It is difficult to repent in Wellmet, regardless of what one does to save an entire city and its magic. Conn, the hero from Book One, is still considered little more than a thief and street tramp by practically everyone. And now that he no longer possesses his locus stone, he can’t very well dispute the accusations. So he does what every young, headstrong punk would do; he blows up his wizard master’s castle and gets himself banished from the city.

Sarah Prineas’ second installment in her series is every bit as interesting and fresh as the first. She is clearly leading the reader somewhere but only drops a precious few hints as the story progresses about the final destination. Her magical world is nowhere near that of other, contemporary popular series; we really do not know what to expect here, which is tremendously refreshing.

The only thing I did not like was that her protagonist continues to be a fairly unlikable character, more so even than in the first book. This young man is smarmy and close-lipped and makes annoyingly pitiful attempts to redeem himself. He seems almost to go out of his way to ignore absolutely everyone around him; even the young girl that befriends him is frustrated with his behavior. Once again, however, he manages to make some progress, exasperating though his story is to read.

Rated: None