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A review by elderlingfool
Luck in the Shadows by Lynn Flewelling
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
5.0
I expected to like this book and I am pleased to announce that I ended up loving it. If the rest of the series is this good it might end up being my second favourite series ever (only because I don't think any other will replace Realm of the Elderlings for me).
The book starts with the characters breaking out of a prison cell and then a fun adventure filled with magic, mystery, tricks and political intrigue begins. Even though the story seems just fun and light-hearted at first, it gets surprisingly emotional and dark at times. I got really into the book on chapter 8, when some dramatic scenes happen. I do prefer emotional books that are a bit dark so that is when I went from having fun to being in love with this one. The actual plot is revealed very slowly too. For almost half of the book I was left wondering what it was all about, but then the characters go to a different part of the world and bits and pieces of the political intrigue is revealed. Even if there is still a lot of questions left with no answers by the end of this first book.
The characters are great. Most of them are spies and the reader follows them as they try to gather information and rob a thing here and there and that is very fun, but there is also magic involved and the magic is also great.
Everyone seems to have their own life going on and they aren't just waiting for the plot to happen around them. By the end of the book my favourite character was probably Alec since he was the one that grew the most, but there are many characters I love here and I hope to see more of them.
I am still hoping to see some of the women that were introduced in this book to shine in the future since they didn't have the chance to do that much yet, even though I already love Beka. I definitely got the feeling that they will show up more and be more important to future plots.
At times there are some info dumps and random songs, but I like the songs in fantasy books and the info dumps weren't long enough to bore me much. Besides, they are done in a believable way since everything is new to Alec, who spent all his life so far in the north, so the reader is learning along with him about the more magical south.
The world-building is alright. There are some fantastical creatures like centaurs and a species that are kind of like elves. The magic is something that can be learned, but remains mostly mysterious (which is how I like it). There is one or two instances where the magic solution was too convenient, but I didn't mind it because I got too attached to these characters and I just wanted them to be safe.
There is one fun magic spell that reveals the kind of animal a person is and that scene was great, especially because our two not so straight main characters are an otter and a stag.
There is also creepy imagery in the dreams some of the characters have. Some of those dreams seem to be prophetic and I found all of that pretty interesting. There is also necromancy, which unfortunately wasn't explored that much here but I hope to see more of.
The book ends with some mysteries left to uncover and a prophecy that I am still trying to figure out so I will read the sequel as soon as I can.
The book starts with the characters breaking out of a prison cell and then a fun adventure filled with magic, mystery, tricks and political intrigue begins. Even though the story seems just fun and light-hearted at first, it gets surprisingly emotional and dark at times. I got really into the book on chapter 8, when some dramatic scenes happen. I do prefer emotional books that are a bit dark so that is when I went from having fun to being in love with this one. The actual plot is revealed very slowly too. For almost half of the book I was left wondering what it was all about, but then the characters go to a different part of the world and bits and pieces of the political intrigue is revealed. Even if there is still a lot of questions left with no answers by the end of this first book.
The characters are great. Most of them are spies and the reader follows them as they try to gather information and rob a thing here and there and that is very fun, but there is also magic involved and the magic is also great.
Everyone seems to have their own life going on and they aren't just waiting for the plot to happen around them. By the end of the book my favourite character was probably Alec since he was the one that grew the most, but there are many characters I love here and I hope to see more of them.
I am still hoping to see some of the women that were introduced in this book to shine in the future since they didn't have the chance to do that much yet, even though I already love Beka. I definitely got the feeling that they will show up more and be more important to future plots.
At times there are some info dumps and random songs, but I like the songs in fantasy books and the info dumps weren't long enough to bore me much. Besides, they are done in a believable way since everything is new to Alec, who spent all his life so far in the north, so the reader is learning along with him about the more magical south.
The world-building is alright. There are some fantastical creatures like centaurs and a species that are kind of like elves. The magic is something that can be learned, but remains mostly mysterious (which is how I like it). There is one or two instances where the magic solution was too convenient, but I didn't mind it because I got too attached to these characters and I just wanted them to be safe.
There is one fun magic spell that reveals the kind of animal a person is and that scene was great, especially because our two not so straight main characters are an otter and a stag.
There is also creepy imagery in the dreams some of the characters have. Some of those dreams seem to be prophetic and I found all of that pretty interesting. There is also necromancy, which unfortunately wasn't explored that much here but I hope to see more of.
The book ends with some mysteries left to uncover and a prophecy that I am still trying to figure out so I will read the sequel as soon as I can.