9.0/10 ⭐
30 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 (Took 6 days)
Zorian continues his journey of progressing his magic abilities after the conclusion of the last volume, which left him barely able to get away from the Red Robe. The entire series is one giant training arc before the big fight, and this is much of the same.
However, I liked meeting all the new characters, like Alanic and Lukav. Zorian himself is just gathering sympathetic mentors who are willing to teach him since he seems to be in grave danger, and another character rightly points out how impossible this would be in normal circumstances (better to take advantage of it!). While the characters aren’t too “deep”, they definitely feel distinct and interesting to follow. I would love to spend more time and learn more about these people. Unfortunately, Zorian is too busy for that.
This makes me wonder if this world’s magic and technology is held back by it’s current social structure. Nobody has the incentive to share resources and knowledge, leading to a bunch of lost knowledge (like the teleportation gates and such).
While Zorian is the main character, Zach is such an integral character that he’s basically a deuteragonist. It’s fun to see Zorian mature as an individual, especially when it comes to his interactions with Zach. Their interactions are honestly the best part of the book.
The bombshell revelation at the end means that I WILL be reading Arc 3 immediately.