Lirra is a Channeler – a woman with the power to control the elements, in Lirra’s case the wind. Aodren is a young king whose father persecuted Channelers and created fear and hatred against these women’s magic. During a tournament that brings many kingdoms together, Aodren and Lirra learn of a drug that mimics Channeler magic, but ends up killing its users. Together, they must track down the source of the drug, and figure out how to overturn the decades of hatred Aodren’s father had cultivated.

In Once a King, Erin Summerhill has created a fascinating world — magical women, fearful non-magical people, a young king trying to heal the divide, a deadly drug masked as a specialized magical elixir. It’s the third in a series, and I haven’t read the first two books, but I didn’t have a hard time keeping up.

I also really love the sweet romance in this book, and both Aodren and Lirra are compelling characters. I love how Lirra dreams of being an inventor, using her Channeler gifts to build a glider that gives non-magical people the ability to fly without magic, and I also love that she is constrained by her need to support her family and earn her father’s approval by helping him out on dangerous missions. I also love how Aodren has to live very much under the shadow of his father’s actions, how he wants to do good for his kingdom but is also uncertain of his own abilities to bring forth change. Both of them complement each other well, and I like the friendship that grounds their romance.

The last few chapters were especially strong, and I love the way the book ended. But most of the book felt slow, partly because of the political machinations, but also some of the twists and action sequences felt repetitive. For such an action-packed plot concept, I felt the book was twice as long as it had to be, and while I loved the concept and am glad I finished it, I almost gave up on it several times.

Still, overall I enjoyed the story, and I like how a fantasy about magic in a far-off kingdom touched on some important real life issues (discrimination, fear-mongering, drug addiction, drug trade, political maneuvering, claustrophobia and anxiety).

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Thanks to Raincoast Books for an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

In Prospect Avenue, bootlegger Jack McCloskey rescues the survivor of a bad smuggling deal and gets caught up in a series of murders. From the cover and the description, I’d initially expected classic crime noir along the lines of Raymond Chandler — Januska’s style isn’t quite as hard-boiled. Rather, the book reminded me a lot of Boardwalk Empire, so if you enjoyed that TV show, you should definitely check this book out.

I admit it’s not really my type of story, and while I enjoyed parts of the book, I never really got hooked by it. But I think that’s mostly a matter of my preference rather than anything about the book at all, because the writing was strong.

I like the light humour sprinkled throughout the book. In particular, McCloskey’s girlfriend Vera Maude provides a bit of welcome comic relief as she plans a wedding and reluctantly allows McCloskey to give her a driving lesson.

I also like how the book confronts the racism of its time. The man McCloskey rescues is Chinese, and McCloskey tries to give him a more stable future by getting him a job at a Chinese restaurant. Characters taste Chinese food for the first time, and I like how Januska shows their wariness at the unfamiliar flavours, and also how they end up enjoying some of the dishes without over-the-top exclaiming at the wonders of this new cuisine. There were characters who were being racist, and McCloskey calls them out, but in a way that still felt realistic to the time period. It’s how I imagine many Americans probably did respond when Chinese restaurants began opening up in the country, and I like that Januska acknowledges the problematic attitudes of the time without making the characters feel too modern.

McCloskey as well is an interesting character. I like how he clearly enjoys his job and is good at it, but is also trying to work his way toward a more legitimate business. It’s one of my favourite tropes in this genre, and makes for a compelling character arc.

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Thanks to Dundurn Press for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.