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A review by booksthatburn
Spells of Summer by A.K. Faulkner
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
As tense and hectic as SPELLS OF SUMEMR is, it feels like it might be the calm before an even greater storm. Laurence has two teachers, both of whom withhold information and neither of whom really know about the other. Except, it turns out they first met a long time ago, as Laurence discovers in a vision. Laurence has known since before Rufus became his teacher that eventually they’ll have a disagreement so huge that they will have to part ways. I won't spoil whether this is that disagreement, but Laurence's knowledge of this impending event and the tension that that engenders in his interactions with Rufus are present throughout the book.
SPELLS OF SUMMER doesn't completely wrap up anything that was left hanging from previous books. The inciting incident is Laurence's attempt to finally do what he promised Rufus he would: look into the past and find out how Rufus's parents died. Laurence has been putting it off because he didn't want more images of death and destruction in his mind, but he can't put it off any longer and continue to learn from Rufus without paying for it.
The audiobook narrator continues to do an excellent job! I like the accent work and all the voices for the different characters. They're distinctive without anyone being annoying.
What Laurence sees when he looks into the past spins out into something strange and dramatic, pulling in Freddy and Miriam alongside Laurence and Quentin as narrators. I’m not sure if there’s anything that is both introduced and resolved here, at least not in terms of a specific plot point. What this does very well is move several characters further on their emotional arcs. Laurence and Quentin now know how far Rufus is willing to go to get what he wants. Miriam and Freddy have to deal with the tension between them caused by Freddy's telepathic deception when he kidnapped Laurence several books ago. They haven’t been around each other since then, and while Laurence and Quentin have already had to process their reactions, Miriam has not yet had the opportunity for a confrontation.
So much of SPELLS OF SUMMER is about dealing with the past, sorting through prior events, and figuring out what the next steps ought to be. While, in a simplistic sense, the plot is coherent and well told enough for it to make sense for someone who tried to start here without having read any of the previous books, it would be a very dissatisfying experience. For anyone who did want to start the series midway through rather than going back to the beginning, they should start at RITES OF WINTER, which begins the second season.
The layers of worldbuilding have been slowly accumulating since the series began. Gradually increasing my understanding of a complex story world is one of my favorite parts of longruning series. The newest distinct layer here is confirmation of other gods, other pantheons, and other afterlives for different believers. It also reinforces the idea that there are many different ways to go about magic, and which one someone uses is shaped by them as much as they are shaped by it.
SPELLS OF SUMMER is not the last book, and it establishes the probable identity of the warlock who has been pulling strings behind the scenes. He is definitely the person who has been teased in the epilogues of the last several books, but the main cast don't know any of those particulars yet. It establishes that future books will almost definitely require some more direct, confrontation, laying the groundwork for the finale this season in the series. It does make me wonder whether all the major villains will be warlocks, though two is hardly a large enough sample size for meaningful conjecture. However things end up, I'm eager for the next book!
SPELLS OF SUMMER doesn't completely wrap up anything that was left hanging from previous books. The inciting incident is Laurence's attempt to finally do what he promised Rufus he would: look into the past and find out how Rufus's parents died. Laurence has been putting it off because he didn't want more images of death and destruction in his mind, but he can't put it off any longer and continue to learn from Rufus without paying for it.
The audiobook narrator continues to do an excellent job! I like the accent work and all the voices for the different characters. They're distinctive without anyone being annoying.
What Laurence sees when he looks into the past spins out into something strange and dramatic, pulling in Freddy and Miriam alongside Laurence and Quentin as narrators. I’m not sure if there’s anything that is both introduced and resolved here, at least not in terms of a specific plot point. What this does very well is move several characters further on their emotional arcs. Laurence and Quentin now know how far Rufus is willing to go to get what he wants. Miriam and Freddy have to deal with the tension between them caused by Freddy's telepathic deception when he kidnapped Laurence several books ago. They haven’t been around each other since then, and while Laurence and Quentin have already had to process their reactions, Miriam has not yet had the opportunity for a confrontation.
So much of SPELLS OF SUMMER is about dealing with the past, sorting through prior events, and figuring out what the next steps ought to be. While, in a simplistic sense, the plot is coherent and well told enough for it to make sense for someone who tried to start here without having read any of the previous books, it would be a very dissatisfying experience. For anyone who did want to start the series midway through rather than going back to the beginning, they should start at RITES OF WINTER, which begins the second season.
The layers of worldbuilding have been slowly accumulating since the series began. Gradually increasing my understanding of a complex story world is one of my favorite parts of longruning series. The newest distinct layer here is confirmation of other gods, other pantheons, and other afterlives for different believers. It also reinforces the idea that there are many different ways to go about magic, and which one someone uses is shaped by them as much as they are shaped by it.
SPELLS OF SUMMER is not the last book, and it establishes the probable identity of the warlock who has been pulling strings behind the scenes. He is definitely the person who has been teased in the epilogues of the last several books, but the main cast don't know any of those particulars yet. It establishes that future books will almost definitely require some more direct, confrontation, laying the groundwork for the finale this season in the series. It does make me wonder whether all the major villains will be warlocks, though two is hardly a large enough sample size for meaningful conjecture. However things end up, I'm eager for the next book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail