Kellen is moments away from facing his first duel and proving his worth as a spellcaster. There’s just one problem: his magic is fading.

Facing exile unless he can pass the mage trials, Kellen is willing to risk everything – even his own life – in search of a way to restore his magic. But when the enigmatic Ferius Parfax arrives in town, she challenges him to take a different path.

One of the elusive Argosi, Ferius is a traveller who lives by her wits and the cards she carries. Daring, unpredictable, and wielding magic Kellen has never seen before, she may be his only hope.

A few reviews back (for Django Wexler’s Ship of Smoke and Steel), I mentioned that there was a handful of new-to-me authors I was planning on reading in 2020, and for sure, Sebastien de Castell is on that list! I’ve had both Spellslinger & Traitor’s Blade for awhile now, but after seeing some friends binging & LOVING the Spellslinger series, I decided to start there!

When we meet our main character, fifteen-year-old Kellen, he’s about to attempt the first of his mage trials. A duel. A duel for which he is totally ill-prepared. Because although Kellen’s parents & his younger sister are extremely powerful mages, Kellen’s magic is…it’s not great. Like, it’s barely there at all. He knows all the spells & corresponding hand signals…in fact, he knows them better than anyone at his school. It’s just when it comes to the actual magic…eh, not so much.

If Kellen can pass his mage trials before his sixteenth birthday, he will become Jan’Tep, and earn his mage name. If he fails, he will become Sha’Tep, relegated to a life of servitude. The Sha’Tep are looked down upon, and nearly cease to be a part of their own families.

Around the same time Kellen is attempting his first trial, a mysterious stranger shows up, and takes an interest in Kellen. Her name is Ferius Parfax, and she is a fucking TREAT! This is one of those characters that, from the moment she walks into the story, you’re just fascinated with. Everything in Jan’Tep society is…just so. There’s a lot of propriety…a certain way of speaking to your elders, or your betters.

And Ferius has zero time for that. She says what she wants, when she wants, and how she wants to say it. She really feels like a character from a Western in many ways, especially with regard to her dialogue. I found her to be hilarious, insightful, and just a total badass.

Spellslinger has such a great coming-of-age vibe. Yes, it’s a fantasy novel with tons of magic & action scenes, but it’s also the story of a kid who feels pretty much lost in the world. Kellen’s relationships with his parents & his sister are a big focus in the book. I really loved the dynamic between Kellen & Shalla, his sister. She’s this outrageously powerful mage-in-training, and while she completely loves Kellen, their relationship is…challenging.

Also, there are squirrel cats. Big squirrels, the size of cats. They are vicious when they need to be, and a huge part of the story. But the less said about squirrel cats, the better.

One of the things that’s really interesting to me about the Spellslinger series (besides the insanely fast pace that all six books were released in) is that it was marketed as a YA series in the UK, but not here in the US (insomuch as Orbit does not explicitly publish YA). It just really got me thinking about perception & marketing & all that. Kinda reminded me of when I first read The Shattered Sea trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. This was before I was on Bookstagram or anything like that, but I just kinda stumbled upon Half a King. And in Barnes & Noble, it was/is shelved with the adult SFF. It wasn’t until well after I read the whole trilogy that I found out it was written as a YA series.

Sorry, got off on a tangent…

For real, I fucking ADORED Spellslinger. Like, this was as much fun as I’ve had reading a fantasy novel in awhile. Kellen is a great protagonist…he’s funny & he’s got such a good heart. He & Ferius make for an extremely unusual duo, but I just can’t wait to see where this series takes them. The urge to binge read the next five books is VERY strong, but I’ll probably space them out a bit. Probably. Maybe.