The gritty underworld and razor-edged found family of Six of Crows collide with the mysterious magic and sweeping intrigue of The City of Brass, all against the vivid industrial backdrop of Arcane in Michael Vadney’s nobledark fantasy debut.

Nearly a decade under the empire’s grip has left Burunt a troubled land.

Kyndel Heim knows the truth behind the Viceroy’s rise to power. After years of torture, his only goal is vengeance, but to master his powers he needs a mentor, one that won’t kill him first.

Major Jelert Egarro came to Burunt to build something better. Instead, his talents have become weapons in the wrong hands—and those hands are everywhere. He must choose between his ideals or survival.

Lady Amara Khar must renew her family’s legacy. Sharp and ruthless, she’s kept her house alive through smuggling and shadow deals, but reclaiming power means making allies as dangerous as her enemies.

In the struggle for power, justice, and survival, each of them must decide who they’re willing to become.

Layered stories with intricate plots unfolding from multiple perspectives will always have a special place in my heart, and Vadney has absolutely nailed the formula with his debut. This is not a story that slowly builds up to some big bang ending or a cocoon of a plot woven around one grand idea. The Crownfall is a tapestry of many interlinked cool concepts packaged in a refreshing presentation. The plot twists and turns, lifting you upon mountains of elation one moment and then wrenching your heart in a pit of despair immediately after. For all the stuff that’s packed in, boy does it move fast!

The three primary characters each have distinct personalities and are individually interesting in their own right. And I love a competent villain. The Viceroy stays in the shadows for much of the initial part of the book, but when he comes to the limelight, his aura is undeniable.

I didn’t know you had it in you, but it’s an exquisite example that you know sometimes force must be used to protect our ideals, you brilliant hypocrite.

The author clearly understands their audience well. The style of writing reminded me of Sanderson’s books. Not overly ambitious or creative, the prose is just enough to pull you in and then get out of the way to let the plot do the talking.

Many of the puzzle pieces may lean on tropes familiar to avid readers from other works of fiction. I don’t really see that as a negative - pretty much all modern SFF is derivative to some extent or the other. It is not the novelty of every individual component that matters - but how they are woven together into the larger narrative. Yes, I loved Coinshot Allomancers in Mistborn, and I still loved the Draumers’ mistforged weapons here just as much. I loved Lindon augmenting his severed arm in Cradle, and I was grinning ear to ear when Kyndel transformed nonetheless.

Overdraw was a furnace that consumed him, and with each incendiary burst, something cracked inside him.

This story will appeal to a wide audience. Fans of Sanderson and Arcane, certainly. Also progression fantasy enthusiasts and mech-battle lovers. As for me, the mention of revenge was enough of a hook.

All had betrayed him by absence, by deed, or by silence.

Between the idealist nerd, the poised strategist noble, and the hot-headed mage-warrior all readers are likely to find their fix. With my background, I found Jelert the most relatable, though I loved the others too. The plot embraces that engineering, politics, and revenge are all messy, complex, and competitive affairs, and there are always a dozen things that can (and do) go wrong at every step. For that alone, the author has my respect.

Reimagined industrial revolutions, especially assisted through some form of implicit or explicit magic, is a premise I have enjoyed often, and this story does justice to that theme.

Not long ago, he had loved that smell for its whispers of progress, promises of invention. Now, the burning stench reminded him more of a pyre.

While yes, I am all for the pulse-pounding action, the overpowered mechanical constructs rampaging about the city, the chaos and the bloodshed, but there are also subtler things woven in that make the story stand out. I loved Amara’s mother’s involvement. That kind of emotional depth was not what I expected from the general theme of a story like this, and it was incredibly touching.

Even broken things can last if you’re stubborn enough to keep patching the cracks.

One complaint I have is around the time skips. When used judiciously, they can do wonders to accelerate the pacing. But in this case, I felt that sometimes they interfered with immersion, primarily because some key events in Jelert’s arc were skipped over, like the project presentations to the Viceroy. Perhaps it was an intentional attempt to keep the spotlight away from Gian and diminish him somewhat before the events in the later part of the books, but still I wanted to be present in those discussions rather than get to know of the outcome through reflections in later scenes. For the other characters, this is not as much of an issue…until the very end when THE DAMN CROWNING gets skipped over and remembered passively. Are you f*** kidding me? I needed to be there! I needed to see that!

I’d have also wanted to understand the Imperial military hierarchy better. How does Jelert, an engineer who is explicitly described as not a soldier, end up in the position of a Major with career soldiers as subordinates? While I am open to unorthodox military hierarchies, I felt we would have benefited from some context/explanation of how/why this practice is embraced.

Having said all of that, there is no denying that I enjoyed every single moment I spent with this story. Up to the 60% mark, it comes off as a great story with a cool plot. Beyond that, it is an un-put-down-able rollercoaster. I will be lining up to dive into the author’s future works. Many thanks to Michael Vadney for the ARC. Now go get the book!

The path you have walked your entire existence has brought you to this place, at this time. There is no choice here, only destiny. Do you understand me?