The Obsidian Tower

A lot of fantasy politics, potentially too much for some people, but I thought it was done well. A cross between Girl, Serpent, Thorn and Gideon the Ninth.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and I must say that I heartily enjoyed it! Ryx is a well written and strong character and I really felt for her as she struggled to live and be a warden of the land, all the while trying to get a grip on her broken magic and not hurt anyone or anything. Then there is the mystery of the Black Tower and the creepy Gloaming Lore . That was exciting though it was infuriating the stupidity of one character that decides to open it to gain more power. That is what starts the ball rolling to possible Dark Days. Why is it that those with power always want more? And I agree with Ryx that so many problems would never happen if the warnings passed down about not opening certain things explaining why it should remain so. But then I guess the mystery is needed for a good, exciting story. I preferred the Raverran and Serene Empire way of governing as opposed to the immortal/very long lived Witch Lords which was very feudal with the few athelings having too much power in my opinion but the magic system was pretty cool to learn about, the greenwitches and furwitches and such. And of course the chimeras. I like Whisper though things would have been easier without his crypticness. The Rookery are cool too, with traveling around, fixing magical issues. I enjoyed their interactions with Ryx too. The Shrike Lord on the other hand is too power hungry and willing to do anything and I did not like him one bit (his brother is worth getting to know though). The same goes for the Zenith Society which needs to learn to value something besides the pursuit of magic. I enjoyed this story and I cannot wait for the next one! Go Rookery! I hope they can deal with the problem.