Kim Smejkal

The first book in the Ink in the Blood duology was perfection, and after finishing the second book I hate to have to say it, but I feel like it would have been better as a stand-alone novel. In the first book we leave Celia standing over Anya’s body, having successfully taken down the controlling religion that gripped the nation, but her story continues when Diavala possesses the body of her beloved Plague Doctor, Griffin. If Celia was willing to take down Profeta for the good of everyone, you’d best believe she’s willing to fight tooth and nail to find a cure for Griffin and banish the demon-esque Diavala once and for all. To do so she goes in search of the fabled Halcyon, the only person to survive Diavala’s touch, but what she and Griffin find is definitely not as they expect. Like the stagecraft that wove through the first novel, Smejkal draws an even bigger stage upon which her players can act out their roles - but this time, it’s the entire town of Wisteria that’s being co-opted by a manipulating playwright with magical powers. Turning the story upside down more than once as the action plays out, Smejkal does an excellent job of building character and scenery throughout, but this second act doesn’t hit quite as successfully as the first does. Yes, we still have players on a stage, but a masked stage doesn’t hold the same intrigue and duality as the active Rabble Mob, and the visuals don’t spark quite the same way. Halcyon and Diavala’s true nature are definitely the selling point of the novel instead, and while the themes drawn out from here are intriguing they just don’t quite do it for me in the end. At least Celia and Griffin are left with a happy ending by the final pages, so we can see them off on their undoubtedly exciting next adventures.… (mais)

A little bit The Night Circus, a little bit The Golden Compass, and a little bit Daughter of Smoke and Bone, but ultimately forging its own path through some well-loved fantasy tropes, this novel is one of the best I’ve delved into in a long time. Smejkal throws us into a world ruled by prophetic tattoos and the goddess behind them, which is quickly turned upside down as we follow paired Inklings Celia and Anya as they make a bid for freedom from the Divine Profeta and their constricted lives. Celia and Anya’s protection comes in the form of the Rabble Mob of Minos, a travelling performance troupe made up of whimsical and strange characters who are some of the few outside the overt influence of the Divine’s religious cult. The pair are quick and independent thinkers (hence their resistance to playing along with the dictations of Profeta) and are soon engulfed in the Mob’s performances and antics through a clever use of the inking abilities they acquired at the Temple. Of course, escape can’t be quite that simple, and the game comes afoot when the Divine herself tracks them down and turns their performance into a new means of spreading her cult of believers – something the girls are loath to do, and must devise a way to escape once and for all. Smejkal’s artful use of language and wonderfully crafted scene setting can’t help but draw us into Celia and Anya’s story, but it is the intricacies of the story’s many twists and turns that keep us glued to the very final page and finale performance. Definitely drawing from the mode of dark fantasy, Smejkal doesn’t shy away from darkening the plot at several points either, making it clear that the stakes are high in the fight that Celia and Anya must make to free themselves in this dangerous world. As the book closes, we are left with a world on the brink of a new performance, which would have been satisfying enough, but there’s a second book out so I guess we’ll see what Celia’s second act holds.… (mais)