The fourth book in the page-turning SPELLSLINGER fantasy series. Perfect for fans of The Dark Tower, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.
And that’s the blurb – well, you can’t fault the publisher for giving away any crucial plotpoints here, can
you? I’m interested in the line-up of authors that are compared to de Castell, because they all have initially humorous, often quite bouncy stories that steadily get darker and grimmer as the series wears on. Up to this point, the Spellsinger series kept the humour going, mostly provided by that pesky squirrel cat. But while Kellen’s caustic comments still are evident during Soulbinder – this is the book where the stakes are upped even further, there is even more mayhem, bloodshed and emotion. And yet, right at the end, back comes the humour, which I often loathe in TV series, but this time around, breathless and a tad hollowed out by all the excitement and the loss of characters I’ve grown fond of – something de Castell regularly does – it was a huge relief.
In this slice of the adventure, we learn more about the shadowblack – the disease that has marked Kellen and forced him to be outcast as the black markings around his eye will eventually cause him to be possessed by a terrible demon and start killing all those around him. The magical society he is born into, the Jan’Tep, abhor and fear all those with shadowblack, regarding them as monsters and mages can earn respect by tracking and killing those with a bounty on their head. I appreciated learning more about exactly what others infected by shadowblack feel about their affliction as Kellen encounters those like himself.
The action builds to a really exciting climax and the pages flipped past far too quickly as I couldn’t put this one down – de Castell has a knack of leading us from one engrossing adventure to another, without losing any depth in the characterisation or allowing the pacing to become too repetitive, which is harder to do than he makes it look.
And despite reading two books in this series within a week of each other – see my review of Charmcaster – I didn’t find the experience diminished my enjoyment of Soulbinder, which is a real testament to the writing skill of de Castell, who goes on delivering humour, shocks and plot-twists throughout this engrossing series. Highly recommended for fans of adventure fantasy featuring cool magical systems.
9/10
Brainfluff 
I love hearing that the series is still going strong. There are two more books, after all! Thanks for your review, I’m looking forward to catching up some day😉
Oh yes – there will be six books in the series altogether, I believe which means it won’t necessarily overwhelm. Though there is also those OTHER books on our towering TBR piles aren’t there??
It’s nice to see this series is still going so well for you, Sarah. That cover is fascinating!
I really like the playing card theme that runs through all the covers – and they all relate to the story really well.
What a read this must be! And, what a cover. Excellent review; I really enjoyed reading this post.
Thank you, Rae! It’s great fun – it’s a lovely fantasy read with plenty of humour and even though the storyline is a bit darker now we are seeing more bad guys, it’s still great fun:))
Wow, this sounds fantastic, and I loved your review, Sarah. I’ve got to check this series out.
Thank you Jennifer – it’s worth checking out. I’ve really enjoyed each book which has taken the story in a different direction every time.
Sounds excellent! The US still has a month or so to wait until this one drops, but I like that seeing that the series is still so good!
I’m delighted that you’ll be getting hold of this one soon, Mogsy – I’d love to know what you make of it:)
I’ve not heard of this author before… (am I the only one? lol) but I do love the theme of this series!
No – apparently he’s written another successful and popular series that completely slid under my radar. But I’d seen several enthusiastic reviews for the first book and loved the premise, which is how I became a fan:))
I loved this one too – quite dark comparatively speaking – I just love the way the series is growing.
Lynn 😀
Yes – but the clever trick he pulled off was the light-hearted vibe again right at the end…
Another review so “quick” (at least for someone who reads posts in bulk) after the first one makes me want to consider this series… but my instinct says to steer away from YA.
It’s quite a quirky read – Kellen is a youngster but it’s mostly about his relationship with his squirrelcat, rather than any girlies in his life, which is too hard as he is constantly on the run…