Fray

Pros: interesting magic, political intrigue

Cons: pacing is a bit uneven

Several months have passed since the attempted revolt at midwinter and the Council of Nobles are preparing to vote on the new Reform Bill that Prince Theodor has advanced. Sophie Balstrade prepares to give up her seamstress business and accompany the prince to a trade conference in West Serafe. But trouble from home follows them there, as the nobles don’t intend to give up their power. Meanwhile Sophie’s casting ability has been faltering and she needs to figure out why, and if it can be recovered.

This is the second book in the Unravelled Kingdom series, and heavily depends on knowing what’s happened in book one. There’s less sewing and more magic and politicking in this book.

I love Sophie and seeing her relationship with Theo deepen is a real pleasure. They sometimes butt heads, being from different social strata, but work out their difficulties.

The magic is interesting. I love how Sophie sews charms, and seeing her abilities expand is fun. The musical magic gets examined a bit more and Sophie develops a new form of casting.

There is a lot of political intrigue. I love that there are no easy solutions to how to resolve problems of social and economic change. People in power don’t want to give that up. The book shows very realistic responses to the various solutions proposed. The brutality of people fighting for their future comes across.

I did find that some parts of the book were more interesting than others. The pacing got a bit uneven at times.

I enjoyed the book and can’t wait to read the final volume.