Knightmare Arcanist (Frith Chronicles, #1)

Magic. Sailing. A murderer among heroes.

Gravedigger Volke Savan wants nothing more than to be like his hero, the legendary magical swashbuckler, Gregory Ruma. First he needs to become an arcanist, someone capable of wielding magic, which requires bonding with a mythical creature. And he’ll take anything—a pegasus, a griffin, a ravenous hydra—maybe even a leviathan, like Ruma.

So when Volke stumbles across a knightmare, a creature made of shadow and terror, he has no reservations. But the knightmare knows a terrible secret: Ruma is a murderer out to spread corrupted magic throughout their island nation. He’s already killed a population of phoenixes and he intends to kill even more.
In order to protect his home, his adopted sister, and the girl he admires from afar, Volke will need to confront his hero, the Master Arcanist Gregory Ruma.

Many thanks to The Write Reads and the author for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review and for inclusion on this blog tour.

When I picked this up, I literally had no idea what I was getting into, other than the cover is gorgeous, it sounded mildly interesting, and I was informed I had to read it. These days, I don’t ask questions when people throw books at me. At some point, it just becomes a thing and you get on with it. So I went in feeling pretty lukewarm, and before long, I fell in love, guys.

Knightmare Arcanist is a dark, adventurous tale about a world filled with beauty and wonder, but also darkness and deception. The fight scenes were fabulous and filled with magic. This is a world I want to get lost in, please.

I actually didn’t want to leave so much that I finally caved and bought Kindle Unlimited just so that I could continue on with the series. And before we even get into this, just in case you’re wondering, yes, I would become an arcanist. Probably bond with something like a mimic, which is a freaking awesome creature to bond with, and then proceed to do something super lame like research on mythical creatures. I would be the Newt Scamander of this world, awkwardness and all, thank you very much.

Let’s start off with the good stuff: this is dark. The beginning is almost idyllic, it’s so peaceful, but there’s a stark reminder that the world is much bigger (and scarier) than the characters’ little island would lead them to believe.

I sort of love when books do this. The island is isolated and almost its own little microcosm, so far removed from the rest of the world. On the one hand, this means the beginning is a little slow, as you do. Not for very long, though, because the real world has a nasty habit of creeping back in.

Volke knows there’s a bigger world out there, and he wants part of it so badly that he’s willing to do pretty much anything to achieve it … but once he gets there, it’s not quite what he expects.

If we’re honest, it never is, is it? Being able to see the world from his perspective, as he’s just experiencing it himself, was really nice. It really highlighted the wonder of it … and also the horror. We got to see it with fresh eyes, just like he was.

While the book starts a little slow on the island, it quickly picks up pace and speeds right ahead. It was so fast-paced that I read it in a day without any desire whatsoever to set it down.

Thank goodness I didn’t have to adult that day, because I would’ve had a fit, you hear me? And at my age, it’s not a pretty sight. Effective, maybe, but not pretty.

Once this story really got under way, it was a constant swap between beautiful, peaceful world-building and some gruesome, creepy events, and the juxtaposition was so well done that it had me turning pages as fast as I could.

This world is beautiful and terrifying, in equal measure, and I would like a one-way ticket there now, please.

I would take this world by storm. I’m not sure whether it’s because I’d become a brilliant arcanist or whether I’d develop the plague and indiscriminately slaughter innocents, but hey, people will know my name, darn it.

In this world, people can bond with mythical creatures, which turns them into arcanists, and they become partners with and wield the magic of the creatures they’ve bonded with.

While this concept, per se, may not be entirely unique, the execution more than makes up for it. There was such a variety of mythical creatures, and I absolutely loved seeing what would pop up next. Their abilities and personalities were all unique, too, which really upped the squad factor when all the kids and their creatures work together. The possibilities felt almost endless, and I seriously couldn’t wait to see what other creatures would turn up and what powers they would discover.

There are so many beautiful descriptions of the world, especially the creatures that live in it, but it’s so fitting that these can quickly turn absolutely horrific, because there’s a plague infecting the mythical creatures and, in turn, their arcanists.

The plague warps the creatures, turns them into something unnatural and rotting, almost. The descriptions of this are so on point that they were chilling. Add that with the fact that the creatures can talk, and you can tell almost immediately that something is wrong, and this created some really tense scenarios that I just loved.

There’s so much action in this, and the fight scenes are just *chef’s kiss*. Because magic.

Who would’ve thought, right? Usually I’m sitting here complaining that because magic is NOT a bloody reason for everything. Well, here it is. I love the fights because magic. It makes sense, I assure you.

All the arcanists have different magic they can perform, based on the creature they’ve bonded with (so fire for phoenix, shadows for a knightmare, water for a leviathan, etc.), and seeing the wide range of abilities and powers was super interesting.

It made the fight scenes so much more dynamic and fun, too, because each creature has multiple powers, and of course the new arcanists have to not only work together (so more people = powers), but they’re still learning what they can do. As readers, we get to discover it with them, which was probably my favorite part of this book.

Normally, I like my heroes reluctant, and Volke is anything but. However, it’s impossible not to root for him, because he wants it so freaking badly.

Volke knows he wants to be a hero, because he’s already been cast as a villain and he hates it, thank you very much. Clearly, he doesn’t know any better, and I’ll forgive him for that. He’s young and naive. He’ll learn.

As the son of criminals and as a gravedigger (about as low on the social ladder as you can go), becoming an arcanist is the only way he can shake his former reputation on the island as being worthless, and he wants it so badly. It isn’t just selfish talk, though. Volke walks the walk, and that’s why it’s so easy to love him. He’s almost shamelessly naive in the way he thinks arcanists are all heroes, and he’s got a very strong moral code to live by that shapes how he should act as an arcanist.

I’m getting so many squad vibes from these characters, and while it doesn’t quite come into fruition in this book, I’m hoping it will for the rest of the series!

There are definitely some scenes that suggest it’s heading that way. There are six different arcanists, and they all have varying personalities and creatures that they’ve bonded with, and they don’t always see eye to eye. They’ve definitely got some growing up to do together, but I loved seeing the way they interact and come together in this book. It’s one of the things I’m most looking forward to in the series, and I really hope the next books will delve into their relationship more. because I felt like we were just scratching the surface in this book.

While there was technically no real romance in this book, it seems to be setting up for some awkward love rectangle, and I’m hoping I’m wrong?

Love triangles are bad enough, but I can deal with them when they’re written well. Rectangles, though? It feels so convenient and contrived. Now, granted, nothing actually happens romantically in this book, so I could be waaaay off the mark, and I suppose I’ll find out as I dive into book two.

However, the way it reads by the end of this book, Character A has a crush on Character B, and Character C has a crush on Character D, who seems to have a crush on Character A, who maybe is starting to question their relationship with Character D. Are you confused yet? Because I am. I know being a teen is tough and hormones are rough, but I just wasn’t feeling these vibes. Also, I just sat there thinking I really want Character A to get with Character C because this hate-to-love vibe is strong and I want it, but I’m 99% sure it’s not going to happen. It’s okay. In my mind, they were obviously meant to be together.

About Shami Stovall

Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction, with several best-selling novels under her belt. Before that, she taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second. When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators.

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