2016 Ruritanian fantasy-romance, third of its series. Luzie Valorin,
sill mourning her late husband, ekes out a living by teaching music
and letting out rooms in the family house; Serafina Talarico came to
Roteken to study magic, but can't break through to the talent for it.
And something has gone awry up in the mountains, and the annual flood
is not coming…
There is a romance here, but there are many other things going on
too, and several of them are left unresolved (and some at least are
not even mentioned in the fourth book).
But there's also a profound exploration of what I can only call
thaumatology, the study of just how magical effects can be made to
work. Margerit Sovitre can craft religious mysteries, and see their
results; Antuniet Chazilien can create alchemical works; and now Luzie
can create magic with her music—and Serafina can perceive the results
just as she perceives effective mysteries. But how can music create
miracles when it doesn't even invoke the saints?
There are six separate viewpoint characters here, four from the
earlier books and two new ones, and they're each doing their own
distinct things. Sometimes those stories overlap, as everyone is
affected by the lack of the traditional flood season, and sometimes
they don't. This is absolutely not the place the start the series,
because there's only the most basic of recapping.
This isn't either the romance-forward first book or the
intrigue-forward second book. It feels longer and lazier, as plots
interweave without much seeming to happen… though it's all
significant even so.
Perhaps it's not quite the shining star that the first two books were,
but it still gives a lovely light.