Balance of Magic by Jeffrey L. Kohanek

Quote of the Book

“The Tower of Devotion had gone dark, the eternal purple flame doused and dormant. Eldalain expected the fire would be lacking after witnessing the same infliction on the obelisk in Dorban. Only one thing could cause either flame to die. His father, Lord Taladain, must be dead.”

Blurb

Ruthless wizards vie for a vacant throne.
The result could alter the balance of magic and doom their world.

A wizard lord is dead, the result of an exotic scheme made possible by an amulet known as the Eye of Obscurance, What if the amulet fall into the wrong hands?

With a throne vacant, a rival wizard lord seeks to expand his power, capturing prayers meant for another and strengthening his magic beyond anything ever recorded. The world will tremble should his power rise to that of two gods.

Disclaimer/Personal Note

Review Request – Thank you to Jeffrey Kohanek for the ARC!

Song of the Book

This one is a broad choice but it’s got an upbeat tempo and the chorus/title works for our heroes. 

The Blue Stones – Rolling With the Punches (Black Holes in another awesome song by them)

Review

Following the death of the wizard Taladain, our friends are on the run. The princess Narine fearing her brother (Prince Eldalain) will blame her for their father, Lord Taladain’s death escapes with Jace, Rhoa and Salvon along with her lifelong friend and bodyguard Adyn.

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The Balance of Magic picks up almost directly after the events of Eye of Obscurance and is just as fast paced and fun as the first. The world has gotten a little more complicated as it opens up and we meet new characters and travel to new places. As the plot thickens some of the minor characters get bigger arcs and their backstories filled in.

Of our friends

Narine moves into the limelight, as she and Jace are developing a relationship. Rawk meets up with an uncle who was kicked out of the clan, the same as himself. And Salvon believes Rhoa is the anomaly that was predicted, and is immune to magic and illusions.

Of our villains

Cordelia is working behind the scenes for whoever benefits her guild the most. Rindle is still trying to prove himself better than Jace. Eladain intends to declare martial law, therefore handing the throne and power of the Fastella to himself (at least for the next few months). And Parsec’s is working towards challenging Eladain, for that same throne.

That was just the tip of the iceberg.

 I always worry I’m not going to be able to keep everyone straight because there are so many characters and so much going on with them and you all know me and my notorious inability to remember names (this is why all my bunnies just inherit by default, any name of a rabbit they look similar to). 
I have learned with Jeffrey Kohanek to not stress too much about it because it all works itself out in the wash – as the unimportant people fall away, and the main characters move forward, those characters usually have enough quirks or events happening to them that I can keep them straight for the most part.

The only issues I had this time was with the wizards – keeping track of who’s on top in which city, and who’s trying to topple whom, was a bit tricky. It does eventually get easier as the details start sticking.

To sum it up

I can always count on Jeffrey Kohanek’s books for fast paced entertainment and this didn’t disappoint. With lots of twisty behind the scenes plots as the balance of power shifts from one wizard to another, there are quite a few surprises along the way including the appearance of a magic-based dragon! Always good fun.

Other notes

This is getting a little more adult with the relationships and a few scenes of gore but still rather mild in comparison to some of what’s out there. I’d let my teen read it but that’s just me.

I mentioned in the review of Eye of Obscurance, how I was sad about Rhoa not having much thought about her leaving her found family and we do get a little here as she sees them in passing and regrets the loss of their company, etc. I liked that.