Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

Spellslinger (Spellslinger, #1)

by Sebastien de Castell

MAGIC IS A CON GAME.

Kellen is moments away from facing his first mage's duel and the start of four trials that will make him a spellcaster. There's just one problem: his magic is gone.

As his sixteenth birthday approaches, Kellen falls back on his cunning in a bid to avoid total disgrace. But when a daring stranger arrives in town, she challenges Kellen to take a different path.

Ferius Parfax is one of the mysterious Argosi - a traveller who lives by her wits and the three decks of cards she carries. She's difficult and unpredictable, but she may be Kellen's only hope...

The first in a rich and compelling fantasy series bursting with tricks, traps and a devious talking squirrel cat. Perfect for fans of THE DARK TOWER, FIREFLY, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, TERRY PRATCHETT, BEN AARONOVITCH and JIM BUTCHER.

Reviewed by boghunden on

4 of 5 stars

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I'm not into fantasy books, yet I loved this one. It had all the things that I like in fantasy, and I'm picky!

I absolutely loved Kellen, right from the beginning of the book. I also really liked the dynamics between all the different characters and how the society worked. I think it was different enough to be unique, and still familiar enough to our world that you could relate to it.

One of the things I knew before going in was Kellen's relationship with this squirrelcat. It's different enough that I definitely wanted to check it out. I've also met the author and he was so funny! So was this book. Not hysterically funny, but still.

I think the book was very well written, it had some new words as well as "races" within the society, which I appreciated and enjoyed. It helped set the tone. There was a lot of action going on all the time, which just made the pages fly by.

One thing I will say though is that I thought Ferius would play a bigger part in the book. I missed that because that was another thing I really liked in the book.

I'll definitely be continuing with this series!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 31 August, 2019: Finished reading
  • 31 August, 2019: Reviewed