I don’t often read on the Kindle app; I prefer having a paper object that I don’t’ have to worry about charging or breaking, and that doesn’t keep me up late with screen brain buzz. However, sometimes when there’s a sale on something interesting, I might on rare occasions download an ebook. I’d forgotten about Notorious Sorcerer, but for some reason, I opened the app, and decided that’s what I wanted to read.
This story is sort of cozy, fantasy, a little romance, and adventure. Siyon is a finder of ingredients for alchemists, and he would really like to become an alchemist, but he doesn’t’ have the funds or connections to get the education he needs to formally join the Summer Club organization, such as it is. Alchemy is technically illegal, and what Siyon has to do to get ingredients, basically travel between places of existence, is pretty dangerous. For some reason his buddy sends him a girl named Zagiri as a helper, and the two of them get involved in alchemical and political shenanigans. Zagiri then disappears from the story for a while, and her sister who is married to a rival of Siyon’s to whom he sells ingredients and is a practicing alchemist (again, sort of) starts to take over. Anahid (Zagiri’s elder sister) is on the surface a good girl, recently married as her family wanted, but inside she wants to rebel and do/be something more. She’s actually one of the more interesting characters. Final key character is Izmirlian, who tries to and eventually succeeds in convincing Siyon to help him disappear into another plane; I think.
I’m actually not entirely sure what it is Izmirlian actually wants, and that’s kind of a problem in the story. There’s a lot of introductions to people or concepts or world things, but then it’s forgotten or not developed. Zagiri is one of those things. So is the general magic/alchemical system. Likewise, at least for me, the social world/history that seems pretty important to a lot of things, especially when the powers that be start getting involved, both mundane political (important people’s sons disappear at least once) and other planes; apparently there seems to be some kind of imbalance between the I think 4 planes that threatens all of existence, and someone needs to achieve the Power of the Mundane (plane), whatever that means to re-balance and save all the realms.
There’s enough good stuff here to keep things interesting until the end, but I’m not convinced it’d be worth it digging up the sequel.