A stand-out gem of last year I didn’t see coming. Quite possibly heightened by the absolutely incredible voice work the audiobook narrator provides. This has all the excellent hallmarks from Blacktongue Thief, but fleshed out the setting even more—turning out to be very gruesome, cruel, and evocative—but has a character I enjoyed far more than the sequel. Great specificity in the prose makes the world vivid and the societal aspects couple that novelty into something that also feels really fresh and exciting. I hope even more comes of this series, but even if it doesn’t, I’ll pick up the next book by the author regardless.