Reviews with content warning for Classism - Notorious Sorcerer

Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans

12 reviews

imds's review

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

3.75

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bluejayreads's review

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4.0

This was one of my less-researched picks. It made it onto my reading list somehow, but by the time I grabbed it from the library I’d forgotten what it was really about or why. The only thing I knew about it was there was some kind of magic involved (obvious from the title) and the protagonist was queer in some capacity.

So I went in with very little context. But to be fair, I don’t think more context would have necessarily helped with my primary complaint – I had no idea what was going on with this world. The names were all long and hard to keep straight, especially since most characters had a first name, a last name, and a title, each of which could be used for the same character in different contexts. I got better at it as the story went on and I spent more time with the characters, but almost every name in the book at some point gave me a moment of “wait, do I know this person?” And the worldbuilding was clearly detailed and done with a lot of care and thought, but I also had a really hard time figuring things out. Part of the city fell into the sea, but I think it’s still around just a couple hundred feet lower than the rest of the city? I don’t really understand how the Bravi tribes work or what their role actually is in the city. There’s a huge class divide between the azatani and everyone else, but I’m not clear what defines an azatani or even whether it’s a racial category or a title. The magic system is fascinating and complicated but there’s a clear difference between alchemy, which is acceptable but regulated, and sorcery, which is very illegal (and I think “magic” is a separate third thing, maybe?).

So while the world was quite detailed and vibrant, I really didn’t have any idea of how it worked, or the rules of the magic system, or anything. (Although part of the plot of the book is figuring out that hte old rules of the magic system didn’t work anymore, so I’ll forgive that one.) But the weird part about the story, and I guess what best illustrates how enjoyable it really is, is that I didn’t mind all that. Sure, I wasn’t really sure how all the pieces of the world fit together, but even the confusing parts were just relentlessly cool. Daring street gangs getting up to hijinks, plucky underdogs who happen to be really good at what they do, and of course a whole lot of high-stakes magical shenanigans – it was a ton of fun. I enjoyed Siyon, I enjoyed the magical adventure, I enjoyed that it felt like a “protagonist has a big goal but accomplishing it is way more complicated than initially thought” plot and an “I only wanted to do this one small thing how did it get so out of hand” plot at the same time. I even in some ways enjoyed trying to fit new pieces of information into the story and the world.

This is a hard book to review because it absolutely has some pretty major flaws. Normally I wouldn’t even finish a book where I felt like I couldn’t get a handle on the world. But somehow this book managed to be so absolutely stellar in every single other aspect – plot, characters, romance, descriptions, the writing itself, coolness factor, being just plain fun and interesting to read – that it downgraded “I have no idea how this fantasy world works” from a dealbreaker to a minor annoyance. Which says a lot about the quality of the book itself, I think. This is also the author’s debut novel, so I have extremely high hopes for future books overcoming the worldbuildling issues. I fully intend to read book two.

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blewballoon's review

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adventurous funny tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is an excellent book and a great fantasy story. The world that Davinia Evans creates feels unique and lived in. The characters are interesting and charming. The overarching plot is suspenseful, with high stakes. The writing quality was fantastic. There are so many great things about this book, and yet I found myself having a hard time getting into it and being enthusiastic to pick it up. I'm honestly not sure why, perhaps I just wasn't in the mood? I still had a good time, but it took me a lot longer to get through than I expected. I would recommend this to fantasy readers, either adult or young adult. I do plan on picking up the next book in the series (eventually).

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kylieqrada's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

This was such a fun surprise! I got it as a gift, having never heard of it. It ended up being a queer fantasy with an intricate setting and a diverse cast of characters.

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brukneem's review

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adventurous funny reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

I loved the banter between characters! The sass was absolutely fantastic. The love develops between the love interests so organically- but NOT slowly. I also loved that the descriptions of alchemy were reflective but not impossible to follow. We didn't have to learn an entire system of magic- we just had to trust Siyon was learning his OWN way. The class divides in this book were as sad as they were interesting, and helped to further the plot.

Siyon needs therapy. Izmirlian needs therapy. Anahid needs therapy. I NEED THERAPY after that ending! I'm so happy there will be a sequel and look forward to reading it.

See you later.

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nicklybear's review

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tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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lanid's review

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adventurous mysterious

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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mjwhitlock18's review

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

The four planes of the universe are falling apart. Siyon is a Dockside-born, inter-planar errand boy and amateur alchemist who accidentally achieved the impossible. Can he do it again to harness the power of the Mundane and save the universe?

Pros: Complex world, political stratification of society with commentary on the ability of the rich and powerful to skirt the law. A reluctant hero with a slow burn queer romantic side plot. A Should-be debutante who instead hangs out with the lower classes and gets her eyes opened to social and class injustice. Also I might do anything for Anahid, a woman who learns to find her own joy and wield her privilege for the protection of those who need it.

Cons: It takes a bit to understand what’s going on, because you get thrust into the story with not a ton of explanation. Also so many plot lines, some of them left feeling unfinished. So many threads to hold onto, it’s easy to get lost and tangled up. Wish I got more background on more of the characters, some of them feel quite shallow.

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ninjamuse's review

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

3.5

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sarrie's review

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funny tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

TL;DR: A complex and interesting setup that really needed much more room. Exhausting.

Plot: I wish some of this had been stretched out to a second book. There was simply too much here
Characters: Interesting characters in the moment, but little to no background is given to anyone ultimately making them feel very shallow.
Setting: The setting is truly what drives this. It's alive, literally falling to pieces and our main character must try to fix it.
Magic: Vague at best. It's 'alchemy' and maybe feelings?

Thoughts:

Confused and intrigued are the best ways to describe starting in on Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans. The book throws the reader directly into the story with little or no explanation. It takes a lot to confuse me, I’ve been reading fantasy for nearly 30 years but this one tested me. The story follows a cast of characters, our primary one Siyon Velo is a lowborn man who is an alchemist in all but name. Those who practice Alchemy must follow a path to become ‘Alchemist’ in title, otherwise the practice of the art is illegal.

The setting of this is complex. The city of Bezim and people are divided up into ranks and tiers. Some bleed into others with cross over and others cannot be entered with rules being followed. Siyon is an example of this. Born in the docks and ‘slum’ areas of the city he is striving to become an Alchemist and rise in rank. The rest of the cast are those that he draws to him in various ways. Several women of the high society, a teacher of sorts with the rank in Alchemy, and a young man who wants the impossible.

If you’re looking for a complex, very politically stratified world - I’d maybe give this one a shot. But for me it was a bit much. To begin with it does not explain itself, almost ever. So the reader is left to puzzle through ranks - what does this word mean and why is the woman not quite that rank but going to be but also one of these? It seems, on reflection, that this was meant to make a statement about these sort of systems but little was ever shown of those outside those high ranks. We hear about the punishments some lower ranking people endured, but besides that there was little else.

That is on top of the multitude of plot lines in this book that, though they come together in the end, seem just to be a bit much. At 70% I thought I was done, everything reached a good natural ending but the book kept going, another quarter later and honestly I was exhausted by the need of the author to knit things together with every single line she’d created. For me the story of this one book could have worked and flowed so much better in two.

There was little to no catharsis within this book. For each good thing that happens, an equally if not more exhausting, terrible thing happens. The small moments of joy and happiness I felt for the characters were squashed by the threat of another or a force beyond their control. This one was not a winner for me. The bones were good but weighed down by the weight of too much everything else. 2.5 stars.

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