An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Re-Read 2/15/24:

Since I'm now revisiting the series, I just want to point out that I really DO like this novel in particular. The whole trip to Blind Michael's land (multiple times) was really dark and really adventuresome. It really took these books in a cool direction.

It also means a lot that we get a lot more personality out of a certain salty sea witch. I love that woman.


Original Review:

Some aspects of this novel were slightly repetitive, but that's ok since it drove the point home that thank-you's are a strict no-no. Unfortunately, too much of it drew my attention to the writing.

Otherwise, I thought that this was the strongest of the three novels. The very nature of repetition, including the conflict with Blind Michael, was the novel's main strength. I really enjoyed the conflict and escalation, and even the super-heavy focus on the candle worked into something more than a plot device. I've got the feeling, without any concrete proof, that the work has been drawn into something much more subtle than the very straightforward heroic urban fantasy that it resembles.

That's high praise, by the way.

The melodrama was quite high, and I loved seeing the hard choices being made. It was definitely a turning point for the main character.

On to the next in the series!

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