Skate the Seeker: A Book Review
This review was originally published on the Thinklings Blog shortly before the release of Skate the Seeker by Jeff Ayers. It is republished here eons later.
We return at last to the magical and mysterious world of Skate the thief: only this time, she’s not the one thieving and dancing in skullduggery, but on a quest. She is Skate the Seeker.
I happily reviewed the first book in author Jeff Ayers’s series three years ago and, dear reader, am pleased to report I’m even happier after its sequel. Skate the Thief introduced us to urchin Skate, the mage Belamy, whatever-the-devil Rattle is, and the whole host of Caribol’s underworld and upper echelons both. Now we discard Caribol for a larger world, an old world of ruins and politics at work. As fun as that city was, this is to the benefit of Skate the Seeker: the world is rich, full of life, and most importantly, weird. Many of fantasy’s famed tropes are found here, but diverted in startling ways (Do dwarves have eyelids? Where did the elves go?). Forests are dangerous, as are the roads Skate travels by; and that’s just for a start.
Skate is joined of course by Rattle, her stumbling friend Twitch, and magically bound Petre, as she seeks the way to save Belamy from his particularly dicey predicament from the end of Skate the Thief. For all her careful planning, though, Skate finds herself at odds with how different the real world is beyond the hard streets; and time and again she finds her feints met in kind by learned dwarves, thieves who are more than they seem, and the pursuits of Lady Ossertine, returning with a bone to pick with our dear Skate. And behind all that, something bestial follows in Skate’s wake, something with dark intentions.
What I’m trying to say is, Skate the Seeker is worth the wait.
The new characters are a hearty addition to the expansion of the world, which this time comes with a fancy new map that I quite like to look at (who doesn’t love a good fantasy map?). I liked Corrin and Pebble as early applicants for best new character, but my heart was won by Captain Sindale, a grit-eating swordswoman who joins Skate on her quest and whom I could not do without now. Yet as time goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that no character, new or returning, is safe in this wider world. But then, if that wasn’t clear by the end of Skate the Thief, you weren’t paying attention—but Jeff reminds us quickly and often, with ruthless effectiveness, just how dangerous things are. Will Jeff be paying my therapy bills for the rest of the year?
Probably not, but it would be nice, Jeff. Come on.
Skate the Seeker brings a wider spectrum of dark fantasy and epic fantasy all at once, and gives a new spin to a genre growing darker by the page. If Skate the Thief left you with ink to spare, Skate the Seeker will spill the rest of your ink for you.
Skate the Seeker was originally provided to me by Thinkling Books for review purposes. I now have a fancy version signed by the author, with whom I do battle regularly. Book 3 might have finished its first draft, which means I might get to see it soon!
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