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Hello everyone! We’re about halfway through the finalists we need to review for this season of SPFBO and it’s been one of my favorite years ever.
We both really liked Of Mages and Makers — which isn’t surprising, we almost always like what Fantasy Faction puts forward.
KRISTEN’S REVIEW:
Of Mages and Makers is the story of Arthur Keays, who is more than he appears to be. Art would love everyone to think that he is an utterly useless aristocrat, when the truth is that he is anything but. As the other main character, Audrey Clune comes on the scene, you can instantly feel a connection between the two. Before Audrey agrees to marry the man that her strict grandmother wants here to, it is time for Audrey to have one last adventure as the Robin Renegade she has always dreamed of being. Someone has stolen no only the blueprints for Art’s sister’s ingenious make, they’ve stolen the whole sister as well, and it is up to Art and Audrey to save her!
I enjoyed this one a lot. It definitely felt like a cozy mystery with fantasy elements included. It’s a bit gaslamp, or a bit steampunk (or both really, as they are adjacent). There is just enough romance that it satisfied the romance reader in me, but not so much that the romance subplot overshadowed the rest of the story and the mystery elements of it.
The mystery was suitably mysterious throughout the story, and while my inklings were more or less correct, the way that the mystery resolved was presented in a way that I didn’t expect, which honestly, is usually more than enough for me.
The worldbuilding was well done. I thought that this world of steampunk inventions and magical shenanigans that combined itself with a bit of fantasy of manners-esque world of the intricacies of social etiquette was easy for me to imagine and immerse myself in.
All told, I had 8/10 stars of fun with Of Mages and Makers. I hope that I can one day read the next book in the series, which I believe is based around the aforementioned ingenious sister.
ESME’S REVIEW:
Victorian-adjacent settings are always a gamble for me—I genuinely dislike the rigid hierarchy and social ideals of the era. What I do love, however, is a protagonist who actively subverts those expectations, and Art fits that mold well.
He plays the fool, but he’s way more attentative than he let’s people see. Right at the start of the book he establishes this when pretends he doesn’t know who a servant was, and questions her about her identity. He plays this off by claiming he’s a late sleeper who wouldn’t know the morning staff—when in truth, he knows exactly who she is. His mother sees through the mask, but the rest of high society buys into it. In contrast, his brilliant cousin Cecily (who is practically a sister to him) is socially oblivious. Right as we meet her, she casually announces a world-altering discovery: magic isn’t an exclusive, registered trait to be tracked by the state—she can teach anyone to wield it through science. Art is in the audience when she announces this and nearly shits himself, while she’s confused why he’s whisking her away and out of harms way.
Then there is our second POV, Audrey. She is a part of the aristocratic “gem” class rather than the working “cog” tier, she is still caught in between: her late mother was an entertainer, leaving Audrey very aware of her mixed background. She is betrothed to someone she is lukewarm about, and is trying to stall her wedding by leaving to go visit her aunt as one final breath of independence.
The eventual romance between Art and Audrey is visible from miles away. While I appreciate a good slow burn, the romantic arc ended up being my least favorite element of the book. It’s a testament to the characters and the plot that I enjoyed the story in spite of the romance, rather than because of it but make of that what you will since in general I am not a romance reader.
Things get kicked off when the blueprints for this heretic magic machine are stolen, and the main characters have to find them or risk pissing off the queen who wants the blueprints for herself. I really enjoyed the world building here, I do tend to like steampunky worlds, and I felt like it was sufficiently fleshed out without being burdensome or too scarse to get a good “head movie.” The writing and pacing were punchy enough for me to read the whole thing in a matter of days and I didn’t feel like any parts were bloated or in need of an editor. Although I did kind of guess where things were going, that’s not entirely a bad thing, sometimes familiar notes and beats are comforting, and there was enough of an original spin on things to keep me interested.
I also felt like this is an 8/10, so our final score for SPFBO is 8/10!