Muddled magic system detracts from heist tale
The Gilded Wolves opens with an exciting heist-in-progress. Readers are quickly introduced to the main POV characters, all members of a thieving team assembled by upper class outcast and hotel owner Severin, and the general workings of a magical system at work in 19th Century Paris...and the rest of the world.
Chokshi sets the stakes and expectations high with these beginning chapters, but fails in the execution of a novel that feels over-long and under-explained. The magic system at play in The Gilded Wolves centers around artifacts known as "Babel fragments", somehow related to the Biblical fable of the Tower of Babel, which explains how so many languages were birthed in the world. While these ancient, pseudo-religious roots have promise, the rules governing the development, use, and limitations of the powers imbued by the existence of these fragments shift rapidly at the whim of the narrative. Chokshi hasn't invented a magic system so much as a magic concept: an idea worthy of exploration, but far from fully developed.
The characters are hit-or-miss but exceptionally diverse, which is always worthy of positive recognition. There are the requisite love affairs and unrequited feelings, which come across more tacked-on than organic.
In all it is the potential of The Gilded Wolves (which may yet be fulfilled in the forthcoming sequel) that garners such a high rating for me, rather than the reality of what unfolded on the page. I'm curious enough about the resolution of the larger mystery to pay attention to advance reviews for the sequel, but far less than excited based on what's come so far.
Chokshi sets the stakes and expectations high with these beginning chapters, but fails in the execution of a novel that feels over-long and under-explained. The magic system at play in The Gilded Wolves centers around artifacts known as "Babel fragments", somehow related to the Biblical fable of the Tower of Babel, which explains how so many languages were birthed in the world. While these ancient, pseudo-religious roots have promise, the rules governing the development, use, and limitations of the powers imbued by the existence of these fragments shift rapidly at the whim of the narrative. Chokshi hasn't invented a magic system so much as a magic concept: an idea worthy of exploration, but far from fully developed.
The characters are hit-or-miss but exceptionally diverse, which is always worthy of positive recognition. There are the requisite love affairs and unrequited feelings, which come across more tacked-on than organic.
In all it is the potential of The Gilded Wolves (which may yet be fulfilled in the forthcoming sequel) that garners such a high rating for me, rather than the reality of what unfolded on the page. I'm curious enough about the resolution of the larger mystery to pay attention to advance reviews for the sequel, but far less than excited based on what's come so far.