Flights of Marigold

Flights of Marigold

by Susan Forest

3 out of 5

Synopsis
Publishers Lunch Buzz Books 2020 selection

Flights of Marigold tells an epic tale of addictions, survival, revenge, and redemption of three magiel sisters hiding in an insignificant hinterland. Can they hold on to happiness, dreams, and sisterhood when desire becomes addiction?

ONE RISK, ONE CHANCE.

Peace in the seven realms of Shangril: shattered. Nobility of the magiel race: broken. Lands of the High King’s opponents: usurped. And Heaven may no longer be attainable .

Meg and Janat Falkyn, fugitive daughters of an imperial magiel, escape to the edge of the world to take refuge with their youngest sister, Rennika. And, perhaps, to fulfill their mother’s wish and restore their people’s access to their Gods—by recapturing a fabled prayer stone.

But to accomplish the theft, whom can they trust ? The ambitious High King’s sister thirsts for power. A calculating regent enriches himself with a steam-driven textile monopoly. A charming swindler sets up an elaborate scheme. And unraveling secrets hidden in castles, alleyways, and brothels threaten to expose everything .

With rebels stalking the sisters, and the High King's armies on the march, Meg's time is up.



Review
Meg, Janat and Rennika are magiels that have escaped being hunted. Now the sisters have to survive the new world.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

It starts with Meg, who is doing her part for the rebellion, healing their fighters, and trying to knock sense into their squabbling leaders. She soon realises that this isn't best place for her magic-addicted sister, Janat.
Together, they leave the rebels, trying to find a new path, wanting to heal, and find honest work.

When they eventually reunite with Rennika, they inevitably get drawn back into the politics and drama.

Bursts of Fire (Addicted to Heaven #1) was one of my favourite books last year. It has an interesting magic system, where the backlash of using magic is the magiel slips through their own timeline.
Each kingdom has a prayer stone, where the royal magiel transcends to heaven, to deliver prayers for the kingdom, and return with death tokens for their people. People who die without death tokens are doomed to roam the world as ghosts for eternity.
This system still exists in the sequel, although it is somewhat battered after the war.

I didn't fall in love with this story. It felt like the stereotypical mid-series-book, where the characters are dealing with the fall-out of the first book, and have no real agency.
For 60% of the book, they are running from the fight, having had enough of the rebellion. They have to avoid the rebels, and the High King's army. They also have to figure out how to live in a world that treats them like scum, because of the magic visible in their skin. Meg and Janat take on basic, menial work, for room and board, merely existing.
Yes, they have to take care of Janat's addiction - and I thought this was a very real and frustrating depiction - but I just couldn't connect.

Rennika doesn't even show up until the second half of the book. I liked this youngest sister, who was building up to something awesome in the first book. In this second installment, all of her drive has been replaced by the security of having a job as a master dyer.
She has turned her back on everything, including her magic.

I think with all the sisters saying 'screw this' to the bigger picture, and getting on with dull life stuff, it was really hard to be engaged.

The narration is also shared by several of the 'enemies', including the High King, his ambitious sister, and even more ambitious regent.
The Princess is easily the most cunning in the group; but overall I thought their political clashes were more petty squabbles than actual intrigue.

I'm still interested to see where this series leads, it was just a shame about this installment.

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