Review: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this as an audio book. Both narrators did an excellent job distinguishing all of the characters and giving them similar but unique accents so you could tell them apart. I read a couple of reviews that the pacing might be a little off and I recommend the audiobook as I felt the pacing was fine in the audio.

This is told from alternating perspectives Nadya and Serafin. Nadya is a Kalyazi cleric who has the unique ablity to communicate with the gods of her culture and they grant her spells to guide her magic. Serafin on the other hand is her enemy; he is a Tranavian blood mage and set to kill Nadya and all Kalyazi. Serafin is a powerful mage and also the High Prince. When Serafin attacks the monastery Nadya has been hiding and training in, she must flee in the hopes that she will still be of some use to her people if she can survive. During her escape she encounters Malachiasz, a former blood mage and his two companions Rashid and Parajihan. Nadya isn’t sure of what to make of the trio, but they quickly become allies in the face of dying by the hands of the Travanians. As Nadya tries to infiltrate the Travanian court to kill her enemy, Serafin is called home to find a wife. They both get caught up in court politics and find themselves in the middle of something much more sinister.

This is pretty dark and violent. If you are squeamish, stay away from this one. There is mention of blood in pretty much every scene. There are many bloody fight scenes. There is an unnecessary insta-love triangle sort ofthing forming between Serafin and Nadya and Malachiasz. She likes them both pretty much instantly upon meeting them but fights her feelings because they are the enemy. I don’t think it was entirely needed to move the plot along. I could have done without it, and I think the outcome could have been the same without it. It also takes away from Nadya as a strong female lead and makes it more about the boys than her. I also didn’t feel the chemistry between any of the romantic pairings.

In the end the magic system was so interesting, but I feel like I missed something when the book was over. I hope that the magic both the divine and the blood magic are explored more in the next book. There was a ton of information and detail presented to the reader. Unfortunately none of it was ties back together to give you a clear picture on the rules of each magic system, the gods, and what actually happened at the end. I’m hoping we will get some more answers in the next book. I’d like to see the magic system explained a bit more and the cleric’s relationship and to the gods explained clearly.

After proofreading this review it kind of sounds like I didn’t really like this book, believe me I did. I really like the concept of the lore and mythology; I hope we get more of it. The magic system is cool, I just don’t understand it. The world building was done pretty well, and while the characters still have a good way to grow I think we have a good foundation set for them. I’m looking forward to the next book and hope we get some answers.


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