Recent Reads: CAST IN SORROW

October 25, 2013

Michelle Sagara/‘s Chronicles of Elantra, more widely referred to as the Cast novels, has been an on-going favorite of mine since they launched several years ago. They’re the stories of the perpetually hungry, perpetually broke Kaylin Neya, a police officer (more or less) beleaguered by magic markings that make her life much, much more complicated than she would like it to be. There are a number of excellent supporting characters, ranging from one who happens to hit all my my favorite character trope types to an intensely quiet, complex love interest, and some really terrific female friendships that are often lacking in SF/F (including my own).

The books in general are what one might call second world urban fantasy: they’ve got the voice and attitude of contemporary urban fantasy while being set in one of Michelle’s richly developed non-earth worlds. In specific, CAST IN SORROW, and the previous book, CAST IN PERIL, leave the city behind for (loosely speaking) country adventures.

Most of the Cast books can be read more or less as standalones, although as with any ongoing series I tend to feel they’re greatly improved by reading them in order and in their entirety. PERIL and SORROW, though, are a duology within the series, very much telling a particular story within themselves. I think the pair of them make for the most poignant story in the books so far, and that they’re a tremendously satisfying read.

Tagged , ,

2 thoughts on “Recent Reads: CAST IN SORROW”

  1. I really liked it as well. There are so many layers to the stories at this point and Kaylin has grown up so much. I can’t wait to see who she becomes.

  2. This series is one of my instant pre-orders. She’s also writing another excellent series – Queen of the Dead – of which “Silence” is the first book out. I always look out for her books anyway, but this [http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/18/the-big-idea-michelle-sagara/] blog post, in particular, really made me want to read Silence – and I’m glad I did, as being a “perculiar” child myself, it just made me think better of reality that there are such people around, even if they were never around for me.

Comments are closed.