BOOK REVIEW | PAGE’S PYRE | JORDAN LOYAL SHORT

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION 

How do you steal a book that doesn’t exist?

When Izola travels to Jarlsbeck bearing news of her ex-husband’s death, she discovers that her daughter, Page, has made dangerous friends. Obsessed with finding a mythical book whose origins are clouded in mystery, Page is embroiled in a magical heist. To steal the book out from under the noses of a secret society of librarians, she’ll have to assemble a team of a sarcastic dwarven historian, a devious summoner, and of course… a book witch—her mother.

But working together will test the team’s loyalties. Page was always a daddy’s girl, and her rebellious spirit has pushed her away from Izola. Worst of all, Page is keeping a secret that just might get the whole team killed.

On the eve of Reinveldt’s post-war election, the world’s fate teeters on the brink, and the sinister Thule Society puts forth a candidate. Nothing is beneath the Thule in their quest to control the fabled book: intimidation, blackmail, assassination.

Can mother and daughter make peace in time to save a nation from itself? And can the team hold it together long enough to steal the legendary book, or will old scars and secret agendas tear them apart?

REVIEW

Starting from the cliffhanger ending of book 1, Page’s Pyre continues the story begun in City in The Dragon's Eye and is the second book in the Dragon Reich series.

In Page’s Pyre, Jordan Loyal Short maintains the rip-roaring elements that he set out in the first book. However, this time he changes the location to Jarlsberg, where Izola is visiting in order to inform her daughter Page that her father is dead.

Hopping on a zeppelin, Izola is immediately embroiled in intrigue as an old colleague is murdered. After disembarking she heads on over to the daughter’s house who happens to be engaged in a bit of role play with her latest squeeze.

Getting the major embarrassment out of the way, Izola manages to drop the bad news bombshell to her daughter.

As we make our way through the story, we learn that Page has secrets. Not only has she got herself involved with some dodgy folk, she has somehow managed to cheat her way through the exams at her school and is now being blackmailed by an unknown ‘secret admirer’. This is when the main plot of the book kicks in, as Page is trying to get her hands on a magical book, the Canta that for some reason can magic away all the evidence of her past misdemeanours.

Full of intrigue, secret societies, nefarious plots and high-octane adventure, Page’s Pyre is an enjoyable, light entertaining read. However, as the story moves along the plot takes a darker twist, drawing on various historical elements, whetting the appetite for the next book in the series.

There are lots of twists and turns as the story moves towards its conclusion and as the book leaves us on a cliffhanger, it will be interesting to see where the next volume of this fun, anarchic story will go next.