Power and Majesty by Tansy Rayner Roberts (2019) is the first book in the Creature Court series and serves as a wonderful introduction to this epic fantasy world.
The city of Aufleur seems like a normal enough place, if a bit oversaturated with festivals. But that just means that Velody, a young dressmaker, and her friends Delphine, a ribbon maker, and Rhian, a florist, have plenty of work. All is well for them in their chosen careers for many years, until Velody’s eyes are opened to the truth of the city of Aufleur and the danger of the skies. She is abruptly pulled into a secret war that protects the inhabitants of Aufleur from a threat they aren’t even aware of, and her friends wind up impacted by her new role as well.
The descriptive language and fully realized characters sucked me straight into this book, making it hard to put down. For me, I found it had shades of Dark City and Neverwhere, though more than enough unique qualities to distinguish it from those stories of secret cities existing alongside real places. Though the book uses a lot of specialized language, it includes a glossary to explain those words and the extensive cast of characters. Personally, I found it easy enough to track most of the language and characters without it, but knowing it is there may help some readers.
The author provided us with a free copy of this book for review consideration.
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