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When she was running with her crew, before she enrolled at the Mage school, Temari Hall, Lira revelled in running a con. She was an expert at it, especially when she was beside the ruthless and efficient Ahrin Vensis. And now, Lira Astor, heir to the Darkmage Shakar Astor himself, has to run the biggest con of her life to secure the freedom of Ahrin. It means she has to take on the strongest Mage alive, Alyx Egalion, the Mage Council and find a hidden army of magic resistant Hunters as well as shielding her mind from the spies within her midst. Still, her nickname at Temari Hall was Spider for a reason, and as she finally begins to trust some of those by her side, she sets upon her mission to ensure her lover’s survival and the downfall of Lucinda – the woman who has been using Lira for most of her life. As Lira traverses the obstacles in her path, she learns valuable lessons and finally finds out who she really is.
What I especially love about Lira, is her vulnerability – as much as she tries to hide it. She’s strong, yes. Ruthless, even. But she’s always had a vulnerable undertone to her inner monologue. She always second guesses herself, her own motives never being truly clear in her mind; which of course means that she constantly questions the motives of those around her. It’s programmed into her – an almost habitual mistrust of everyone and everything; stemming from an early age when the adults around her either abandoned her, lied to her, or completely and utterly failed her. In the earlier books of the series, Lira believes her mistrust is a strength; that it’s weak to even think about believing in anyone other than herself. It’s not until we near the end of Shadow Council that Lira finally realises that she got it all wrong. Belief in those around her is the greatest strength she could ever wield.
This slow character growth is what sets Lisa Cassidy apart from other authors. She’s done it in her other series, too; building the character in a sublime, almost unnoticeable arc. It’s incredibly effective storytelling that makes her characters not only believable, but likeable too – even the more villainous leaning ones.
In the past, I’ve criticised some of Cassidy’s writing as being too transparent; and while it’s true that in some of her books I saw the twists coming from the opening chapters – it’s not true in The Heir to the Darkmage series. I’ve honestly not seen a single twist coming and some left me somewhat breathless in their cunning reveal. Cassidy had dropped hints throughout the series, but not one single one of them were blazingly obvious – and that marks this series as being her best one yet. Yes, even above A Tale of Stars and Shadow. And, although I’m sad that this wonderful, magical and dark series has ended, I’m very much looking forward to the next books to come from her hand. In fact, I can barely wait.
S. A.
Rise of the Shadow Council will be released on Amazon on 24th November. It will also be available to read for free for subscribers to Kindle Unlimited. You can pre-order your copy by clicking on the books name.
I was sent Rise of the Shadow Council directly from Lisa Cassidy in exchange for an honest and fair review. As ever, Lisa, I can not extend my thanks more.