I wanted to read something fun in the fantasy genre, with an interesting world, and this book caught my eye. In the end, I got what I wanted.
There are four Londons in the world of this book: Grey, Red, White and Black. There is no magic in Gray, there are magic in Red and the people they live in harmony with it, in White it is also there, but people are trying to subdue it, and they are also ready to kill each other for it, and Black is completely absorbed by magic.
Antari, people with a black eye, can move between them, while in order to open the portal they need a thing from London, to which they must move.
I liked the world of the book. It is original, the author described in sufficient detail how magic works and the rules of this world. And I want to read more about this magical world.
The story here is as follows. Kell, an Antari who delivers letters to different kings, different Londons, and also smuggles things from other worlds. One day, someone instructs him to deliver a letter containing a black stone, a surviving artifact from Black London, and now Kell must take it back to his world before it falls into bad hands, and Laila, a thief from Gray London, will help him in this.
In principle, the plot is good. He is dynamic, does not stand still, something always happens and Chekhov's guns shoot at the right moment, and there are a lot of tense scenes in the book and they work (for me) one hundred percent. Also, the book feels completely finished and without sequels.
Now about the characters. I like their designs, they immediately make it clear which London the character is from and what kind of character he has. And I liked the main characters.
Kell turned out to be charismatic. He can be tricky, can get out of difficult situations and his inner struggle with the magic of the dark stone, which attracts him and captures his mind, is done perfectly.
I liked Laila. Yes, many users hate this character (so that she becomes the reason for DNF), but here I did not see anything terrible in her >! (Yes, I remember that she almost robbed a half-dead Kell in the beginning, but hey, she grew up in a place where such a common thing.)!<. She is a thief who dreams of adventure and grabs this chance when it appears (though for the second time). And it combines an experienced thief who knows how to survive and a child whose eyes glow when he sees some kind of miracle. She may have a strong character, but she is not insensitive. And she's pretty funny. Probably her character will deteriorate in the sequels, but for now I like her.
The villains turned out to be boring. It will be difficult for me to say anything about them, so that it does not sound like a typical villain from a Saturday cartoon, whom they decided to make more violent.
The author's writing style is good. It is easy to read, the atmosphere of London is well conveyed and the action scenes are well described. The descriptions are moderately detailed and understandable.
In the end, I got what I expected. A fun fantasy book. I'll read sequels, but if I don't like them, I'll do the same as a Megamind fans.
by mystery5009