Tuesday 20 January 2015

The Dead Man's Hand Again; or The Magic Trick (The Card Game, Book Two)

In December I posted about a wonderful book entitled The Silent Deal that I had read the month before. Two days later I actually started the second book, The Magic Trick and before the year was up I had it finished, devouring the prose like some sort of drug. It was truly addictive.

Unfortunately, that little thing known as 'Christmas' and 'New Year' got in the way of writing a blog and it's now close to a month since I finished the book. I apologise for this, not for this being late per se, but for the simple fact that a review of any media is much fairer when all is fresh in the mind. Since then many things have happened and I worry that this review will not be as complete as it perhaps would have been before Christmas.

When I began The Magic Trick I immediately felt that the style of writing was better than its predecessor. That's not to say The Silent Deal was poorly written; just that things were smoother, the pacing was more fitting and it really felt like Mr Stack was in his stride. This wasn't a cautious nudge into the world of books, this was a charge.

That said, I also felt that they actual content had taken a step back. I don't mean it had gone from an eight to a four, just maybe dropped to a seven. The previous book had been left after such whirlwind events, on the brink of something big, yet the second book began rather tamely. Several months had passed and although we are filled in on the details, the events are rather subdued.

It's still fun. It just feels very much like a 'kids at fantasy school' story (for early on Viktor and select members of the Crossbones Clan are sent to train as apprentices in Staryi Castle, the home of the enemy), à la early Harry Potter, with less wizardry. As I said, it's still entertaining, it's still a pleasure to read, it just feels like the The Silent Deal was the kindling to a great blaze and the The Magic Trick begins as embers.

About a third of the way through, however, things change. Those embers rapidly burn white hot. Things really pick up and I found myself loving the way the story was going. From here, not only writing style but also content supercede the first book. I haven't been so genuinely enthralled by a book in a very long time (I've had books I've enjoyed immensely, but for the first time since about February 2014 it was a book that I did not want to put down. It was a book that rather than reading to procrastinate my workload, I had to read to stop myself being distracted from my workload).

It's genuinely fantastic. There's many more wonderful puns, that make me smile every time I read them. There's still Masqueraiders and cards, but to add to my love of both there is 'traditional' Victorian magic. For those out of the know, as a Magician's Assistant, 'real world' magic is a new passion of mine. So, much like the masquerade masks and use of cards, this book felt like it was written around my hobbies and collections.

There's also a lot more violence; not so much graphic, but what happens is utterly brutal. I am usually fairly unattached to characters; when plethora after plethora of grisly things happen in A Song of Ice and Fire I shrug it off, nonchalant. Okay, so someone else is being horrifically tortured/mauled/killed; ah well! The Magic Trick? Not so much. Two scenes in particular had me reading, absolutely aghast, jaw dropped in shock. It made me squirm.

I mean this in absolutely the best possible way. That's the reaction those scenes are meant to illicit and they're written so marvelously. They shock without being unnecessarily bloody in description; I think, if anything, it's the lack of visceral prose that makes those scenes really stand out. The one critique I will give, however, it when one character is truly brutalised (no spoilers as to who or how), he spends the rest of the book acting as if he has not been physically broken. It's just a little strange, as if these new physical ailments have no effect on his being.

Still, it's a minor issue in an otherwise brilliant read.

Much like The Silent Deal, the questions you are dying to know go unanswered, but it strikes an excellent balance between answering and creating questions, so you don't feel frustrated at the end. Unlike The Silent Deal, there's a lot more action and things are creeping ever closer to an Armageddon. A lot happens in The Magic Trick, including a lot more page time of The Leopard (who is an utterly fantastically evil character) but it's clearly still the beginning. There's a lot more to come and I'm impatient waiting (the third book is not out yet).

I genuinely think Levi Stack had outdone himself here. Just like my last post, I really cannot thank him enough for bringing me such sheer enjoyment in book form. For me it's a perfect blend of flawed characters, in depth story and light entertainment. The Magic Trick is perfect sequel to The Silent Deal and a perfect opening for what is yet to come.

This book in facts and figures;
My rating: 9/10
Pages: 420
My Format: E-book
Published: 2014

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