Review by Booklist Review
A band of thieves plans a daring heist of an expensive and rare Imperial wine that wraps the drinker in the best, most comforting memories of their lives. Darin and his team have come together to make their way in the world and get a little revenge on the powerful in the queendom. Each brings unique skills to the table: Evie, the knowledge of the wealthy world and the bitterness of one exiled from it; Big Tom, years of experience in fighting both in self-defense as the biggest kid around and as a professional mercenary; Kat, a creative brewster fast to adopt orphan boys brings a fresh viewpoint and resourcefulness; and Darin, the leader with a supernatural talent drawn from silver. Rivalries, double-crosses, as well as schemes gone wrong and right fill the pages of this entertaining ride of a story. Readers who enjoyed the comradery of Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard books or the powers of Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series should take a look at this world and this gang.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Koboldt (Domesticating Dragons) introduces a roguish band of protagonists in this equally lighthearted and action-packed high fantasy. Readers meet Darin, the owner of the Red Rooster Inn, and his employee Evie while the duo are crashing a duchess's gala, targeting the valuables of the attending nobles. Darin's efforts to lift as many coins and jewels as possible are foiled when he accidentally steps on the boot of a noble who responds by challenging Darin to a duel. He uses his gift for metallurgy to fake infection with a plague and so avoid being killed, but peril increases when his efforts to make a clean getaway are thwarted. Evie, along with another partner in crime, Big Tom, come to the rescue, but soon the trio are enmeshed in more trouble. They're offered a big payday if they steal a shipment of the queen's dreamwine, a drink that has addicted many of the residents of the Queendom and is the realm's most valuable substance. Koboldt keeps the pace flying through the ensuing daring heist. Readers will hope to see more of Darin and company in future installments. (Sept.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
In Koboldt's (Domesticating Dragons) latest, times are lean, and Darin and his crew are in hock up to their necks when a big payday lands in their laps. The only problem is that it's attached to an impossible job that will probably leave them all with a price on their heads--if those heads are still attached. All they have to do is steal the queen's caravan of priceless dream wine from the deadliest guards in the world. They can't resist the challenge or the payday and plan the heist of a lifetime. The story is a quest and a heist and a poke in the kidney with a switchblade to the rich and powerful who think they're safe behind their walls and guards but are easily fooled by their greed--and Darin and his crew are just the ones to make them feel it. VERDICT This epic fantasy about a crew of misfits with just a touch of magic and heartbreaking backstories is a rollicking good time of a read. Readers who fell for Christopher Buehlman's The Blacktongue Thief are going to be head over heels for Koboldt's latest.--Marlene Harris
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