A gifted student foretells an apocalypse. Her reward is a sentence of death.
Fleeing into the unknown she is drawn into a team of outcasts:
A broken soldier, who once again takes up the weapons he’s forbidden to wield and carves a trail back home.
A drunken prince, who steps out from his beloved brother’s shadow and claims a purpose of his own.
An imprisoned thief, who escapes the crushing dark and discovers a gleaming artifact – one that will ignite a power struggle across the globe.
On the run, hunted by enemies old and new, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive in a world evolved in strange, beautiful, and deadly ways, and uncover ancient secrets that hold the key to their salvation.
But with each passing moment, doom draws closer.
WHO WILL CLAIM THE STARLESS CROWN?
Ok, I have to be honest and say that the only reason I picked up this book is because of the cover.
So, while that is true, and I absolutely love the cover I am happy to say that I really enjoyed the book as well. I was surprised to learn that James Rollins has not written any fantasy in around 10 years, and this was his first adventure back into that space.
I was completely drawn in by the the worlds and the characters that live in it. I loved the unique state of the world with its thin strip of livable land between two extremes, aka the crown. Also, the mix of medieval and a more advanced, or ancient in the case of the book, system of steampunkish like copper tubes and mechanisms was awesome.
One of my favorite things about reading a new fantasy series is being introduced to a new magic system and this books did not disappoint. While some of the specifics are still being discovered the basis of the magic system are a cool twist. The use of singing and the resonance that different beings have with each other was an awesome idea.
As usual my reviews just end up with me rambling about a book for a while without any structure, but hey that’s very me so I’m ok with it. Anyways I am really looking forward to the next installment of this series and I am hoping the next cover is just as gorgeous as this one.
The Shadow Library 