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MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.75/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
A mortally wounded magistrate faces his deadliest trial inside an ancient abbey where the monks are going mad and the gods themselves may be to blame!
Estevar Borros, one of the legendary sword-fighting magistrates known as the Greatcoats and the king’s personal investigator of the supernatural, is no stranger to tales of ghosts and demons. When the fractious monks of the abbey rumoured to be the birthplace of the gods begin warring over claims of a new pantheon arising, the frantic abbot summons him to settle the dispute.
But Estevar has his own problems: a near-fatal sword wound from his last judicial duel, a sworn knight who claims he has proof the monks are consorting with demons, a diabolical inquisitor with no love for the Greatcoats, and a mysterious young woman claiming to be Estevar’s ally but who may well be his deadliest enemy.
Armed only with his famed investigative talents, his faltering skill with a blade and Imperious, his ornery mule, Estevar must root out the source of the madness lurking inside the once-sacred walls of Isola Sombra before its chaos spreads to the country he’s sworn to protect.
MY REVIEW
A spectacular return to the swashbuckling world of Tristia and the legendary Greatcoats! Though there is no Falcio, Brasti or Kest, this story is about Estevar Borros. I got my first introduction to Estevar Valejan Duerisi Borros in Tales of the Greatcoats, which is a fantastic collection of short stories within the world, though it’s been a while since I read it, I had to do a bit of a refresher on the stories he was the mc in. If you have not read it, do not fret, Crucible of Chaos can be read as a standalone prelude to Play of Shadows.
I’ve been very vocal about my love for the Greatcoats world, so I’ve been looking forward to getting back in for some time (The Broken Binding really needs to make a special edition 😊). Back to Estevar Valejan Duerisi Borros and his noble steed, Imperious the Greatmule, will I say his full name again? It’s very likely. Estevar has a unique look to him and for that reason, I can’t help but think of Oliver Platt because of his role as Porthos in The 3 Musketeers film, as well as Matt Berry, who most may recognize as Laszlo on What We Do in the Shadows. With his size being a noticeable characteristic, it’s his “proclivity for pomposity” that makes me get some vibes of Johnny Bravo but with a mix of Enigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, though his intellect and propensity to solve supernatural events with common sense adds in a bit of Mulder from the X-Files. That’s a lot to describe a single person, but let’s be honest, it’s hard to find a single character that gets close to Estevar Valejan Duerisi Borros, the King’s Crucible.
“A rapier blade too often drawn becomes nicked and dulled, requiring a whetstone to sharpen, but a mind is honed only through the vigorous clash and clang of incompatible ideas.”
I always love when fantasy intermingles with other genre’s, and de Castell did that flawlessly by adding in a detective/investigation, whodunnit type of story to give this a bit of a different feel from previous stories told in the world of Tristia, while there are many of those to draw inspiration from, this gave me a very Sleepy Hollow-like vibe as the story is centered around supernatural and religious type of events. At first I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy it just because it wasn’t my three favorite companions, but Estevar kept growing on me, and then the introduction of the other characters like Caeda as a bit of a sidekick made it even more enjoyable as the investigation went on. With that being said, one cannot help but mention the Greatmule, Imperious who makes many scenes even better with his presence alone.
I can’t remember giggling so much while reading/listening to something that wasn’t directly meant to be a comedic novel. This had a perfect mix of comedic relief while the tone of the story was meant to be a bit darker. Though I wouldn’t put this in the category of dark fantasy, just a fantasy novel with some darker tones. And as always, great narration will always make a book even better, and Joe Jameson, who is one of my favorite narrators, reprises his role as narrator for yet another de Castell novel and brings it home with a slam dunk. He continues to make the listener focus on every scene and bring in details with his voice that makes every scene better. It feels good to be back it he world of Tristia again!
Wolfmantula.com 