The Obsidian Tower (Rooks and Ruin, #1)
Melissa Caruso
The mage-marked granddaughter of a ruler of Vaskandar, Ryx was destined for power and prestige at the top of Vaskandran society. But her magic is broken; all she can do is uncontrollably drain the life from everything she touches, and Vaskandar has no place for a mage with unusable powers. Then, one night, two terrible accidents befall her: Ryx accidentally kills a visiting dignitary in self-defense, activating a mysterious magical artifact sealed in an ancient tower in the heart of her family’s castle. Ryx flees, seeking a solution to her deadly magic. She falls in with a group of unlikely magical experts investigating the disturbance in Vaskandar—and Ryx realizes that her family is in danger and her domain is at stake. She and her new colleagues must return to the family stronghold to take control of the artifact that everyone wants to claim—before it destroys the world.
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I've had this book on my TBR list for years at this point and I'm not sure how I never noticed it's tagged as YA. Which was an unpleasant surprise in this case. I'm not familiar with the universe in which this trilogy takes place since I haven't read the prequels but this particular installment didn't feel serious enough. Amidst political drama, murder investigations, unleashing demons, dealing with broken (fatal) magic and a whole myriad of other life threatening problems - the main character somehow had the time to care about a bunch of people she met a few days ago to the extent of risking her life multiple times to save them. The Rookery was a fun bunch of characters, each with their own unique useful set of traits but they were ultimately flat and only used when convenient - same goes for all the rest of the secondary characters including the grandma. Ryxander herself was an annoying protagonist, changing her mind a thousand times and stalling for no reason, pretending to battle morals and family obligations. She was somehow treated like garbage one second and then respected as royalty the next. Most of the confrontations weren't actually explored in-depth and were either miraculously handled in 2 chapters or dragged out until the very end where an actual demon decided to just be nice for a change. I'm sure some of those are revisited in the next two books but I don't think I'll read them any time soon to find out. Something I liked about the book was the representation within The Rookery and the fact that Ryx and Severin were only hinted at as a romantic pair without it turning into full-blown romance cuz I think that would have made me DNF the book.
0Melissa Caruso has created the best magic system I have read in years. Not only is it clever and well explained, but the way it ties into the politics and social structure of the world is incredible.
This book takes place 150 years after the events in Swords and Fire trilogy. You do not really need to read her previous works to understand what is happening, however, you will enjoy The Obsidian Tower a lot more if you have. There are a few little Easter eggs hidden in this book that made me smile.
I warmed my heart to be back in Vaskandar. I cannot wait for the rest of this series to be released.
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