Welcome back Readers! As the weather gets warmer where I am, I feel an urge to adventure! And by adventure I mean read a good book.
This month we’re taking something of a step back. Regulars to this column will know how much I enjoy the Knightmare Arcanist series by Shami Stovall; we’ve covered six of them so far and this will be a seventh… but it’s technically book 5.5, slotting in between World Serpent Arcanist and Warlord Arcanist, which is the novel we looked at most recently.
Not to worry, though! This book isn’t a strictly chronological must-read in terms of book order. Volke Savan, our hero for this series, takes a back seat for this outing as we focus our attention on some other characters. Series regulars, sure, but also a few who are less well known and even a couple of new additions!
So, set the mainsail and stretch your sea-legs! We’ve got some mystical creatures and arcanists to meet!
Book Stats
- Author: Shami Stovall.
Formats: Paperback, Kindle, and Audible.
Price: $14.99 for Paperback, $5.99 for Kindle (Currently available for free via Kindle Unlimited!), and $5.05 for Audible, or one Credit on Audible.
Length: 340 pages or 9 hours and 48 minutes in audio format.
Narrator: Brian Wiggins
Number of books in the series: 9 in the Frith Chronicles but this author is very prolific and has plenty of other books set in this world and outside of it.
Basic Premise
This book is a collection of short stories featuring a range of characters. They take place at various points during the prior five books and in the case of at least one, considerably earlier than that. And it’s not just the perspective of the heroes, either! We get a little better acquainted with our villains as well. Dread Pirate Callisto, the Second Ascension and even Theasin Venrover.
The problem with trying to write a synopsis section for a short story collection is that I either have to do one of two things; give mini-synopses for each one or tackle everything at once in very broad strokes. My immediate instinct here is that if I do the former, I’ll wind up spoiling something good that I want you all to discover for yourselves. Instead… I’m just going to drop in a few highlights that made me smile.
Illia, Zaxis and Nicholin work together in one story and seeing Zaxis and Nicholin get to interact was an absolute highlight. Nicholin is my favorite of the various eldrin we’ve met so far and I always kind of wondered how his particular personality could ever gel with that of Zaxis… they seem similar in a lot of ways (Boastful, prideful, prone to showing off.) and so I always figured they would be in a constant state of friction. I’m glad I was wrong in the best kind of way as they just give their all for the one person they both love above all else.
Adelgis and Biyu make a very cute pair of friends. With Adelgis’s kindly nature and ability to shape the dreams of people, he takes this poor traumatized kid and creates for her a world of whimsy. A world where she’s a princess and has friends in both human and mystical creature forms. Where she can dance and play and be what she perceives as her truest self without the worries associated with her work as cabin girl and the frightening echoes of her past. This isn’t one short story but more of a series that pops up every couple of chapters and it does have a lot more to it than just that! It has plot relevance to the greater arc as well, but the way Adelgis works to make Biyu’s life just a little better (Even if only in her dreams.) made me a little misty eyed.
Probably my favorite of the short stories, though, was getting to finally meet Mathis Weaversong. Luthair’s first Arcanist, the one he couldn’t save and instead wanted to avenge. It was a weird feeling to go on an adventure with him… we’d heard a lot about him through Luthair’s recollections but it was all second-hand up till now. (I was listening along to the audiobook in the middle of the grocery store and when this chapter started and I realized who the focus was I said ‘Oh dang!’ really loud. Anyone watching probably just thought I was weirdly excited over the box of Cheerios I’d snagged off the shelf moments before.)
But what other interesting and enthralling short stories live inside this collection? You’ll need to read it to find out!
My Take
I listened to this one a little out of order. I’d already well and truly finished book six before deciding to give this one a try. To be honest, I wasn’t completely sure I was going to enjoy it as much of the rest of the series and was planning to get to it after having listened to books seven and eight. It seemed like a detour when what I really wanted was to get to the next story-beat in the main series. Book six ends on a pretty dramatic note and I was all geared up and ready to go for book seven!
I’m glad I decided to take a chance on it and wish I’d done so after book five.
It’s not an essential entry into the series. You can completely get what’s going on without reading Arcanist Fables. You won’t be lost. However, you do get to see a lot of interesting stuff happen and it’s especially illuminating in regards to Callisto and the Second Ascension, hence I avoided too much talk of them in the synopsis section. I don’t want to give away anything you’d be better off reading for yourself, even by accident.
But more than any of that, it’s just a really fun read! I love Volke and really enjoy his perspective, but he’s not the only person in this world who matters and getting to see more of their day-to-day, more of their struggles and motivations just makes this, already very full, world feel that much richer and more fun.
The narrator for the audiobook is Brian Wiggins and he does his usual stellar work!
All in all, a highly recommended read from me!
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