Scan barcode
eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review against another edition
5.0
4 1/2 stars. This is my 5th Maradaine book, and they keep getting better. I really like the way the story arcs of different areas of the city are now beginning to interweave, and the major characters are now interacting across novels. Maresca does a great job portraying life in the city, and there's plenty of action as well as intrigue. The Enzo storyline was my least favorite, and Minox and Satrine continue to be my big favorites. I like that Colin and Veranix both displayed more maturity in this book - I am eager to see what direction Colin will go in now.
annieb123's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
The Imposters of Aventil is the third in a trilogy-tie in in the world of Maradaine by Marshall Ryan Maresca on Penguin's DAW imprint.
High fantasy world, young ensemble cast, mystery and mayhem. It might be formulaic, but it's great going down, easily digestible and keeps everyone coming back for more. The action is nonstop and well written.
It fits in the slot left by 'what happened next' to Harry and co, but honestly, Mr. Maresca is a better writer than J.K. Rowling was (at least at the beginning of her career). He's a gifted storyteller and has the technical chops to write snappy dialogue and action which doesn't fall flat.
Take a bunch of college kids at a local magical+ university, add one vigilante trainee mage outsider (the Thorn) with a heap of past history on a quest to take down the local drug pusher kingpin, toss in a lookalike bad guy running around killing people to everyone up in arms and hunting the Thorn, and stir in a pair of semi-scary FBI equivalents who are VERY interested in sorting out the fallout before the smoke clears.
I enjoyed the heck out of this novel. I read it as a standalone, and did follow everything which was going on (another technical coup to the author) without any trouble. I read the other books in the series as a follow-up and do recommend reading them in order if possible. The series fill in a great deal of detail and nuance for one another. Reading the follow ups, I had a fair number of 'aha!' moments.
The book is a hefty 400 pages, but the action and plotting pulled me along. It was a fun, undemanding, well written fantasy, thoroughly enjoyable.
Four stars, nonstop action, magic and excitement.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
The Imposters of Aventil is the third in a trilogy-tie in in the world of Maradaine by Marshall Ryan Maresca on Penguin's DAW imprint.
High fantasy world, young ensemble cast, mystery and mayhem. It might be formulaic, but it's great going down, easily digestible and keeps everyone coming back for more. The action is nonstop and well written.
It fits in the slot left by 'what happened next' to Harry and co, but honestly, Mr. Maresca is a better writer than J.K. Rowling was (at least at the beginning of her career). He's a gifted storyteller and has the technical chops to write snappy dialogue and action which doesn't fall flat.
Take a bunch of college kids at a local magical+ university, add one vigilante trainee mage outsider (the Thorn) with a heap of past history on a quest to take down the local drug pusher kingpin, toss in a lookalike bad guy running around killing people to everyone up in arms and hunting the Thorn, and stir in a pair of semi-scary FBI equivalents who are VERY interested in sorting out the fallout before the smoke clears.
I enjoyed the heck out of this novel. I read it as a standalone, and did follow everything which was going on (another technical coup to the author) without any trouble. I read the other books in the series as a follow-up and do recommend reading them in order if possible. The series fill in a great deal of detail and nuance for one another. Reading the follow ups, I had a fair number of 'aha!' moments.
The book is a hefty 400 pages, but the action and plotting pulled me along. It was a fun, undemanding, well written fantasy, thoroughly enjoyable.
Four stars, nonstop action, magic and excitement.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
ninglulu's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
It was really nice how this book started to tie storylines together. I thought the crossover between the Thorn story and the Minox/Welling story worked quite well. However, this did end up making the book quite fast paced as there were a lot of characters and plot lines to follow, but I am excited to see how things continue coming together in the next books!
powder_and_page's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 Stars
Well here it is - the first official Maradaine cross-over novel! This was set up to happen perfectly – An Import of Intrigue resulted in the development of the Grand Inspector’s Unit which allowed Inspectors Welling and Rainey to go outside their usual jurisdiction when a Thorn imposter perpetrated an attack on several Aventil officers. The cross-over was well executed, with Veranix and his crew taking center stage as they should and our favorite Inspector duo playing a delightful supporting role. It was so great to finally have characters from both books meet and interact! *fangirling excessively* It also didn’t feel cheesy like all the crossovers in the DC tv universe do…
One of my favorite parts about The Imposters of Aventil is that the whole fiasco is occurring during the biggest collegiate sporting event ever. It’s basically the university Olympics – students and fans from all over have come to participate and the atmosphere is one of a ceaseless drunken revel. It sounds like it would be such a fun event! Veranix of course ends up involved in everything– he performs during the opening ceremony, coaches the U of M tetchball team, AND tries to keep up with his alternate life. Poor guy is stretched so thin you can practically see through him.
There’s really a ton of stuff going on in this book when you look past the main plot. There’s turmoil amongst the gangs since the Red Rabbits were demolished, Colin is on the bad side of the bosses of the Rose Street Princes, a new drug has made its way onto campus, and the Aventil Constabulary has its own heap of nonsense and lackadaisical attitude. There’s always several significant subplots going on in MRM’s books, but I think this is the first time it’s really stood out to me as I read it. I get really into stories and zoom through them without a great deal of thought and things like this don’t usually stand out to me until I reflect upon it afterwards. I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the details either, which is a credit to the author’s writing skills.
Every single one of the Maradaine books have been adventurous, fun reads that leave me with a sunnier disposition by the end. I honestly wish I knew more people (in person) that read fantasy because I would foist these books at them in a heartbeat! I would recommend reading them in publication order so you can get the max effect and avoid any potential spoilers, however minor they may be, but it’s not required or anything. I think these would be particularly appealing to those younger readers who are beginning to venture out of the YA genre and into “adult” fantasy because they do have a fast paced, action packed storyline, relatable characters, and even a smidgen of love interest in the Maradaine series. I realize I always end up talking about the all the series together, but The Imposters of Aventil in particular was a great story and made more exceptional by how well the character cross-over was handled. Can’t wait for the next one!
Well here it is - the first official Maradaine cross-over novel! This was set up to happen perfectly – An Import of Intrigue resulted in the development of the Grand Inspector’s Unit which allowed Inspectors Welling and Rainey to go outside their usual jurisdiction when a Thorn imposter perpetrated an attack on several Aventil officers. The cross-over was well executed, with Veranix and his crew taking center stage as they should and our favorite Inspector duo playing a delightful supporting role. It was so great to finally have characters from both books meet and interact! *fangirling excessively* It also didn’t feel cheesy like all the crossovers in the DC tv universe do…
One of my favorite parts about The Imposters of Aventil is that the whole fiasco is occurring during the biggest collegiate sporting event ever. It’s basically the university Olympics – students and fans from all over have come to participate and the atmosphere is one of a ceaseless drunken revel. It sounds like it would be such a fun event! Veranix of course ends up involved in everything– he performs during the opening ceremony, coaches the U of M tetchball team, AND tries to keep up with his alternate life. Poor guy is stretched so thin you can practically see through him.
There’s really a ton of stuff going on in this book when you look past the main plot. There’s turmoil amongst the gangs since the Red Rabbits were demolished, Colin is on the bad side of the bosses of the Rose Street Princes, a new drug has made its way onto campus, and the Aventil Constabulary has its own heap of nonsense and lackadaisical attitude. There’s always several significant subplots going on in MRM’s books, but I think this is the first time it’s really stood out to me as I read it. I get really into stories and zoom through them without a great deal of thought and things like this don’t usually stand out to me until I reflect upon it afterwards. I didn’t feel overwhelmed by the details either, which is a credit to the author’s writing skills.
Every single one of the Maradaine books have been adventurous, fun reads that leave me with a sunnier disposition by the end. I honestly wish I knew more people (in person) that read fantasy because I would foist these books at them in a heartbeat! I would recommend reading them in publication order so you can get the max effect and avoid any potential spoilers, however minor they may be, but it’s not required or anything. I think these would be particularly appealing to those younger readers who are beginning to venture out of the YA genre and into “adult” fantasy because they do have a fast paced, action packed storyline, relatable characters, and even a smidgen of love interest in the Maradaine series. I realize I always end up talking about the all the series together, but The Imposters of Aventil in particular was a great story and made more exceptional by how well the character cross-over was handled. Can’t wait for the next one!
rachelini's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed the story quite a bit. The crossover was entertaining but not entirely successful. A lot of people now know about the Thorn - it'll be interesting to see how that changes things. I feel like at some point he's going to have to stop going out there.
r_loretta's review against another edition
5.0
ATTN: VERY VAGUE SPOILERS. SO VAGUE THAT ITS NOT WORTH USING GOODREADS SPOILER OPTION.
The more I think about this book the more I think about the chapter from the Imposter's POV. Where Maresca drew parallels between him and Veranix. That would have been fine if he would have taken it further and explored those parallels. But he didn't and there isn't much room to do a lot with those parallel's in future books. I feel like he only wrote that chapter to flesh out the Imposter's reasoning for why he was doing what he was doing. Otherwise, I loved this book so much!!!
The more I think about this book the more I think about the chapter from the Imposter's POV. Where Maresca drew parallels between him and Veranix. That would have been fine if he would have taken it further and explored those parallels. But he didn't and there isn't much room to do a lot with those parallel's in future books. I feel like he only wrote that chapter to flesh out the Imposter's reasoning for why he was doing what he was doing. Otherwise, I loved this book so much!!!
depizan's review against another edition
3.0
I liked that the group effort thing continued. I did not care for another plot point (but that would be a spoiler). And these books continue to be literary popcorn.
vinayvasan's review
4.0
A rather fun and feisty book that brings to end the 1st arc of the Thorn in a rather satisfying way even as it builds onto something bigger for the rest of the series
Books 1 and 2 were rather fun while adding nothing new & my fear was that book 3 would be rather similar. Well, it was total fun and action packed and involved a lot of crazy no-win-abandon-all-hope situations but what is does really well is put our characters in situations that are potentially status quo upenders.
Book 3 picks up with a grand tournament at the University that gives Veranix very little time to pursue his nocturnal activities as the Thorn. However, the presence of outside students at the University leads to a proliferation of the drug that Veranix has sworn to stamp out even as someone pretending to be the Thorn decides to spur up a gang rivalry as well as attacking the cops - ensuring that the Thorn now as a bullseye painted on him. Maresca also introduces characters from his other Constabulary series who are roped in to arrest the Thorn. To top it all up, the Deadly Birds, the assassin group, from the previous book have developed a keen interest in him. And there are rumblings about a greater continental war in the offing. All of this makes this a very packed book and it reflects. There isnt a dull moment as things keep on happening.
While the book is decidedly YA-ish in terms of the plotting, the body count and action make it less so. Thorn gets bashed up quite a bit, his street prince cousin Colin gets even more so - his standing among the local gangs questioned, esp about his loyalty. The introduction of the Constabulary is quite smooth and even if you havent read the other series (like me), you are able to follow these 2 characters quite well. It will be quite intriguing to see where the series goes after this. Count me in on that journey
Books 1 and 2 were rather fun while adding nothing new & my fear was that book 3 would be rather similar. Well, it was total fun and action packed and involved a lot of crazy no-win-abandon-all-hope situations but what is does really well is put our characters in situations that are potentially status quo upenders.
Book 3 picks up with a grand tournament at the University that gives Veranix very little time to pursue his nocturnal activities as the Thorn. However, the presence of outside students at the University leads to a proliferation of the drug that Veranix has sworn to stamp out even as someone pretending to be the Thorn decides to spur up a gang rivalry as well as attacking the cops - ensuring that the Thorn now as a bullseye painted on him. Maresca also introduces characters from his other Constabulary series who are roped in to arrest the Thorn. To top it all up, the Deadly Birds, the assassin group, from the previous book have developed a keen interest in him. And there are rumblings about a greater continental war in the offing. All of this makes this a very packed book and it reflects. There isnt a dull moment as things keep on happening.
While the book is decidedly YA-ish in terms of the plotting, the body count and action make it less so. Thorn gets bashed up quite a bit, his street prince cousin Colin gets even more so - his standing among the local gangs questioned, esp about his loyalty. The introduction of the Constabulary is quite smooth and even if you havent read the other series (like me), you are able to follow these 2 characters quite well. It will be quite intriguing to see where the series goes after this. Count me in on that journey
More...