Casket of Souls

Casket of Souls by Lynn Flewelling returns Alec and Seregil to familiar ground, with dual plot lines that move between court intrigue around the succession and the emergence of a suspicious new plague in the poorer part of the city.

The two threads work well to maintain momentum, particularly as much of the action remains within the city where there is limited variation in setting. The shifting focus helps the narrative feel active rather than enclosed. It was also particularly enjoyable to spend more time with the female characters, both the royals in Princesses Klia and Elani, and Captain Beka. The maternal royal line remains an interesting subversion of expected norms, though it sits in some tension with the concentration of male show more authority in key advisory roles: Korathan leading the blue coats, Thero as wizard, and Valerius as head of the physicians. That contrast slightly complicates the sense that a female succession line meaningfully reshapes the structure around it - makes it ultimately feel a bit more token.

The antagonists, Atre and Brader, feel more distant to me. Their actions are clearly positioned as extreme, and Brader's conscience is picking at him, but the motivations Atre could have to justify his behaviour didn't come across convincingly, which I'd have expected from the elements in his pov. Without that conviction, the escalation toward the ending felt more contrived. I'd also agree with other reviews that it took longer than I expected for Alec and Seregil to suspect deliberate interference, particularly given their prior experiences with magic. Even Thero, who might be most attuned to such possibilities, seems slow to consider that the stolen objects could hold or channel power.

It does continue to deserve credit that Flewelling was carving a path that had not been well trodden with LGBT leads in adventure fantasy, and this series helped move a dial that could subsequently be pushed further. The humour and affection in Alec and Seregil's relationship are a very easy and enjoyable read, and I am a big fan of this sort of story when the sexuality of the LGBT characters 'happens to be' rather than making for a significant plot point.

Overall, I enjoyed this more than the previous two books, though it still feels lighter in narrative weight than the original trilogy. It reads less as a tightly constructed arc and more as a return to familiar characters, where some roughness is easier to accept because of that attachment. That attachment will still carry me through to the finale though. show less

Recensione su Book Lover

In questo sesto volume, Seregil e Alec si trovano ad affrontare qualcosa di estremamente pericoloso. Da una parte, ci sono due fazioni politiche in guerra: l'una vorrebbe uccidere Phoria e la sua erede e mettere Klia sul strono, l'altra vorrebbe proteggere Elani, la legittima erede in caso Phoria morisse in guerra. Ma c'è dell'altro: una misteriosa malattia sta colpendo le parti più basse della popolazione, soprattutto bambini, e quando Alec e Seregil si rendono conto della situazione, non possono fare a meno di intervenire e cercare una cura.

Questa è una delle serie che amo di più, e non solo perché i protagonisti sono lgbt e stanno insieme. La Flewelling riesce sempre a creare storie estramamente complesse show more che vanno avanti su diversi livelli e che si intrecciano per creare qualcosa di fantastico.
In questo sesto volume, l'intrigo politico è uno degli argomenti principali, al contrario dell'azione che vediamo sul campo di battaglia con Klia e Beka. Personalmente, non è una cosa che mi disturba, anzi. Trovo estremamente soddisfacente quando Seregil e Alec devono fare laovoro di spionaggio e buttarsi negli intrighi di corte, perché è quello che rende questi libri speciali.
Ovviamente non ci si è scordati di quello che è accaduto nel volume precedente, e i rimandi a Sebrhan sono estremamente dolorosi, sia per Alec che per noi.

Dopo sei libri penso di conoscere questi personaggi davvero bene. Ho sofferto con loro per i rimandi a Sebrahn, e anche di più per quello che accade attorno a loro in Casket of Souls.
Alec, pur non essendo innocente quanto nei primi volumi, non è ancora del tutto a suoi agio negli intrighi di corte, mentre Seregil ne è praticamente saturo. Vederli in azione dopo tutto quello che hanno passato è, dal punto di vista umano, sì doloroso ma anche interessante.
Qui si ci concentra molto anche su Thero, che finalmente sembra avere altri sentimenti oltre al vecchio e passato disprezzo per Seregil. È diventato, a poco a poco, uno dei miei preferiti. In questo sesto volume è essenziale, e lo shippo tantissimo con Klia.
E poi ci sono gli attori: una compagnia davvero strana a capo di cui c'è Atre. Disgustosamente servile e doppiogiochista, oltre che tronfio, è sicuramente il personaggio che più ho disprezzato tra i libri letti quest'anno. E credo che non verrà superato da nessun altro. Non voglio dire altro, per paura di spoilerare, ma io vi ho avvisati.

Lo stile della Flewelling non è esattamente leggero, ma neanche troppo pesante. La storia è complessa e credo sia quello a rallentare un po' la lettura, perché c'è molto da tenere a mente. Detto questo, per questi liri serve un livello di Inglese abbastanza alto, e no, la traduzione italiana non c'è: la Nord ha smesso di pubblicarli dopo il secondo volume.

Nel complesso, una delle letture migliori dell'anno, e, se potete, vi consiglio di leggere questa serie! show less

In a (welcome, to me) return to the scope and texture of the earlier adventures of Alec and Seregil, Casket of Souls keeps the boys at home, Nightrunning and intriguing and reestablishing their place in Rhiminee society. Part of that entails a visit with their old friend Lady Kylith to a run-down theatre in a terrible part of town, which turns into something more when the acting troupe turns out to be truly remarkable. Shortly Seregil finds himself inveigled into sponsoring the charming lead actor, Atre, and his troupe… but there are a few things he doesn't know about his new project. There are a few things the two lead actors take care no one knows, not even the rest of the troupe.

Meanwhile, the Nightrunner pair find themselves, with show more Thero, embroiled (along with being inveigled) in plots both for and against Klia, the Queen's sister. Klia is not the heir to the throne, and doesn't want to be – but there is a faction who prefers her, and they're beginning to take action toward that end. They are, of course, balanced by another faction who will do anything to prevent that end, up to and including killing Klia. She's miles away, with only Micum's daughter Beka and her Faie husband to act on behalf of the Watchers… And Thero, one broken message wand away. It takes a great deal of Nightrunning to begin to untangle the threads of who among the nobles is involved, and on which side, and this is great. This is where these characters really shine.

The plague that is rising in the poor quarters of the city is troubling. The poor are, of course, in fear of their lives. Everyone else is afraid that it will spread, or that it will affect their trade. Alec and Seregil come across a very young victim, and this puts a child's face on the plague that makes it personal for them. They just don't realize how personal. What with everything else going on, they just don't have time to deal with the strange aspect of this plague that so merits investigation – but, inevitably, they find they have no choice in the matter. And, happily, this also involves disguises and chases and getting into where they shouldn't be, so it's all great fun as well - - until it isn't fun anymore, and that's a good thing too. (Well, you wouldn't want me to spoil the story by explaining that, would you?)

When all's said and done, I simply did not enjoy the last two books of this series as much as the rest. I don't really consider physical and mental torture of characters I like as a recreational sport; while I love a good escape story the rest of it just made it hard to read. Too, I missed the other characters – Thero, and Micum and his family, are a big part of why I'm as fond of the series as I am. Casket of Souls circles back to the beginning of the series, in a way, taking Alec and Seregil back to where we met them, scaling walls and picking locks and – as always – evading dogs, and walking the fine line between serving the Queen and attracting her attention, because that's rarely a good thing. It's a terrific adventure fantasy with some great characters in a wonderfully well-built world. Really, at times that's all you need. show less

This book took me much longer to finish than usual because it lagged so much at the beginning. I do not mind political intrigue when it forms the basis of a plot, but, as another reviewer pointed out, the political intrigue here just served as a drawn out distraction from the main antagonist. The two competing “cabals” interested in influencing the royal succession just taper away to nothing once Seregil deduces the real danger. I found that rather unsatisfying. That said, once I reached the midway point, I could not put the book down!

Nearly all the action of Casket of Souls takes places in Rhíminee, making the story fairly self-contained. Occasionally, the narrative jumps to Klia and Beka in the midst of the war with Plenimar, but show more for the most part the story focuses on Seregil and Alec, and their interaction, manipulation and burglary of the various Skalan nobles. The two engage in a lot of nigthrunning, which spiced up the story while also taking it back to its roots. The boys are as much fun as ever and just as devoted to one another. Alec’s lingering sorrow over Sabrahn makes sense and I hope to see a resolution to that at some point. I’d love to see them take in a scamp to train and raise as their son or daughter.

The second half of the book picked up the pace considerably as our heroes discover the villains and play a game of cat and mouse with them, with the lives of their friends in the balance. I was also glad to see the powers-that-be finally acting in their own best interests in terms of seeing AND admitting the value of Alec and Seregil’s services. Phoria’s attitude toward them was always a bit ridiculous to me and I was happy to see her mostly absent from the story. I’ve read online that the next novel is intended to be the last Nightrunner book (for the time being at least), and the conclusion of this novel certainly sets the stage for that to be the case. All familiar characters are revisited and “resolved” in some way: death, happily ever after, what have you. The ending was very satisfying.

Overall, though this is not the strongest in the series, longtime fans are likely to be satisfied. Highly recommended. show less

I am a huge fan of Lynn Flewelling's work - I have read them all. After the slightly disappointing but still very good White Road, Casket of Souls is a return to form. Alec, Seregil and Thero are back to Nightrunning and mixed up in politics again while in the background evil magic lurks. While at times I got a bit lost amongst all the nobles and who they supported, this is a great read. And my favourite character Thero is back in play and even gets a romance (an impossible one of course).
I thought this was the last Nightrunner book but rumour is that there will be one more. I can only hope so.

A wonderful installment full of all the mystery, intrigue and suspense I crave in a Flewelling book. Though this is the second to last in the series, I felt it could have been a first book, setting up a whole world of possibilities and paths for Alec and Seregil to follow. I'm actually pretty devastated to move on to the final book of the series, but that's always a sign of the BEST books.

Read it!

6/10
SPOILERS!

It took too many pages and too many deaths for Seregil and Alex to figure out the mystery of the sleeping plague. The first half of the book, while pleasant, was slow.

The two cabals, so important for much of the book, were relegated to a minor plot point. I suppose having all the major players turn up dead will do that, but it felt like the author just tossed that whole major plot out the window when it was no longer needed.

I enjoyed the storyline with Thero playing a more prominent role in both his budding romance and the Watcher business. As the series has progressed, he has become an engaging character.

I think I will be happy to read the last of the Nightrunner books—only one more to go. Unless the author really tells show more a wonderful and compelling concluding story, I am afraid I will think she should have wrapped things up a bit earlier in the series. show less