Welcome back! This month we’re taking a look at the next installment of the Frith Chronicles series by Shami Stovall. I’ve made no secret of being quite the fan of this series, and you can see our previous Spotlights for Knigtmare Arcanist, Dread Pirate Arcanist, Colosseum Arcanist, and Plague Arcanist from months prior if you’re not caught up!
If you’re not familiar with this series, imagine a world of magic and swashbuckling with a Digimon style monster bonding mechanic (In that they can talk, have their own personalities and you can only, barring one special circumstance, bond with one at a time) and you’re getting the broadest strokes of the world these novels are set in. The characters, though, make it a lot more special than even that. I thoroughly enjoy the company of Volke Savan and his various friends and rivals and I think you will too!
As per usual, being that we’re looking at a book that’s pretty deep into the series, there will be spoilers for prior entries discussed within this Spotlight! If you don’t want to be spoiled, I’d suggest starting with book one and catching up from the beginning.
So, set your occult compass and let’s head out onto the ocean in search of a monster so fearsome, some call it a god.
Book Stats
- Author: Shami Stovall.
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, and Audible.
Price: $26.99 for Hardcover, $18.99 for Paperback, $6.99 for Kindle, and $21.83 for Audible, or one Credit on Audible.
Length: 585 pages or 6 hours 45 minutes in audio format.
Narrator: Brian Wiggins
Number of books in the series: 8, and the author is extremely prolific with many other books.
Basic Premise
Get ready because we’re about to hit the ground running! We’re five books in and a lot has happened.
At the end of the last book, Volke had been cured of his arcane plague by his Knightmare, Luthair, gaining his true form. This magical power-up essentially makes the mystical creature too powerful to be susceptible to the arcane plague and thus saved Volke from slowly losing his mind due to this, otherwise incurable, illness. Not only that but despite quite a journey, he has re-united with his friends and family from the Frith guild. They’ve been trying their best to track him down after his abrupt departure in book three.
Now that he’s been cured of the plague and his partner eldrin has attained a massively powerful new form, he can get back to the real business at hand; finding and pairing the World Serpent with a suitable arcanist! He and the other guild members must do this before the Second Ascension manages to get their villainous hooks into it! A god creature like the world serpent could do untold harm in the wrong hands and that particular organization is nothing BUT wrong.
Luckily, there’s Ryker! He’s a tall, shy teenage boy whom has been prophesied to bond with this incredibly powerful mystical creature. One of Volke’s key duties throughout this book is to safeguard Ryker and make sure he survives the voyage. Still. There’s something… off about this kid and the way everyone treats him.
Another of Volke’s duties is to train Evianna; a brand new Knightmare Arcanist we met back in book three. She’s a deposed princess who still very much feels as though she’s due the respect often reserved for royalty. She also just kind of betrothes herself to Volke the first time after seeing him again? (Not a slow mover by any means.) This is complicated by Volke’s feelings for Atty, another Frith Guild member and a fellow former inhabitant of Volke’s home island of Ruma… though, they do make it back to the aforementioned Isle, meet with Atty’s parents and it’s definitely complicated. Volke just can’t seem to catch a break!
Matters of the heart aside, the journey to find the world serpent is sure to be an arduous one, but with friends old and new to help out, it’s also gotta be a load of fun, right?
You’ll need to read it to find out!
My Take
So, as mentioned in the preamble I love this series. It’s one that I keep coming back to and I have had to actively try to listen to or read a few things in between installments or I would have just binged the whole thing outright. Absolutely one of my favorite new series in a long time.
I will say, though… this entry left me torn. You know the feeling you had after REALLY watching The Empire Strikes Back for the first time? It was a dark film! If you’re like me, you had a lot of fun getting there but the ending left things really uncertain. So much lost, some things gained but ultimately, all your favorite guys and gals were on shaky ground, one might as well be dead and the whole galaxy was in peril?
Yeah. It’s like that. Something at the end of this book had me tearing up and wanting to just go back in time to the previous chapter… but what has been read cannot be un-read. I’m not going to spoil it. I want you to read it for yourself. Because misery loves company, I guess.
I kid, I kid. The book still ends with a bang; all the excitement of a huge monster battle and the good guys, ostensibly, gaining some ground against the bad. You’re going to enjoy it, I promise. But you might be doing it with a misty eye.
Volke is just as courageous and honorable as we’re used to by now and after the prior book featuring a mostly new supporting cast? It was great to travel with Master Zellfree, Zaxis, Atty, Illia and Hexa again. It was almost like running into a group of friends you haven’t seen in a while. The addition of Evianna into the main roster was fun as her dynamic with everyone is significantly different and she adds a touch of levity to the proceedings that works nicely. Atty gets a little more fleshed out in this book as well! Those who read my last Spotlight for this series might remember my lament that, despite being the central love interest, we really knew so little about her. That is well and truly remedied in this book and if I have a slightly evil smile on my face while recalling these scenes… well. You’re going to have to forgive me. Our introduction to her mom and the meaning behind her personal goals? Ohhhh boy. I didn’t see it coming. I don’t think you will either.
Not a lot of Karna in this book, though.
Our narrator, as with all the other books in this series, is Brian Wiggins and the quality of his work is consistently excellent.
All in all, I’m looking forward to starting on book six! I hope you give this series a shot. And if you’re a fan, write a comment below and let’s chat about it!
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