Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I struggled with this, which is hugely problematic as I love fantasy reads. I just couldn't get into this.

Lord of Secrets was such a fun read, featuring great characters, snappy dialogue, and an action-packed plot. The humour was fantastic and Corcoran was an engaging main character.

Corcoran Gray is an outlaw wizard, on the run from the Mages’ Guild as he tries to figure out a way to rescue his grandfather from imprisonment. When he gets tangled up with fugitive Brix and they both get arrested, things don’t seem like they could get much worse. That is, until Gray realises that Brix could be the key to finding and releasing his grandfather. All they have to do is escape from the Guild, break into an ancient underground temple, and survive a meeting with a deadly necromancer.

To be brutally honest, I don’t know why I read this whole book. I should have DNF’d it after the first few chapters. It isn’t terrible – it isn’t even bad – it just didn’t do anything for me.

There were aspects I enjoyed, the main one being the magical concept in this book: Wizards use magic by writing spells onto themselves, and suffer quite serious side-effects from it. This was an original and interesting concept, which was well developed throughout the book.

I had two real problems with Lord of Secrets which hindered my general enjoyment of the story. First, something about the characterisation just didn’t work for me. From the way Corcoran Gray was introduced, I pictured him as at least middle aged, possibly even quite elderly. I can’t pinpoint exactly what gave me this impression, but it really threw me off when I realised that he was actually meant to be in his early 20’s. Secondly, I absolutely hated the romantic element. The romantic relationship between Gray and Brix felt incredibly forced and rushed (not helped by my image of Gray as a 50-60 year-old) and I didn’t think the story needed it at all. I just couldn’t get on board with them as a couple.

Overall, Lord of Secrets really isn’t a bad book. It just wasn’t for me.

I am always on the look out for fantasy with a sense of humour – not necessarily funny or satirical, but something light-hearted and entertaining, rather than depressing and stodgy. Grimdark is really not my cup of tea. So I was incredibly excited to hear about Lord of Secrets, which was described as light, funny, and heartwarming in its press release – and boy did it deliver that and so much more!

This book is everything! I strongly suspect it’s going to end up in my top ten of the year and almost certainly in my all-time favourites – it manages to pull off a great adventure, some awesome worldbuilding, and some brilliant character work all in a lighthearted romp that is exciting and joyous to read. It’s The Mummy of fantasy – and that’s high praise coming from me. This kind of fantasy is so rare: it’s not ‘funny’, per se (not in a Terry Pratchett/Piers Anthony/Terry Brooks sort of way, anyway), but it’s unapologetically fun. It feels like playing Dragon Age or even a D&D game where you’re all a bit drunk and someone fails a roll and accidentally kisses an orc…

The core of the story is a fairly simple series of quests: Gray wants to rescue his grandfather, so he needs a magical gizzit, so he has to get the magical gizzit from the crypt in which it’s hidden, which is filled with puzzles. It’s great to have such a clear focus for the story, but where it gets fun is that so much goes wrong for him along the way that the story builds and builds until poor Gray has rather a lot more on his plate than he was expecting.

Anyway. I loved Gray, our main character, so much. He’s exactly the sort of snarky, charming, fed-up-of-everyone character I love to read about – he’s the kind of character that wishes he was chaotic neutral, but secretly cares too much and ends up doing the right thing against his better instinct. He’s young, but not shiny-faced YA young – but he’s far from being a grizzled old wizard. He’s a brilliant depiction of a smart 26 year old who’s coming to terms with life being a bit less cool than he’d thought. His narration is a hell of a lot of fun to be pulled along with – I fell for him within pages. Brix, too, is a fantastically written character. It would have been so easy to have her be a stereotypical sassy female sidekick, but she has her own stuff going on, and though she has some great one-liners, and she and Gray are banterous with each other, she’s got so much more depth than just sass. When they literally run into each other while escaping the scenes of their wholly separate crimes, the adventure really begins.

The magic system is wonderful – it’s complicated in practice, but easy to read about. Magic must be written down in order to work, which introduces an interesting set of restrictions as to when spells can be cast, but in addition to that, magic takes a huge physical toll on the caster. The pain and damage can be transferred to another person, if they’re of a particular magical race, and if you have no morals or aversion to slavery… Gray, luckily, is not a dick, but this does mean he has to bear the cost of his magic himself, which causes a lot of problems given that he already has a permanently injured knee.

On a side note to that, I hugely appreciated the disability rep here – Gray’s physical limits are always in the back of his mind, even when facing down undead horrors (though he often ignores those limits, which is a major but very understandable character flaw!). I loved his frustration with his disability and his determination to never let it hold him back – except when it does. He may not be a great model for how to cope with chronic injury (he’s not exactly a poster boy for good decisions), but it’s amazing to see a disabled hero in fantasy.

I haven’t even talked about my favourite bit yet, and that’s Jaern! I really can’t tell you too much, cause it all gets a bit twisty and spoilery, but once he comes into the story, it thoroughly cemented this book as one of my favourite fantasies ever. He’s just perfect. Like Howl Pendragon if he was a lot more morally dubious and a lot more overtly bi! Once you’ve read the book, please slide into my DMs so we can yell about how much I love Jaern, okay?

There’s so much fun to be had here, honestly. There’s a spooky dungeon crawl through a ruined temple filled with reanimated bone creatures and fiendish puzzles! There’s sarcasm up the wazoo! There’s languid putdowns and crazed zealots and fights where everyone thinks it’s going to be super cool but then they remember they aren’t any good at fighting and it turns out getting punched hurts quite a lot! It’s a rollicking fantasy romp, and I ADORED it. And writing this, I just want to read it again.

Five out of five cats, of course, and can I have book 2 soon?

https://lynns-books.com/2019/08/12/lord-of-secrets-the-empty-gods-1-by-breanna-teintze/
Lord of Secrets was a fun fantasy read with some interesting concepts particularly around the magic system usef. I thought this was an entertaining debut, I wouldn’t call it a deep think or particularly detailed in the area of world building but after a slightly slow start it was an enjoyable read with a self contained ending.

As the story begins we meet Corcoran Gray, a young wizard who is on the run, desperately trying to avoid capture at the same time as relentlessly searching for his missing grandfather. Both Gray and his grandfather have been living outside the law, practising magic without being a part of the Guild that regulates such usage. Gray’s grandfather has been taken, and being quite a powerful mage, is being held at a secret location, Gray has been trying to find him, whilst on the run, for almost six months when he accidentally bumps into a runaway slave called Brix, who he discovers might be just the answer to some of his prayers.

The two of them are forced into an unlikely union of sorts, on the run but both with a purpose of their own.

Lord of Secrets feels almost like a YA read to me – but, I’m not an expert on this and sometimes miss things that would perhaps be unsuitable for a slightly younger audience so that comment should be taken with a pinch of salt. I think what I’m primarily going off with that remark is the age of the two main characters, plus, and I don’t mean this in a bad way, but the world building doesn’t feel as thorough as it can be in some fantasy books, there’s a more upbeat/hopeful style than in some of the grimdark reads that are very popular and there is also a love interest element going on.

What I really liked about this, after a slightly slow start, was the magic and the fact that wielding magic comes with consequences – dire consequences for some in fact. Gray is a young but highly inventive mage but he knows firsthand the toll that using magic can take and this makes him hesitate to throw magic at everything willy nilly. I like magic with consequences which mean the characters have to think first. I also really liked the story when it got into full swing with the characters entering underground tunnels to try and find an artefact. As it happens they find much more, the result of which is we are introduced to a very interesting character indeed.

In terms of criticisms. I hate to labour the point but there is a slightly sluggish start to the story and a feeling of the author not quite being fully settled into the piece, once that happens however the story flows much better with snappy dialogue and more adventure – it just takes a little patience. I never quite fell in love with Gray or Brix. I liked them but I just felt like I held myself back for some reason that I haven’t quite put my finger on, in fact I found that my favourite character was not really the one that you’re supposed to like – he was just very interesting and much easier to picture. Which leads to my final little issue. The ending. Yes, this is a self contained story and I have a great deal of respect for that just by itself, but, I couldn’t help feeling like the ending, and the romance were a little rushed, abrupt almost.

Issues aside, this was an enjoyable read that once it got into its stride kept the pages turning at a great pace.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

I would rate this 7/10 or 3.5 of 5 stars on Goodreads.

My thanks to Quercus Books/Jo Fletcher Books for an eARC via NetGalley of Breanna Teintze’s debut novel, ‘Lord of Secrets’, in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first in a planned series titled ‘The Empty Gods’. It’s a fast-paced fantasy romp with a group of memorable characters. There is great dialogue and plenty of razor sharp wit as well as a highly engaging storyline.

Corcoran Gray is a wizard on the run. He is seeking the location of his imprisoned grandfather while avoiding the tyrannical Mages’ Guild. In the opening chapter he is suffering from a migraine and hiding in a haystack. He has also spelled himself invisible. Suddenly a young woman comes sprinting into the barn and dives into the haystack and onto his lap! A few minutes later and the men chasing her catch up with them.

It transpires that Brix is a Temples slave seeking her freedom. She has knowledge of the temple-system enough to circumvent the wards. Thus, after escaping their pursuers for the first time, Gray suggests that they help each other as he needs to break into a temple and liberate an artefact to assist in his quest.

Central to this story is an interesting and well thought out magical system involving runic symbols written onto skin and activated by incantation. In this world magic has serious side effects and is essentially poisonous, which accounts for Gray’s sick headache in the opening. In addition to the type of magic used by Gray and other mages, necromancy is also practiced by some, though it is forbidden.

Teintze’s world-building is accomplished and there is a great chemistry and brilliant repartee between Gray and Brix. As someone who struggles with mobility, it was also affirming to have a main character, Gray, dealing with this kind of disability.

There are plenty of surprises along the way as the plot took some interesting twists. Once I started reading I devoured it in a single day. I am looking forward to news of Book 2 of The Empty Gods and further exploration of this rich fantasy world.

I had no idea going into this book that it would become a list of things I LOVE. Seriously. Thieves. Magic. Riddles. Secret caverns. Morally corrupt Trickster gods. And it was all done so well. Once it got going I had a problem putting this book down (to the extent I nearly missed a very rare dinner outing because I lost track of time!)

The magic system worked by writing spells down (normally on the casters body) but it also causes a poison to build up which means the magic used is normally highly regulated. Enter Corcorun Gray, an outcast who makes up his own rules on the hunt for his kidnapped grandfather. Rogue wizards, necromantic gods, complicated family, a hidden maze of riddles and lots of quick reactions leading to very bad decisions equals an awesome, action packed fantasy story. I absolutely love morally broken, flashy, trickster gods too and the one in this was brilliant!

My ONLY problem with this book is that it does feature the magic cure for disability. I actually had no idea going into this book that the MC was disabled. He has a badly healed knee and therefore a limp. He wears a brace and deals with a lot of pain from it. He also has magic induced seizures when he uses too many spells (magic is poison remember?). I'm always so happy when I see a disabled character in a fantasy book and I LOVED how it was treated through most of the book. I loved Gray so much. He felt whole and nuanced and awesome! A brilliant character. How many badass disabled characters can you name who get to go on adventures? Not many for me anyway. So when I got to the end and he got cured…. It's disappointing. I'm not going to lie. I love this book but it's sad seeing this happen. A good thing is that Gray never goes after a cure, it's never a motivation, and his life is actually more complicated rather than easier for it in the end but it left me feeling quite sad that, having found an awesome disabled character in a book I loved, he won't be disabled in the sequel.

But, this is an amazing fantasy book I'd recommend for anyone who wants an action packed story full of magic and awesome characters. For me it's just bittersweet that Gray gets cured.

Content warning: magic cure for disability.

I'm grateful to Jo Fletcher Books for a free advance e-copy of this book via NetGalley and inviting me to take part in the blog tour.

I love a book with a grabby, exciting beginning, and Lord of Secrets has that, as rogue young wizard Corcoran Gray, who happens to be invisible at the time, crashes into a remote barn and encounters escaped slave-girl Brix.

Thrown together, the two embark on a series of breakneck adventures, hunted both by the Temples (Brix) and the Magicians' Guild (Gray). Brix is trying to free her sister, who's been sold to the Temples; Gray, to locate and free his grandfather, who has been arrested for necromancy. It's a smart, high-voltage take on magic, Gray being pretty mean at scribing runes and Brix having secrets and abilities of her own. Ion fact, once begun, it's a book that keeps you hooked with the pages simply whizzing by.

I especially enjoyed the fact that the focus is fairly tight, with the primary interested being the consequences for the protagonists and their families. There are wider plots going on involving the fate of the Kingdom and, at one point, a potential undead uprising, but nobody really cares about any of that - they just want their loved ones safe. I found that refreshing.

Of course there is a romance subplot here, and it's good to see it develop and to see the - rather scratchy and awkward - two central characters manoeuvre, but there really isn't a lot of time for them given the constant series of threats, from those pursuing guildies to rapacious innkeepers, starvation on the road and bony zombies. Gray's magical abilities - and the poison that results form scribing runes on the skin - are constantly drawn upon, even as he tries to solve the mystery of his grandfather's whereabouts and of his own origin, which is pretty unclear. Finding one's place in the world is of course a well used theme, but Teintze brings, I think, something genuinely original to it with Gray and the comparison and contrast with Brix's is complex and interesting.

While in one or two places I could see the storyline closely paralleling a Dungeons & Dragons adventure, Teintze avoids cliche (not bags of gold pieces for Corcoran and Brix) and overall I greatly enjoyed this book and wound recommend it, especially if you're not sure whether you want to read fantasy or not.

I found this book both a lot of fun and a bit of a struggle.

First, I loved the magic-casting system. It's based on reading runes, which have to be written somewhere, often on the caster's body. And casting magic has side effects, which can take the length of the spell to come into affect, leaving the caster ill and damaged by the toxicity. In addition to that is a race of people, the Tyrnaal, who can absorb the toxic effects of magic, and are used for this. Add to that is a political backstory about the use of magic, Guilds, the right to use magic and what it can be used for.

And, I loved the story. At its basis is Corcoran Gray, who has to right a wrong and rescue his grandfather, who has been kept prisoner on necromancy charges. Gray has barriers and barriers built up around him, and makes an effort to push everyone away. And in order to save his grandfather, he has to break into Temples, gather artefacts and allow others a little bit closer. I love a good mystery/heist/break-in sequence and this book definitely offered it.

On the other hand, I often felt in the dark whilst reading Lord of Secrets. I don't know whether that was intentional (as the name suggests) or whether there was content missing in the writing that made this harder for me - some things, such as Gray's interior monologue, were hashed over and over - whilst I needed more details about characters' backgrounds, motivations and the world they were in. Some of this is the disadvantage of first person storytelling from Gray's point of view - it meant that the reader was even more in the dark than he was (and he picked up on things frustratingly slowly). But there were quite a few times when I just wanted the story to dwell more on a location, or an idea, and give me chance to enjoy it, rather than rushing the information past.

I'm hoping that some of that information would come through in the second book, and, with these characters and setting, I would definitely be interested in the next book.

An excellent, fun to read and engrossing fantasy, it was a really pleasant book and I loved.
It's great to read a fantasy book that is light, well written and make you root for the characters.
And it's also great to read a fantasy book that makes you root for the characters and they're not killed in the next chapters.
I liked the plot that keeps you hooked, the fleshed out cast of characters, and the great world building.
As a lot of fantasy book are now very grim and full of gore this one was an excellent exception.
I look forward to reading other books by this author because there's a lot of potential.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Lord of Secrets could have been better if it didn't have so many flaws. It is true the story was a fast paced but the reader find himself in the middle of the action since the first page without any information, which is a little bit confusing. It also lacked in depth and background, and I didn't feel emotionally captivated by the story and the characters.

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this so much. It’s fun and hilarious in places, and yet still has quite a dark story about necromancy!

Gray reminded me a lot of Harry Dresden, I instantly liked him because of it. He’s self sacrificing, a bit of an idiot at times, far too smart for his own good and massively out of his depth. What’s not to like?? Plus he’s so funny.

I went back and forth a little on the two main side characters - I wanted their motivation and story to be a little more nailed down. But I do like where it all ended up for them.

Acarius made me so infuriated but when we finally meet him, it’s so much easier to understand him.

And Jaern is just so good! Or not, as the case may be! ;) he’s soooooo manipulative. I loved watching his machinations come together.

Basically horrendously good fun and I definitely recommend reading it. 4.5 stars.

I tried really hard to like this book, but most of the time I was confused. In terms of the opening, I appreciate the author thrusting the reader straight into the action, but I initially didn’t have much to go on in terms of the main protagonists name/appearance, which really threw me for a ball. Here was a character, driven to illness through use of magic, who was in the middle of some kind of conflict due to the sudden appearance of a stranger — the second protagonist, who I got to know a little more about… A complete stranger to the first protagonist, and suddenly they are joining up to infiltrate a Temple. Then suddenly there are more characters who join up with them and they’re all on an adventure … I wasn’t clear on any of the reasons why, because it all felt nebulous and jumbled, and my overall sense of confusion remained throughout the book.

I’m no stranger to fantasy, and the magic system was interesting — but in terms of characterisation and plot, I was mainly bored. These aspects felt light and in some cases, very stereotypical. I didn’t care about any of the characters. I felt the world-building needed work and a lot more depth for me to really get my teeth into the story. I love being completely immersed in epic fantasy worlds and this just did not do it for me. I hate leaving a one-star review, but I really didn’t enjoy it — however, someone who enjoys light fantasy may do so; it’s personal preference.

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Quercus Books, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hands down, no dramas – loved it!

For starters- magic! There is soooo much magic in this book! Lord of Secrets is ALL about magic. The interesting kind of magic that has unfavourable side-effects. The kind of side-effects that make a wizard think- man, do I really HAVE to use magic right now? Can I do away with a smaller scale spell?

Ooh! And necromancy! This book got the necromancy, as well! And brilliant writing which makes the story flow so smooth, silk ain’t got nothing on it. And humour! There’s a good mix of everything to keep this story fresh and intriguing.

Which takes me to a thought I had when I read the blurb of the book… Sometimes, it’s all good that author comparison’s are drawn – you KIND OF know what you’re going to get from a new-to-you story/author. But… I am going to say this- Teintze does not need comparisons! She be the bomb standing on her own two glorious, authory feet! I promise!

The main character Corcoran Gray is a young wizard who finds himself constantly at odds with The Guild (the folk that regulate what magic can and shouldn’t be done), at odds with his Grandfather (who is actually now captured!) and at odds with himself, too. His such a wonderful character. It’s been a while since I read about someone who had such a powerful moral standing ground. It was solid! He is simply NOT at all someone who could do harm to others (even if they sometimes deserver even just a little bit of harm ^^) and while he can act like a bit of a brat, his heart is in the right place.

Yes, this is not a story about good becoming evil, or evil becoming good. It is probably not also a story about good versus evil – maybe in a small way it is. But the main point of Lord of Secrets is exactly the excitement that comes with magic being poison and secrets being power!

Anyway, as Corcoran does his quest of finding his Grandfather – with whom he’s at odds – not a spoiler – this is clear quite soon into the story, and it’s not even a huge element of it all- he meets people on the way. Dude(tte), I know how this sounds. Proper adventure… There’s Brix and Lorican and Jaern and slavers and Keris. Eeek… And they all have a surprise up their sleeve! I am actually shaking here because I simply cannot say more – I cannot analyse the ins and outs of each of the relationship dynamics here because that would simply ruin the surprise for you…

Lord of Secrets is worth the read for any fantasy lover for its representation of magic alone for magic the uttermost driving force of this particular story and it’s beautiful (if slightly debilitating!). The characters – each on their own – could have their very own books written about them, and I would read them, devours them. Together, these characters, turned the story into a special kind of magic – a potion of revenge and redemption, a cocktail of sweet and sour and spicy, a spell of understanding, forgiveness and love, a curse of beginnings and ends.

…. stares into the distance with a dreamy look on face... yeah, that was a good book!

This week is blog blast week for Lord Of Secret by Breanna Teintze.
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Corcoran Gray is a wizard and is using magic outside the rules that are set by the Mages Guild.
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He is on the run and while being on the run he is looking for his grandfather who has been captured.
Corcoran is looking for an artefact that could save his grandfather.
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During his travels Corcoran comes across a young lady called Brix. The dynamic between the 2 works really well.
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There is so much more to this fantasy read that I don’t really want to divulge anymore.
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Any fantasy genre lover will love to get their teeth into this book
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Thank you @jofletcherbooksculcasi and @breanna_teintze for the opportunity to read this book.
#lordofsecrets #blogblast #bookofig #bookstragrammer #bookstagram #booksbooksandmorebooks #bookcommunity #feedyourread #readerofig #loverofbooks #readinglover #readerofinstagram #literatureisbeauty #tylwythtegyllyfr #fantasygenre

Initially, I was drawn to Lord of Secrets by the amazing premise. A book with a unique magic system? And compelling hooks? And the humour of a Schwab book? Count me in. Alas, it wasn’t quite the novel I was expecting or hoping to open up, and it fell a little short of my expectations. That’s not to say it was a bad book, or anything like that. I actually quite enjoyed reading it, and I got through it in two sittings, so that was a big positive to me. But it was a bit misleading IMO at least, on the humour front. There were a lot of jokes and quips, but nothing that had even a slightly similar taste to Schwab’s sense of humour in her writing. I wouldn’t normally complain about something as inconsequential as a comp, but it felt a bit underwhelming to me mostly because it had told me it was going to try and leap over a very high bar and it…didn’t.

The world-building in this one was pretty incredible. I loved how the magic system worked, and how different it seemed from everything I’ve read before. It was imaginative and for the most part, I knew what was happening and why. There were moments where it lacked some explanation though, and at times it felt almost as if the magic just happened because it could. Unfortunately, it’s a big deal in fantasy novels. If magic isn’t explained enough, then the reader feels almost as though the characters can do pretty much anything with it because the plot tells them to. I did just try and push past these moments though, simply because the concept was so dang cool.

Character-wise, I liked everyone well enough. I thought the motivations worked well for each character, and they all came across as distinctive and well-developed. I particularly enjoyed seeing things from Corcoran’s perspective. It helped a lot to get his insight into the world around him. And although he didn’t have a Schwab type sense of humour, I did think he was an entertaining and quippy character. I was less sold on the romance aspects of the book. Although I liked both characters on their own, the romance itself felt a bit too instalove for me. I know characters are thrown together in dire circumstances and it means they bond a lot quicker, but it felt like there were some key choices throughout the novel where the characters made a decision based on love, even though it didn’t feel like it was at that level yet. I think part of the problem is that we don’t really see much of the two characters together in order to get a sense of their feelings. There’s definitely chemistry and attraction, but it feels like a biiiiig leap to say there’d be intense feelings between them throughout the book. There simply weren’t enough scenes of them interacting together, and even when they were, the plot definitely worked against this making sense.

Perhaps the thing that really confused me though, was the ending. I won’t go into spoilers at all, but I will say WTAF? There were some tiny hints threaded through Lord of Secrets and in some sense, I did enjoy how twisty the ending was, but it just wasn’t foreshadowed enough for me. There wasn’t enough earlier in the book to make me think this was a satisfying ending. Rather, it comes across as a bit OOC and just plain weird. As in, I actually stared at my book for a good handful of minutes trying to figure out if anything made sense any more. It might have been twisty and unexpected, but I wasn’t a fan of it. I don’t know. There are endings that feel justified somehow, they satisfy you. This didn’t do it for me.

I will say that pacing-wise, Lord of Secrets was pretty strong. The character motivations were so present and demanding that it definitely put a lot of pressure on their decision making and it felt like there was always a lot at stake, and there would always be someone missing out because someone else had made a decision to benefit themselves. The writing style is pretty punchy too, and lends itself to the fast pace of the novel.

Overall, I’m giving Lord of Secrets a 5/10 stars. Although it was an entertaining read with some great characters and a unique magic system, I felt like it was lacking some essential spark for me. It didn’t come across quite as advertised, which is a shame because I think I would have enjoyed the book a touch more if I hadn’t been expecting so much from it. Furthermore, the plot twist at the end was just bizarre and didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and it didn’t leave me feeling satisfied. I would still give the next book in the series another chance, but I’d be weary about hoping for too much from it.

Corcoran Grey unlicensed mage has been looking for his grandfather for months. This debut novel from Breanna Tientze is a wonderful tale full of magic and treachery. Grey is determined to find his grandfather and will go through all challenges including an immortal necromancer.
Lord of Secrets has a very original magic system where you have to write down the runes for the spell before they can be cast, but each spell you cast poisons you at the same time and requires the mages to either find a way to remove the toxic parts from their body or rest between casting. I really enjoyed this take on magic and found it kind of refreshing instead of having an unlimited supply of magic that can be wielded with no major affects on the caster.
This is a single POV story that we watch through Grey as he goes on an emotional roller coaster from the imprisonment of his grandfather to being hunted by the Guild. Grey is a nice guy that hides himself by acting like a jerk as much as possible. Its nice to watch the changes in him as events happen around him.
I really enjoyed reading this and highly recommend this to be added to your tbr pile.

Corcoran Gray, a rogue wizard operating outside the rules of the Mages Guild, is on the run and on a mission, desperate to recover an artefact that might save his grandfather's life.

He gets sat on in a haybarn (long story) by Brix, a young woman with secrets of her own, who is soon drawn into his plans. They pick up an old friend of his grandfather's and travel deep, deep into a temple, unaware of what's lying in wait for them.

This is an interesting start to a fantasy series, being in some ways quite a straightforward tale of 'I want to get that object, now we're on our way there, got it, what next?'. But while outwardly the plot is in somewhat of a straight line, of course it's a lot more complicated than that.

For a start, men and monsters alike are trying to hunt them down. Second and most importantly, when Gray finally gets into the temple, he discovers something and someone that could put his soul at risk. Maybe everyone's lives at risk. And there's no way to know for sure who he can trust...

Gray has an entertaining voice with a humourous edge. The magic system in this series is interesting and well thought out. I really liked the main antagonist (and would've liked to have spent more time with him, actually) and the supporting cast worked well, though I wouldn't have said no to learning more about them - but perhaps there's time for that in whatever books come next. I'll be reading them!

This book was like going to really cheap buffet and then, and then when you're halfway down the line and well acquainted with the plain food, a michelin quality dish appears before you. It's like, wow this is some tasty food. But also, what the hell is it doing in a place like this?

In this metaphor the tasty food is a single character, Jack. (Jack is not actually the character's name, but it's what I'm going to call him for the sake of spoilers. It's short for Jack Shephard, because he must have gotten lost and ended up in this book). The prose, pacing and every single character except Jack are painfully flat. There's no spark to anything. Our first-person protagonist, Grey, keeps up a litany of obvious statements and boring self-doubt. He's basically a self-taught genius when it comes to magic, but there's none of the arrogance or joy that might make that interesting. He's occasionally witty when he speaks, which could have been fun if it were reflected in his inner monologue, but it's not.

The other two main characters, Brix and Loracan are no better. Brix is a runaway slave and Loracan is, I don't know. He's older I guess. Calls Grey lad a lot. Is fiercely loyal to Grey's grandfather for reasons that I think are supposed to be intriguing.

The plot here is that Grey's grandfather is imprisoned and Grey wants to free him. Grey thinks about his grandfather a lot, but never managed to paint any kind of image for him to help the reader get invested. There's a lot of, 'I miss him, we fought, I hope he's ok,' when what we really need is some concrete memories or something to help us care what happened to him.

Information is imparted clumsily. At one point Grey sneaks up behind some bad guys just in time to hear them be like 'as you know Bob, we're doing this for these reasons as follows...' or like the bad guy says things to grey like 'you know I want to achieve x!' Like, dude, if he already knows it, why are you saying it? Oh, right, it's for the readers benefit. Clumsy.

Anyway, by the fifty percent point barely anything had happened and I was bored. I was skimming, which is always the step before giving up entirely for me. And then, there he was. Jack. A fascinating character I instantly wanted to see more of, in this book? What? A well written character? I could actually picture him, unlike anyone else in this book. Everything about him was clever, from his introduction to his dialogue to his mysterious background and the way I couldn't be sure what side he was on.

But alas, Jack was too good for this book, and was punished for it. An interesting character who doesn't do what the reader expects? No, we can't have that! Much better to drag out some offensive gay stereotypes that the rest of the genre has moved past. Grey loves a single woman with a love that's good and pure and he'd sacrifice anything for her, whereas Jack is gay and flirts with everyone, and is selfish, and lets his evil gay feelings lead him to do evil gay things.

Can you hear my eyes rolling? It's criminal, to create such a cool character and then ruin him so completely, and in such a boring, trite way.

Ugh. Two stars for Jack, though if I had my way a smoke-monster would come and take him away to a book that deserves him.