Reviews

Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

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jody_diou's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

frances_the_red's review against another edition

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4.0

tldr: nonstop fastpaced action in a well build fantasy world full of intrigue, mystery and magic (both the rabbit-out-of-the-hat as well as the wizard kind). I recommend the series to anyone who likes heroes with a dubious moral compass.

When you delve into the Spellslinger Series you will become familiar with the Jan'Tep, a folk of magic users who tap into six of seven forms of magic:

Blood: the most feared form, magic of life and biology. Mostly used to bind living things, to heal or to harm, our young protagonist Kellen will find out in Spellslinger that family and blood relations can be a fickle thing.

Breath: the weakest of magic, the power of wind, air and movement. In Shadowblack Kellen gets to appreciate some of it's aspects: learning to dance and to sing in the Agosi-way, Kellen starts to appreciate a more practical and physical point of view. And with some time, he will learn how to listen to the silence and whisper along with the wind.

Ember: Just like ember magic, Charmcaster will try to bedazzle you with flashy wonders and sparkling marvels. But don't be hoaxed, don't take your eyes off the cards or you'll be some coins short.

Iron: The least flashy of arts, control over physical objects and matter. You would think our protagonist had that covered. In Soulbinder however, everything seems to be right out of touching distance, the only things left just faces in the sand, broken bridges, and structures made of shadow.

Silk: for reading and controlling minds. In Queenslayer our young Spellslinger is being deceived at every corner. Everyone is playing their mind games, it seems. Outgunned and out tricked in a place he doesn't know the rules of, Kellen is unsure how to play his cards right.

Sand: the art to slow down or speed up time and predict the future. And guess what: in Crownbreaker, the fulminant finale of the series, Kellen is running out of time while a war is brewing on the horizon. He has to make a decision - and quickly - or a lot of lives will be lost to the desert.

Spoiler

Yes, I see exactly what you did there, dear author. With Suzie and the volcano, the Abbey and the tricks of Ke'Heops and Shalla. Nicely done. Even the covers fit the color of the bands somewhat. You put a lot of thought into the storyline/magic analogy. I appreciate that immensely.

Shadow, the seventh art of magic, is the most feared and outlawed by the Jan'Tep. And aren't you clever, Mister de Castell? You could have made it a heptalogy, like Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia (or The Song of Ice and Fire if Martin ever gets a move on), but you didn't. Instead, you put the shadows in every single one of your stories and characters, in their decisions and actions. Because in these books - like in real life - nothing is pure and innocent, black or white, good or bad. Characters I liked at page 100, I suddenly couldn't stand at one point. People I was sure were going to be backstabbers suddenly showed their human side. There are no right decisions - only decisions you are more comfortable to live with.
Castell managed to write a complicated world inhabited by complex characters. Some books are philosophic, others raise questions of religion, sexuality or morals.
A big plus for me is also the fact that there isn't much romantic hullabaloo. The love interest(s) are there, but not nearly as prominent as the big bromance going on between the protagonist and his ~~pet~~ partner.
But most of all: the series is just damn entertaining. It's like putting a wild west gunslinger into a bit of an oriental setting, leaving him only with a hat and some one-liners to defend himself against a bunch of magic users. I had a lot of fun.
Go read it if you enjoy fastpaced adult fantasy, extensive world building and ambiguous characters.

Mind the rating, tho: eyeballs get eaten, bodies burned and there are a bunch of scenes I would describe as dubious consent/no consent.

mario_g's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I came in not knowing what to expect, just read some positive reviews and seeing it was a short and finished series i thought i'd give it shot.
This story managed to somehow not have me hooked but still kept me reading on until it did "spark" my interest.
Seeing it was short and really easy to read I finished it and i will go on with the next, hoping it gets better (for my taste).

I liked some characters and relationships while others (most tbh) fell flat.
Reichis brings nice comic relief and the way he talks made me "hear" his voice probably like a middle-aged man who has abused smoking, really gruff and low for some reason, which made it so much funnier in my mind than i expected.
Ferius seems cool, and Kellen has room to become more likeable (he is after all just a 15 y.o. kid in this one).

The magic system felt weird all the way to the end of the book and I didn't get how some spells could work or even happen but I tried to not give it much thought causes it bugs me.
The world is not explored here and we only get the slightest glipses of what is out there, which was ok cause at this point in the story it doesn't really matter yet.

The setting was also a challenge for me, i couldn't place it. It is not the epic, medieval looking world, but also not something urban reflecting our world, and somehow ferius is from-i don't know, texas?- and some words, see "tattoo" etc, seem to be all over the place, which confused me in picturing it all in my head.

In conclusion, it was an ok read, i had fun at times, some things i didn't understand (the magic or the setting...) but it managed to make me like it enough to check out what's next.

jennkei's review against another edition

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3.0

I kept waiting for the shoe to drop but it never did. Also I read somewhere this was supposed to 'keep you guessing on every page' -- I guess that explains the shoe-waiting feeling? All in all, I wasn't too impressed, but I'll keep reading since the magic is a little interesting. (Though who knows how much I'll see of it..)

pstockton's review against another edition

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3.0

Its a good read, fun, quick. Nothing overly special and a great setup for future books.

jowithtwoiis's review against another edition

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5.0

I read the first chapter of this book on my kindle a couple of years ago and was instantly hooked. Imagine my chagrin when it turned out the book wasn't available in the US yet, that the sample chapter had been available as a mistake... Couple years later I'm browsing KCLS and see that the ebooks are available. But what about the actual books? Yes! And there weren't any holds on the Foret book, so I requested it and as soon as I had it in my hands I tucked in.

That first chapter still gripped me and set up one of the most interesting fantasy journeys that I've experienced lately. And no point during this book did ANYTHING I thought might possibly happen occur thr way I thought it would. I was constantly surprised and I found Kellen's journey from the a narrow minded boy, to a young man ready to leave behind everything he knew very compelling. I don't want to ruin this by giving plot blow by blows, just know that if you decided to read this book you will not be disappointed.

It was definitely worth the wait! ❤️

phoenix2's review against another edition

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2.0

I tried three times to pick up this book, but I just am not pulled in by the story. The cover is amazing and maybe somewhere in this book there was a great story, however, after reading half of it, I didn't see it.
So, the whole universe of this book is pretty decent and the main character had some good moments. However, maybe this is me though, he was just too childish and overconfident. The flow of the story was quick paced, but it felt like it moved too slowly nevertheless. The card lady was trying too hard, too, to become this nonchallenging character.
Overall, it just didn't seem to worth keep reading it.