I’m not sure if it’s been me this year or the novels I’ve picked but I’ve had a lot of novels that have been good/fine without being blown away by too many of them. This one also fell strongly in the “it’s alright” category for me even though I know others quite loved it.
The basic plot description is that Lock, the main character, wants to steal a priceless manuscript from an important political leader – since it once belonged to her family who died while she was away at war, she doesn’t consider it stealing as much as getting back what’s hers. She already has one loyal team member, hires a few other former colleagues, and recruits some new people who are out of options to help in her quest for vengeance/justice.
To be honest, I thought it would be fun to read another heist novel in a fantasy world, and while the plotting kept everything in place and all came together, it still felt like it was higher stakes than I necessarily wanted from a fun heist novel. As expected, the novel involved a mixed group of ragtag outcasts that come together for a job, and there is some interesting background and world building. In other ways, it felt like there was almost too much since there were a lot of other magical and political forces going on in the background. Basically, it was a heist story with a Chosen One story tossed into the mix. Basically, for a heist novel, there were way too many dead bodies along the way, while if I had been reading a Chosen One, Good vs. Evil story from the beginning, those may have bothered me less?
I know it’s a trilogy, but I wanted to get more into the larger story that was being hinted at, thus detracting from the heist, and I am not sure this one grabbed me in a way where I feel like investing in two more novels to get all those answers.