Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Good lord. Sebastien de Castell is kinda a god among writers. I have not read a single one of his novels that I haven't loved.

It's really hard to say what I love the most. The characters have such bright and vivid voices, the magic is both interesting and well fleshed-out with wonderful rules and consequences, and the plots are snappy.

This may be a YA novel but that hardly matters to me at all. The reckoning is coming, the buildup and reveals perfect, and the humor sharp and delightful and dark.

What do you do when you gradually learn that all your folk is bad? Maybe not currently bad, but there's a lot of that, too, but bad ethically and morally? That their culture propagates prejudice and nastiness and what could become general slavery for anyone not in on the inside?

We ask this question all through the tale as our MC slides from promise and becomes all the things that his world hates while remaining true to truth and honor as he sees it.

Great theme, right? But this gets better. The entire novel is just plain FUN. Great fantasy, quick delight, and solid end. :)

I don't think there's anything this writer can't do right. :)

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