Book Review: Paper & Blood by Kevin Hearne

This is such a marvelous series! Hearn has done a fantastic job taking a spin-off from his primary series featuring The Iron Druid and turning it into a full-blown Standalone-if-you-want-it-to series… I’ve never read The Iron Druid books – I tried with the first one but found it slow going after the delight of Ink and Sigil, but I’m definitely going to have to revisit the world at some point because there is simply too much that I want to know to fill in the gaps in Al”s world of sigil agents!

As always, I found the characterization wonderful here. The blend of mythology from various cultures with truly outstanding original world building is incredibly enjoyable to read. As with the previous book, I did find there to be a few more extended battle scenes than I personally care for, but I’ve come to realize that’s a part of the fantasy element at play here – as in the work of Tolkien – and it is a thing that I can skim if I need to.

There are a lot of new questions introduced here, and I’m delighted to see that the world continues to flush itself out while raising new questions and teasing out revelations about existing ones… I already cannot wait for the next book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.