriguing hooks for the next installment to build on and I am really interested to see where everyone ends up—hopefully coming together to overcome

some combination of The Hand + some more sinister eldritch magic power as alluded by Holland’s speech and the door to the space between worlds

? Or is that too cliche?

Some things I’d really like to see developed in the next book:

What Holland’s actual physicality and presence is made of. How is his spirit and supposed ongoing life mission still intact and developing if he is … dead ??? How much is he just a part of Kosika’s head? Can he live on in her through his magic? I am sure this could be addressed if Tes and Kosika were to ever meet.

Also, something I was a little dissatisfied with at no real fault of the author is the “disabled guy gets healed” plot that played out with Kell’s arc this book. I am much more satisfied these days by stories that don’t post the potentially forever-injured hero as someone who needs to be cured. It felt wrong to see Kell sort of revert to his normal power at the end—even if he went through such undeserved and intense pain throughout the book. More to the point of what disability could look like in this amazing world Schwab has created, what does it look like for an Antari to never be quite physically recovered from a traumatic event? I hope we explore more of the consequences and changes to Kell’s outlook, since it would also feel wrong for him to not have learned anything about himself or how he thinks about magic from having lost his own powers.

That kind of leads me to one last thing I liked along the lines of disability/neurodivergence in this book: Tes! She really resonated with me as a character because of how neurodivergent-coded she was. It hit me so hard when I read one line about her devising techniques over the years to mask her own power—and then to have her suddenly recognized for that gift, albeit by very powerful and ambitious people who perhaps are reluctant to release or distribute their power (royalty kind of sucks that way). I am interested to see if Schwab picks up on any of these narrative themes that interest me because they hold so much space in my head in the real world. I don’t need to see a complete replication of all the power dynamics in my world in this one, but it is a really fun thought exercise for me to imagine how social justice and disability representation would play out.

Anyway great book! I love fantasy dawg

Content Warnings