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A review by jedbird
The Virtu by Katherine Addison
adventurous
dark
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
This picks up absolutely immediately from the end of the first book, and without any explanations. That's how I read it, but it might be rough going if a person tried to read a palate cleanser in between.
Felix is a selfish ass, and Mildmay is, compared to his character in the first book, much less sure of himself, but the change in circumstances surely has much to do with it. Felix's lust for his brother, an uncomfortable mention in the first book, is dealt with in more depth here, though I was relieved thatthe brothers do *not* have sex of any kind . it's baffling that this is listed as a m/m romance story. Felix is gay and has hookups of varying impact, and Mildmay is straight, and there's no romance as such for anyone.
Felix determines that they must return to the Mirador and they embark on a journey. They pick up some additional travelers along the way, including imprisoned magicians and a sharp-minded actress. The task before our heroes is to restore the Virtu, which is such a ridiculous maguffin, but it gives everyone something to do.
There's something of a clean slate going into the third book, which I am starting reading immediately.
Of note, the typesetting in this series is awful. It appears to have been scanned in and never corrected. There's a Horn Gate that half the time is rendered as Hom Gate. There's Tibernian and Tibemian. There's thamaturgic and thaumaturgie. There are random numbers and backslashes, missing punctuation, breaks in the middle of lines. It's pretty shameful.
Felix is a selfish ass, and Mildmay is, compared to his character in the first book, much less sure of himself, but the change in circumstances surely has much to do with it. Felix's lust for his brother, an uncomfortable mention in the first book, is dealt with in more depth here, though I was relieved that
Felix determines that they must return to the Mirador and they embark on a journey. They pick up some additional travelers along the way, including imprisoned magicians and a sharp-minded actress. The task before our heroes is to restore the Virtu, which is such a ridiculous maguffin, but it gives everyone something to do.
There's something of a clean slate going into the third book, which I am starting reading immediately.
Of note, the typesetting in this series is awful. It appears to have been scanned in and never corrected. There's a Horn Gate that half the time is rendered as Hom Gate. There's Tibernian and Tibemian. There's thamaturgic and thaumaturgie. There are random numbers and backslashes, missing punctuation, breaks in the middle of lines. It's pretty shameful.