Reviews

An underwhelming follow-up in a fun series. The Torch That Ignites The Stars (which is an awesome name) lacks direction, which results in a slow, largely senseless plot during the summer after the Corin’s first year at Lorain Heights that lacks both stakes and meaningful follow-up to the plot threads of the last book. Rowe clearly has an incredible vision of his magic system, but at times, technical explanations of enchanting and mana usage felt indulgent and better suited for an appendix (which is provided) than pages of a novel. Rowe also makes the mistake of sidelining both his most interesting characters and plot threads, which leaves Sera and Corin to become overworked and increasingly unlikeable, lacking the charming dynamic of previous books. Also, Corin’s aversion to physical touch increasingly feels stilted, awkwardly described, and disproportionate-not an issue in concept, but in execution. It mostly worked for the first book, but two books later, sentences in the vein of “I flinched at the inadvertent physical contact” eventually become almost laughable, which is a shame because it is a real trauma response few books explore. Now, there’s still plenty of fun to be had: Once the action and puzzles start, Rowe does best, always contriving new and interesting concepts to use his magic and build action scenes (and some philosophical questions). Likewise there are a handful of fun and meaningful moments between the main cast. However, Arcane Ascension #3 pales in comparison to Rowe’s other works, and was better suited for a novella than the next entry to a series. 5/10