I’m not entirely sure wether or not I liked The Malice. Let’s see if writing a review will clear that up for me ?

World-building

The Malice continues the excellent world-building from The Vagrant and boy does it do a good job. We have intermittent flashbacks to a, very interesting, POV from before the Breach which provides a nice backstory about the Empire of the Winged Eye. We learn more about different cities and their relationships and how the landscape has changed after the Usurper was defeated and what impact this had on its denizens. All in all, the world-building is top notch and the picture it creates, albeit not very pretty, is quite amazing in scope and consistency.

Characters

This, for me, is the most tricky part. I didn’t like Vesper from the get-go and that hasn’t really improved throughout the story. That said, she does have a nice development arc, but overall I found here to be boring, irritating and stupid or any combination of those, for most of the time. On the other hand, I really liked Duet & Sammael. Even the less important ones like Tough Call, Max, The First, Gutterface, Eze and little Eze were very entertaining and well worked out.

Writing

The writing again is beautiful. It flows with its own rythm and this becomes extra clear when listenening to the audiobook. It really fits the narrative and its 3rd person POV and I enjoyed it immensely. There’s a subtle undercurrent of humor that rears its head every now and then, that made it even more enjoyable.

‘Hold on,’ says Doctor Grains, also standing. ‘You can’t possibly leave now!’ ‘We can,’ replies Duet. ‘You can watch us, if you like.’

I really LIKE Duet.

Plot / Story

The plot isn’t particulary complicated or deep. It’s very much a story about the journey, more than the destination. There are a few conflicts along the way that are interesting, but left me wanting a little more depth. The power struggle and the difficult co-habitation of humans and usurperkin in Verdigris for instance, is something that could have been a little more fleshed out.

I REALLY do not like Vesper. I still cannot understand the stupidity she displayed at Sonorous when she decided that their best plan of action was to sacrifice the knights and everyone else present, so that nobody would have to die (a fact that was far from certain). Even then its Genner who concludes, from that bullshit, that it was her plan all along to use their surrender to hide her escape.

Unable to bear it, she tests the lie in her mind. It feels wrong but anything is better than more bloodshed. She clears her throat. ‘The sword has spoken to me.’ Beside her, Genner lowers his head. ‘We are yours to command.’ It is hard to tell if the sword vibrates or the girl’s hands shake. ‘Gamma … Gamma of The Seven … does not want you to fight today.’ A few look surprised, most simply accept it.

The main plot ending isn’t very grandiose, despite the story properly ramping up to it and it left me confused and dissapointed.

‘I can feel it! The Yearning. It’s … calling me.’ ‘Yes,’ says Vesper, her voice small. ‘It’s huge and sad, so very sad. So alone. It … wants me to join it. You have to help me, I don’t think I can hold on for long.’ ‘It needs you. If it has you I think it will stop growing.’ With effort, Duet turns her head. ‘What are you saying?’ ‘I’m saying I can’t fight the Yearning but you …’ ‘No! I’d rather die than be an infernal.’ ‘I know.’ Vesper brings the sword to her chest. ‘I’m sorry.’

Conclusion

Despite some dissapointments with some characters and the plot, I still very much enjoyed reading this. The narrative style and writing are something special, and the world building is stellar. I have no idea what else is going to happen next, since there’s still the last part of the trilogy and this seems to have wrapped up most things pretty nicely, but I’m eager to find out.

3.5 stars.