The mage-marked granddaughter of a ruler of Vaskandar, Ryx was destined for power and prestige at the top of Vaskandran society. But her magic is broken; all she can do is uncontrollably drain the life from everything she touches, and Vaskandar has no place for a mage with unusable powers.

Then, one night, two terrible accidents befall her: Ryx accidentally kills a visiting dignitary in self-defense, activating a mysterious magical artifact sealed in an ancient tower in the heart of her family’s castle.

Ryx flees, seeking a solution to her deadly magic. She falls in with a group of unlikely magical experts investigating the disturbance in Vaskandar—and Ryx realizes that her family is in danger and her domain is at stake. She and her new colleagues must return to the family stronghold to take control of the artifact that everyone wants to claim—before it destroys the world.

Title: The Obsidian Tower

Series: Rooks & Ruin

Author: Melissa Caruso

Genre: YA Fiction / Fantasy

Pages: 448

Publishing Date: 06/04/2020

Publishing House: Orbit

Language: English

ISBN: 035651319X

ISBN13: 9780356513195

My Review

Melissa Caruso can hold her own with the best writers in the genre. The Obsidian Tower is not only amazingly crafted, but also an improvement over the previous Swords and Fire series in my opinion. The novel starts really strong honing the reader in hook and sinker with the introduction of the main character and her flawed magic abilities and continues with tension and grip without let-up. Within the first three chapters, Caruso swiftly establishes the existence of an ancient magic system, the setting, and the first casualty of the novel. From there it’s a wild ride, completely engrossing and addictive like candy crack!

Ryx is the atheling in a line of royal vivomancers with magic flowing through their veins. With her grandmother being the immortal Witch Lord of Morgrain and the Lady of Owls, her magic courses so deeply that she can feel the falling leaves of a tree in all of her land. Ryx is nothing but an embarrassment to the family for everything she touches will die! However, she has been named the Warden of GLoamingard Castle and though it isn’t in the job description, Ryx has become a skilled negotiator and strategist to keep the different Empires at peace.

One of the most important features of Gloamingard Castle is the ancient Black Tower made of bones. No one knows what hides in the 3000-year-old tower but the door to it has been sealed and guarded for a long time never to be opened and Ryx’s grandmother has made this clear over and over. There are riddles and chants to remind everyone of the citizen to never open the door to the Tower!

Ryx likes to haunt the castle at night. She knows secret passageways that no servant or peer has ever been too, but every time she passes near the tower, she can feel the heaviness of what it might contain. Ominous and unsettling.

New Peace negotiations bring visitors to Gloamingard. Despite Ryx’s best effort to navigate smartly through bluff and political intrigue, the unthinkable happens. The door to the tower was opened and a person was found dead.

With the help of the Rookery investigators, Ryx is to solve the magical accident or murder in question, while her grandmother is approaching the efforts at a different angle from the far.

Left with much responsibility, Ryx is torn between protecting the people of Gloamingard and keeping the uproar at bay that has ensued, blaming her for the possible murder.

Silently, dread and evil become a threat to the land, unleashed perhaps with a purpose. Perhaps by accident.

With surprise twists and intrigue, this novel ends with a bang and is to be continued in Rooks & Ruin #2, not exactly on a cliffhanger but not exactly solved either. One thing is for sure, Ryx will have her struggles cut out for her as she moves forward, hopefully with the invaluable friends she has gained and can trust. Perhaps, just maybe, there is a way for her to ever feel the touch of another human, the petals of a flower, or pet an animal with joy…without the risk of its death.

The Obsidian Tower is a door stopper jam-packed with action, broken magic and is apologetically well written, on point. It isn’t as simplistic of a story as it may sound by my review. A lot of the plot is shrouded in uncertainty that keeps the reader guessing. There isn’t anything I wished to be different. I really liked the pull and tug between good vs evil, while the surprises kept on coming.

Initially, I was worried that some things would fly over my head in regards to the magic system, but I found it to be balanced with the swiftly moving and well-imagined plot in equal measure and with purpose.

This is a YA fantasy lovers’ feast not to be missed!