Musings over Magician’s Guild & Eye of the World

I told you guys in my 2025 Reading Resolution post that I was going to try and read books/audiobooks that I find fulfilling by not rushing or forcing myself to read them to a timetable (funny that as I’ve started a book that I need to read and review by the beginning of April for a blog tour. Oh yes, I am a walking contradiction). 

Well, I have done that with my first two reads of 2025 and I decided to slam my thoughts and feelings over these two together in one post as they are quite similar and yet, very different. They are, as you know if you have read my previous posts on here (or on any of my socials - since deleting the hellscape known as Twitter/X, I am far more active on the others!), The Magician’s Guild by Trudi Canavan* & The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan*. 

FYI, the reason both the titles above have a * is because they are affiliate links to my Bookshop.org* page so you have been warned.

re3 - Soulless

I'm not sure what made me desperately wanted to reread the first book in the Parasol Protectorate, Soulless, by Gail Carriger. It's been on my mind that I wanted to reread it for the last year or two but I seem to become desperate to find time to reread this and see if it was as fun as when I first read this back in 2013 (I had to backtrack through the blog to double check my dates but yes, I first read this nearly ten years ago!)

So, for those of you curious, Soulless is set in an alternative, steampunk London where vampires, werewolves and Alexia Tarabotti exist. Alexia Tarabotti has no soul - literally, though you wouldn't see it. All you would see is a spinster with Italian blood and speaks her mind. How very unladylike. 

But when Alexia is attacked by a vampire and accidentally kills it, breaking all social etiquette, she thinks it can't get worse. Boy oh, it does, as the handsome, gruff (and Alpha werewolf) Lord Maccon is sent to investigate by Queen Victoria. 

For you see, vampires are disappearing and new, rogue vampires are appearing. For some reason that no one seems to understand, Alexia keeps herself in trouble because of it. Something is afoot and whether Lord Maccon wants her help or not, Alexia is going to get to the bottom of it with her trusty brass parasol and a good cup of tea.

GoodRead - Welcome To Night Vale

If you know this blog for a while (or on Twitter), I am a huge fan of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale. So when it was announced last year that the creators of the podcast, Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, were going to write a novel set in this weird little town, I was really excited. But I was a little uncertain over if Night Vale would translate well into novel form...

Night Vale is a small town where every conspiracy is true, and people just have to live their lives. Pawnshop owner, Jackie, is nineteen and has been nineteen for a while. But one day, a Man in a Tan Jacket walks in and gives her a piece of paper. A piece of paper that she can't remove from her hand. The only clue she has to who or what this piece of paper is or who this Man in a Tan Jacket is what's written on the piece of paper - KING CITY.

Diana Clayton is worried about her teenage son, Josh. He's moody and distant. And a shapeshifter, but Diana's more worried about the distance between her son and her. And now, wherever she goes, she sees Josh's father. Looking the same as he did the day he left. And with Josh beginning to take an interest in who his father is, Diana can see disaster coming... and she can't stop it.

These two women's lives will intertwined and it looks like the answers both these women need might be at this mysterious KING CITY... if they can leave Night Vale, that is...

Now... this is a tough one. As a fan of the podcast, I feel that the story did work. Night Vale is just as well as it is on the show - maybe even more so. And, unlike the podcast, the book takes us away from the radio show and we go into town.

The story with Diana and her son, Josh, was something I enjoyed. The relationship between them and they trying to reconnect will strike chords with parents of teenagers everywhere.

However, I do have some issues with this. While it was Welcome to Night Vale, it wasn't at the same time. Some of the things that work on a 30 minute podcast didn't translate well in book form. It felt oddly flat at times.

Another problem that this book had was that, if you are not a fan of the podcast and you picked this up, you might find this book very surreal. If you are not aware of it, you might find this a bit too much.

Am very mixed on this. I think this is a nice add on to the world of Night Vale and fans will really enjoy it. However, I'm not entirely convinced that people who aren't aware of the podcast will find this book enjoyable.

GoodRead - Soulless

I went away for a week earlier this month. And as I knew I wanted to read from my Kindle, I went to Twitter and asked them to choose my next read. Which was fine... until I got a tie between Soulless by Gail Carriger and Demon Eyes by Scott Tracey. So, after slight panicking, Twitter saved me and picked Soulless (though I am reading Demon Eyes now) so I read this while I was away from real life. 

In a steampunk Victorian London, Alexi Tarabotti has a lot to deal with. Not only does she have to deal with the social etiquette of being a spinster and being half Italian, she's also soulless. And then a vampire tried to attack her. All she did was defend herself, but now she has a dead vampire on her hands and Lord Maccon (loud, Scottish, sexy, and, oh yes, an Alpha werewolf) has to investigate this and investigate unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing on behalf of Queen Victoria. With Alexi always seem to be caught in the middle of this weird mess and the strange heat between her and Lord Maccon, the next few days are going to be interesting. But first, tea and treacle tart.

This was a fun read! I completely adored it! It was the perfect read for a holiday - it was sexy, fun, fluffy. It just worked. It might take a few pages (or, as I read this on my kindle, a few clicks) in for some readers to get the formal language as most of the characters were always full name. 

But, I completely enjoyed it. I got halfway through the eBook, knowing I was going to read the rest of this series and Gail's YA series, Finishing School. Yep, that's how much I enjoyed reading this. It was steampunk that didn't take itself seriously compared to other steampunks I have read (and would I really lass this as steampunk? I know some of you would, but am on the fence on how to class this). 

Anyway, I loved it! And I have already bought the sequel, Changeless, on my Kindle and a few weeks ago, Atom sent me a copy of Gail's first YA series, Etiquette and Espionage (why, thank you Atom!) so, yeah, I might get a bit obsessed with this author in the coming year. Sorry in advance, loyal readers. 

Tiny sidenote, but will trying to Google image a image of the author and the book cover, Google threw up an image of the actor Jamie Dornan (aka the Huntsman from Once Upon A Time). Is he fan's choice for Lord Maccon? Anyway, will show you the pic as... well... because this is my blog and I can! 

GoodRead - Clockwork Angel: Manga

I heard rumours that there will be graphic novels of Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments coming out (perfect tie in for the upcoming movie that's coming out next year). But it was only recently that I realised that Cassandra's Infernal Devices series were being turned into manga (I believe it was Mundie Moms who filled me in so thank you). So, imagine my surprise when I got a parcel from Atom & Orbit and the manga Clockwork Angel was in it with other goodies. I grabbed this and read quickly.

It is the same plot as Clockwork Angel (my review of this is here). But, for those who aren't familiar with this series, this is what you should know. In Victorian London, American Tessa Gray comes to visit her brother, Nate. But instead of meeting him, she meets the Dark Sisters. Who then take her hostage. So, when she is rescued by Will, she finds herself in a world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders and then, soon afterwards, she finds herself between two best friends. With her heart torn in two directions, Tessa finds out she's more connected to this new world than she first thought...

I don't really want to talk about the story (as I have reviewed the novel before), but I am very pleased how the novel was adapted to become a manga. And for good reason as it was adapted by the author herself. This helped explained how the book kept loyal to the story and kept the essence. This is very important in adaptations, in any form. If you lose the essence of what made a story great in its adaptation, it feels... wrong. Does that make sense?

The art. Now that I do want to talk about. I liked the art, done by (according to the press release) "the phenomenal manga artist HyeKyung Baek". But... yes, I have buts. First of all, Henry. Why was he done like that? WHY?! That's a small thing, as is the "Do all men in manga look similar?"

The main "But" I have with this is the chemistry. This is meant to be a love story, and while the manga did the supernatural side brilliantly, the chemistry was lacking. If this was stretched over several issues, then this would be done and we would, probably, be sick of it. But, as this was only one volume, it felt a little rushed. Maybe I'm putting too much focus on that as Cassandra tackled this brilliantly in the novel, but... I didn't carry over very well.

I think I may be a little harsh. I really enjoyed it (and it was a fast read. Took a few days to read!) and I am itching to see what the manga version of Clockwork Prince is like! And, this is the perfect "Tie Me Over" till the Infernal Devices finale, Clockwork Princess, comes out. I can NOT wait!



PS - just realised that on the cover, Will is doing the Fearless Rune. Now, am such that Clary created that in City in Ashes. She created and Alec almost told his parents that he was gay. Or am I misremembering? Let me know guys!