I enjoyed the Order of the Dark Rose. I’m kind of glad that it’s part of a series, and the ending gives that vibe as well.
The City of Cal Rindon gives almost a steampunk vibe, but not quite. Everything here is powered by magic. The book is obviously a tribute to Sherlock Holmes, but the main character is a disgraced mage. He’s being held back by a curse and that adds to the tension.
The stories are filled with adventure, exciting battle scenes, and a bit of humor. The world building is incredible.
The book is made up of case files, but carries along a bigger case across the stories. Fans of urban fantasy are going to enjoy this one. I’ll be watching for the next installment.
I like the magical aspect to it. The drama started from the very beginning, which is always pleasing to read (conflict from the get-go). I did like the idea behind some vintage-like aspects to it, reminds me of my own writing style as well. An note would be how the paragraphs are formatted. It seems too clustered. I had to do a double take a couple times because I lost my place when reading. Overall lovely fantasy driven piece.