Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic-the Red Church. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. A few years ago, I would have thought differently, but I guess it’s a philosophy I’ve been trying to adopt into more aspects of my life.In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.ĭaughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. To be honest, if you know you’re doing something that annoys people, I’d prefer you change it, rather than make self-aware jokes about it.

It feels a bit like a pre-emptive excuse to dodge criticism, because the author himself felt like he was doing something “wrong”. The question is: is knowing you do it enough to redeem a trilogy worth of annoying writing.

I liked the self-deprecating jokes, and I even liked the fact that I’m unsure if it’s Jay Kristoff or the in-universe Chronicler that is the wanker here. (“What kind of wanker writes a novel with footnotes?!”) I have mixed feelings about these fourth wall breaks: in Nevernight I loved them, in Godsgrave I got a little tired of them, and (again) Darkdawn landed somewhere in the middle. What complicates all the above, is that Jay Kristoff seems to be perfectly self-aware of all of his own faults, and frequently references them in his own story. We are left with a republic filled with shadow magic, where cities are built within the bones of dead gods, and where everything hinges on the overlapping cycle of three suns, that is truly deserving of being the setting to a fantasy epic. Jay Kristoff takes a different route and built his world from the ground based on these ideas. The result is basically our reality with a few magical elements added to it. Too often do authors think of a cool concept (what if there were three suns in the sky?), but forget to think of all the implications that would have on literally every aspect of that worlds inhabitants.

I cannot stress this enough: this is worldbuilding done right. From the physical world, to the shadow-magic, from political intrigue to religious beliefs: everything is integrated and thought out to perfection. Although I would never want to visit it for obvious reasons, this world is one that I can picture vividly in every aspect. Worldbuilding can make or break a fantasy novel for me, and I have to say that the world of The Nevernight Chronicles is one of my favourites of all time.

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