Labyrinth's Heart - Rambling Readers

English language

Published Aug. 27, 2023 by Orbit.

ISBN:: 978-0-316-53973-9

(2 reviews)

Ren came to Nadežra with a plan. She would pose as the long-lost daughter of the noble house Traementis. She would secure a fortune for herself and her sister. And she would vanish without a backward glance. She ought to have known that in the city of dreams, nothing is ever so simple.

Now, she is Ren, con-artist and thief. But she is also Renata, the celebrated Traementis heir. She is Arenza, the mysterious pattern-reader and political rebel. And she is the Black Rose, a vigilante who fights alongside the legendary Rook.

Even with the help of Grey Serrado and Derossi Vargo, it is too many masks for one person to wear. And as the dark magic the three of them helped unleash builds to storm that could tear the very fabric of the city apart, it’s only a matter of time before one of the masks slips—and everything comes …

Ren came to Nadežra with a plan. She would pose as the long-lost daughter of the noble house Traementis. She would secure a fortune for herself and her sister. And she would vanish without a backward glance. She ought to have known that in the city of dreams, nothing is ever so simple.

Now, she is Ren, con-artist and thief. But she is also Renata, the celebrated Traementis heir. She is Arenza, the mysterious pattern-reader and political rebel. And she is the Black Rose, a vigilante who fights alongside the legendary Rook.

Even with the help of Grey Serrado and Derossi Vargo, it is too many masks for one person to wear. And as the dark magic the three of them helped unleash builds to storm that could tear the very fabric of the city apart, it’s only a matter of time before one of the masks slips—and everything comes crashing down around them.

3 editions

Clare Hooley reviewed Labyrinth's Heart by M. A. Carrick (Rook and Rose, #3)

A finale worthy of the world

5 stars

#BookReview

After the dramatic events at the end of The Liar's Knot, we enter this book aware of what’s behind the much of the ill our main characters, Ren, Vargo and Grey, are fighting.

The trouble is, although these three are now revealed and reconciled with each other in all their various guises, having become embroiled in multiple personas or other lies, at some point it was inevitable there would be consequences of such deceptions.

For Ren, however much she adores the new family she’s gained by becoming Traementis, it’s based on a falsehood, and it’s really the work that she does in her Vraszenian guises of Arenza Lensky and The Black Rose that she’s passionate about. Is there any way for her to not break with the Traementis while following her heart?

For Vargo, and his spider, he somehow needs to keep the trust of those he relies on …

#BookReview

After the dramatic events at the end of The Liar's Knot, we enter this book aware of what’s behind the much of the ill our main characters, Ren, Vargo and Grey, are fighting.

The trouble is, although these three are now revealed and reconciled with each other in all their various guises, having become embroiled in multiple personas or other lies, at some point it was inevitable there would be consequences of such deceptions.

For Ren, however much she adores the new family she’s gained by becoming Traementis, it’s based on a falsehood, and it’s really the work that she does in her Vraszenian guises of Arenza Lensky and The Black Rose that she’s passionate about. Is there any way for her to not break with the Traementis while following her heart?

For Vargo, and his spider, he somehow needs to keep the trust of those he relies on when he’s not truly as bound to their causes as he claims.

For Grey, well… he had an exceptional resource at his disposal, but owing to his conflicts he’s cast it aside; how does he go forwards now he’s a different person?

So as our cast is thrown into their biggest challenge - finally ridding Nadežra of maline influence once and for all - they also have to deal with the how the wider Vraszenian and Liganti populace reacts as they see the real characters behind the masks.

I won’t lie and say the plot is always skilfully handled here; it’s certainly not. In particular, the outcome of one of the main denouncements felt particularly episodic as if the writers were, “OK, we must deal with that, OK that’s done, close it off quickly, move on”.

I will also say that the authors do resolve every plot thread, and that’s some task in a series this complex, making for a lot of endings - we learn about Ren’s origins, the spider, the bodyguard, even some whys behind how the Vraszenian tarot-based magic links with Liganti number-based magic.

Despite the negatives in plotting, I still can’t bring myself to be anything but fully positive about the series; it’s innovative, it has captivating characters and the backdrop of Nadežra is just deliciously well realised. Race and class conflicts, as well as what it means to have a mixed heritage, are not easy concepts to bring into a fantasy, especially when we also have so much fun, silly banter and action.

And finally, I’m never not going to have a soft spot for any fantasy where our heroine relies on smarts and not a sword.

I’m off to go back to Mask of Mirrors and start it all over again

Maris Otter

rated it

Feb. 2, 2024