ahhh, I love epistolary stories. Sign me the fuck up for some in-world document and main characters with potty mouths! The Descent of Monsters covers a time period of a few weeks during which Investigator Chuwan must figure out what happened at a remote, secretive research post. Mokoya and Akeha from the first two novellas are barely present, but much of the narrative twines Chuwan's investigation with Rider's search for their long-lost twin.

I thought the answer Rider sought would be much closer to home, but it's an intriguing sequel hook. There's a dash of thriller horror with Rider's account of the research station with a touch of X-Men here, and I want to know where this goes! ( )

What a great, interesting, wonderfully written piece of a puzzle in the Tensorate series... It is (probably) the best novella so far. The epistolary format worked unexpectedly well. ( )

If the first two novellas impressed me with their vivid and lush descriptions and the fascinating world, this book goes into a whole other direction I wasn’t expecting and left me all kinds of horrified.

This novella is mainly told in the epistolary format, including lots of reports, transcripts, diary entries and letters. Because this wasn’t always straightforward and the story involved finding out the truth about what happened at the institute, there is an air of mystery about and I liked the slow unraveling of the truth. The descriptions here also tended to be more on the horrific side and there were many instances where I found it difficult to continue. But I also liked that we finally got to see deeper into the Protectorate’s activities and how corrupt and monstrous it is towards it’s own people.

While we mostly follow a Tensor turned rebel Sariman, I also liked that we got glimpses of the twins and also a few chapters in the POV of Rider. Sariman is just trying to do her job and is frustrated with all the obstacles she has to face, but when she realizes that the truth is so much bigger and terrifying, she teams up with the rebels to get to the bottom of it. Her storyline represents the many people who try to do the right thing even when it doesn’t effect them personally, even when they don’t get credited for it. I liked this change of the tone of the series going from extraordinary individuals to the ordinary ones - proving that every one is equally important in a revolution.

I was just left gasping towards the end with it’s hopeful, yet heartbreaking climax and that just means that I’m gonna read the final book immediately. If you enjoy stories with rebels, intricate magic systems and great character relationships, then you should check this series out without fail because I promise, you will be blown away. ( )

What's not to like about a good descent into hell? That is not meant flippantly as I enjoyed this investigation into a Tensorate "research" project gone horribly wrong, by a functionary who knows that they're being set up for disaster. Why not give it four stars? Mostly due to it being a fragment of a larger cycle which I have had some issues with, and that I'm given to understand are resolved (one hopes) in the fourth and final installment of these novellas. ( )

I really enjoyed the plot on this one. (I know, it's always hard to say that when there is so much death and stuff in a story. The investigation aspect of the story, though, trying to figure out what killed everyone, was a really good mystery.) I wasn't sure about the storytelling style, with everything told through letters or reports or diaries. It makes complete sense for this particular story, but it did take me a little longer to get into it than I remember the other books in the series taking. Still, a very enjoyable read, and I love the cover! (The whole series has great cover art.) ( )