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  • Writer's picturemikeofthepalace

"The Ivory Tomb" by Melissa Caruso

For those who have been reading it, the Rooks & Ruin trilogy has a fun and satisfying conclusion. If anyone was waiting to pick it up, wait no more.


In many ways this trilogy has the feel of a D&D campaign (which makes sense, because Caruso is a dedicated RPG aficionado). The assorted members of the Rookery - unofficially including Ryx and, to a lesser extent, Severin - all have the feel of characters born out of dice rolls, player classes, chosen feats, and carefully crafted backstories. This is not a criticism; well-done RPG campaigns are great exercises in creativity and wonderful starting points for a fun adventure. Mostly I’m just emphasizing this to give the feel for the kind of story this is.


The challenge the Rookery faces is the extension of the same one from The Quicksilver Court: namely, how do you defeat immortal extra-dimensional non-corporeal beings of extraordinary power and extraordinary malice, who will immediately jump to a new host if their present one is killed? And how do you deal with the fact that Ryx [REDACTED]?


Along the way we learn a great deal about the Dark Days, the period 4,000 years previously when the demons roamed free and humanity suffered greatly for it. We get nice development of the relationship between Ryx and Severin. Mostly we get a fun story with lots of clever scheming and swashbuckling adventure.


Highly recommended if you’re looking to curl up under a blanket with something fun and forget the world for a few hours.


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