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The Relic Guild by Edward Cox
The Blurb On The Back:
It was said the Labyrinth had once been the great meeting place, a sprawling city at the heart of an endless maze where a million humans hosted the Houses of the Aelfir.
But when the Thaumaturgists, overlords of human and Aelfir alike, went to war, everything was ruined and the Labyrinth became an abandoned prison. The surviving humans were trapped behind boundary walls a hundred feet high, and all magic was forbidden.
And now the war is returning. The Relic Guild are all that stand against the end of the city. But they are old, scattered and week, and the enemy is growing in strength …
Labrys Town is a sprawling city created by the Timewatcher to end the feuding between the Houses of Aelfir by encouraging trade and diplomacy. But everything changed 42 years ago when Lord Spiral led a group of renegade Thaumaturgists (known as the Genii) and Aelfir Houses against the Timewatcher. Spiral’s henchman, Fabian Moor, entered the Labyrinth to bring it under Spiral’s control by taking over the Nightshade, the magical heart of the Labyrinth and home of the Resident, who controls what happens in the city. Only the Relic Guild – a group of humans gifted with magical abilities – stood against Moor but victory devastated their numbers and saw the Labyrinth permanently sealed off from the Houses of Aelfir.
The Relic Guild was disbanded and magic forbidden in the Labyrinth. But Spiral’s forces are not so easily defeated. Dark forces are on the rise and although the Relic Guild is needed again, its surviving members are aged and divided. Hope comes in Clara, a changeling unable to control the wolf she’s able to change into. Somehow the Relic Guild must find a way to stop Spiral’s plans before the Labyrinth is lost to darkness forever …
Edward Cox’s debut fantasy (the first in a trilogy) is set in an imaginative, well structured world and has an action-filled plot divided between two time periods (the original Relic Guild’s struggle against Fabian Moor and Clara’s attempts to deal with her magic and join the remaining Guild members). I loved the fact that Labrys Town isn’t another cod medieval fantasy world – the technology included power stones for guns and trams that take people to the different areas. However, the split plots slowed the pace and it was difficult to work out when we were and what was happening. I didn’t see why Clara needed to be a prostitute and with the exception of Old Man Sam, the Relic Guild are comprised of rather stock characters. Also two dimensional are Fabian Moor and the Genii, who don’t have much depth and are standard evil fare. My biggest issue with the book though is the abruptness of the ending, which leaves a lot of things hanging without resolution (although presumably these will be picked up in the next book). Ultimately it’s an okay read and there’s enough for me to want to read the sequel but I’m hoping that the characters can transcend the stereotypes going forward.
The Verdict:
Edward Cox’s debut fantasy (the first in a trilogy) is set in an imaginative, well structured world and has an action-filled plot divided between two time periods (the original Relic Guild’s struggle against Fabian Moor and Clara’s attempts to deal with her magic and join the remaining Guild members). I loved the fact that Labrys Town isn’t another cod medieval fantasy world – the technology included power stones for guns and trams that take people to the different areas. However, the split plots slowed the pace and it was difficult to work out when we were and what was happening. I didn’t see why Clara needed to be a prostitute and with the exception of Old Man Sam, the Relic Guild are comprised of rather stock characters. Also two dimensional are Fabian Moor and the Genii, who don’t have much depth and are standard evil fare. My biggest issue with the book though is the abruptness of the ending, which leaves a lot of things hanging without resolution (although presumably these will be picked up in the next book). Ultimately it’s an okay read and there’s enough for me to want to read the sequel but I’m hoping that the characters can transcend the stereotypes going forward.
Thanks to Amazon Vine for the review copy of this book.
It was said the Labyrinth had once been the great meeting place, a sprawling city at the heart of an endless maze where a million humans hosted the Houses of the Aelfir.
But when the Thaumaturgists, overlords of human and Aelfir alike, went to war, everything was ruined and the Labyrinth became an abandoned prison. The surviving humans were trapped behind boundary walls a hundred feet high, and all magic was forbidden.
And now the war is returning. The Relic Guild are all that stand against the end of the city. But they are old, scattered and week, and the enemy is growing in strength …
Labrys Town is a sprawling city created by the Timewatcher to end the feuding between the Houses of Aelfir by encouraging trade and diplomacy. But everything changed 42 years ago when Lord Spiral led a group of renegade Thaumaturgists (known as the Genii) and Aelfir Houses against the Timewatcher. Spiral’s henchman, Fabian Moor, entered the Labyrinth to bring it under Spiral’s control by taking over the Nightshade, the magical heart of the Labyrinth and home of the Resident, who controls what happens in the city. Only the Relic Guild – a group of humans gifted with magical abilities – stood against Moor but victory devastated their numbers and saw the Labyrinth permanently sealed off from the Houses of Aelfir.
The Relic Guild was disbanded and magic forbidden in the Labyrinth. But Spiral’s forces are not so easily defeated. Dark forces are on the rise and although the Relic Guild is needed again, its surviving members are aged and divided. Hope comes in Clara, a changeling unable to control the wolf she’s able to change into. Somehow the Relic Guild must find a way to stop Spiral’s plans before the Labyrinth is lost to darkness forever …
Edward Cox’s debut fantasy (the first in a trilogy) is set in an imaginative, well structured world and has an action-filled plot divided between two time periods (the original Relic Guild’s struggle against Fabian Moor and Clara’s attempts to deal with her magic and join the remaining Guild members). I loved the fact that Labrys Town isn’t another cod medieval fantasy world – the technology included power stones for guns and trams that take people to the different areas. However, the split plots slowed the pace and it was difficult to work out when we were and what was happening. I didn’t see why Clara needed to be a prostitute and with the exception of Old Man Sam, the Relic Guild are comprised of rather stock characters. Also two dimensional are Fabian Moor and the Genii, who don’t have much depth and are standard evil fare. My biggest issue with the book though is the abruptness of the ending, which leaves a lot of things hanging without resolution (although presumably these will be picked up in the next book). Ultimately it’s an okay read and there’s enough for me to want to read the sequel but I’m hoping that the characters can transcend the stereotypes going forward.
The Verdict:
Edward Cox’s debut fantasy (the first in a trilogy) is set in an imaginative, well structured world and has an action-filled plot divided between two time periods (the original Relic Guild’s struggle against Fabian Moor and Clara’s attempts to deal with her magic and join the remaining Guild members). I loved the fact that Labrys Town isn’t another cod medieval fantasy world – the technology included power stones for guns and trams that take people to the different areas. However, the split plots slowed the pace and it was difficult to work out when we were and what was happening. I didn’t see why Clara needed to be a prostitute and with the exception of Old Man Sam, the Relic Guild are comprised of rather stock characters. Also two dimensional are Fabian Moor and the Genii, who don’t have much depth and are standard evil fare. My biggest issue with the book though is the abruptness of the ending, which leaves a lot of things hanging without resolution (although presumably these will be picked up in the next book). Ultimately it’s an okay read and there’s enough for me to want to read the sequel but I’m hoping that the characters can transcend the stereotypes going forward.
Thanks to Amazon Vine for the review copy of this book.