The Helm of Midnight
4/5
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About this ebook
Hannibal meets Mistborn in Marina Lostetter’s THE HELM OF MIDNIGHT, the dark and stunning first novel in a new trilogy that combines the intricate worldbuilding and rigorous magic system of the best of epic fantasy with a dark and chilling thriller.
In a daring and deadly heist, thieves have made away with an artifact of terrible power—the death mask of Louis Charbon. Made by a master craftsman, it is imbued with the spirit of a monster from history, a serial murderer who terrorized the city.
Now Charbon is loose once more, killing from beyond the grave. But these murders are different from before, not simply random but the work of a deliberate mind probing for answers to a sinister question.
It is up to Krona Hirvath and her fellow Regulators to enter the mind of madness to stop this insatiable killer while facing the terrible truths left in his wake.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Marina Lostetter
Marina Lostetter is the author of Noumenon and Noumenon: Infinity. The Helm of Midnight was her first foray into fantasy. Originally from Oregon, she now resides in Arkansas with her husband, Alex. When not writing or drawing she can often be found reading spec fic, or playing it (she enjoys a good zombie-themed board game now and again). And she does it all while globe-trotting.
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Reviews for The Helm of Midnight
16 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5There are some issues that keep this from being a five star book, but overall I thought this was a really enjoyable read. First the good: the world and characters felt real to me in a way that many modern fantasies just don't. I understood why Krona, Louis and the others make their choices in the context of the society as its set up, even if those choices wouldn't make sense in our world today. I really rooted for all of them to succeed, even when they had incompatible goals. I also really really liked the idea of magic being more like science in this world, where a pinch of A and a dab of B always leads to the same result, allowing magic to be systematized and regulated.Now the flaws: for a world that's set up with 5 different genders there is very little done with this premise. Women are allowed to be enforcers of magical laws on an equal footing with men....but they still wear skirts on their days off? There are explicit mentions of additional genders with specified pronouns, but all of the main characters appear to use the traditional he/her pronouns and be involved in heterosexual relationships. It honestly came across to me as more performative than genuinely inclusive of trans/nonbinary identities, which is a bummer to me.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5It just never clicked.
Three separate stories, three different timelines, nominally related. But they were spaced far enough apart that the two non-Krona storylines narratively didn't deserve the page space they took. And Krona's super-long chapters weren't at all interesting until more than halfway through.
I hated the way information was presented. Too many awkward infodumps. I deliberately skimmed over the god explanation stuff. I knew 25% through that I wouldn't be reading the sequel, and I could get enough of what I needed to know through context clues instead of raging even more. I hated the infodumps. I hated them so much.
I didn't entirely buy the romances , especially Melanie's. I feel like a crapsack world has an expectation that various characters have a large bundle of self-interest, and the altruistic characters didn't really work for what the rest of the book was selling. I don't know if I'm putting that right - but basically Sebastian's motivations being exactly what they were laid out to be, and not really being any deeper, was super disappointing for that timeline. I kept expecting a betrayal but there was ultimately no subtext that was teased out.
There was no good reason to have the separate POVs - I think it would have been better to get the requisite information into Krona's. There were ways to do it, and it wouldn't have let the reader feel like Krona was dumb for not having info that the reader has, but she doesn't. Cutting out the POVs would also have shortened the book, which would be much better.
Ultimately, the clumsy absolutely-no-subtext is kinda what makes me want to label this as YA-ey, even though serial killers obviously is not a YA subject. It might also be the references but absolutely no textual examples of sex happening. It just seemed juvenile overall.
And this ties in to the rest of my complaints - but at least 100 pages too long. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Helm of Midnight by Marina Lostetter is a book about the things you will do for those you love. This story takes place in a world built by the gods and the magic that surrounds their land can be harvested through stones and enchanters can make them influence you with anything from joy to despair. At it's heart this is an investigative story about two sisters who are Regulators (ie. police) who are investigating the theft of a powerful death mask that belonged to the killer Louis Charbon. Those that wear the mask can take on the skills or personality of the person who has been enchanted into the mask. Now that the mask has been stolen and the grisly murders that were previously committed by Charbon are now being committed again. This book has a wonderfully constructed world and an interesting magic building system based on time and emotion. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will definitely continue the series as it comes out. I think fans of police procedurals mixed with some fantasy would definitely enjoy this story.