scijessreads

I’m not sure that I have the right words for how much this book made me feel, and for how perfectly this world fits within everything that I love in terms of setting. The Consulate is set in a time and place that reads as neo-noir, a little bit neon gothic and urban fantasy, and also full of eldritch monsters and paranormal spirits. There is grit and darkness to Orphium, a feeling of time and the weight of heavy sadness and guilt. But by the end of this book, there is also hope.

To briefly highlight the story, Ember is an immortal warrior. After a few too many tragic incidents, her fellow sisterhood of warriors in Orphium has fractured, their powerful swords lost and one of their own taken after a fire burned down their house. She is left to hold on and continue their work balancing the tenuous relationship between The Consulate, the leaders of the parapsychs, and The Authority (the humans). And Ember is tired. If anything, this story shows the less glamourous side of being immortal. There is a whole lot of time to let the weight of expectations and the guilt of failure wear you down.

Ares Necroline is the newest leader of the Necroline dynasty. He is also immortal, and a necromancer. Who also happens to be the one who burned Ember’s house down. For reasons. Like Ember, Ares carries a lot on his shoulders and is trying to right centuries of wrongs that came before him.

Together, they get involved in a mystery surrounding killed and missing parapsychs, a political web that goes beyond Orphium’s streets and shadowy rooms, and the task of stealing back those missing swords that have recently come out of hiding. All while confronting their own attraction, fighting their own desires, and finally giving in to the pull that keeps bringing them together.

There is a lot going on in Orphium, but the relationship between Ember and Ares is at the core. Their individual motivations and their unfolding realization that they both have felt the weight of loneliness drives so much of the story and grounds it in reality as everything else is playing out around them. What starts as a heist and mystery becomes grounded in a story about belonging and family, about finding someone else who sees you for all that you are and accepts you because of it, not in spite of it. I love when characters are allowed to be whole and flawed and that those parts of themselves are accepted and loved instead of changed. I could feel the weight of the emotions playing out as Ember and Ares realized who they were and what they wanted out of themselves and each other.

There is so much that I can’t fit into this review, but in the end, I loved all of it. This is truly a mix of everything I love about John Wick, The Old Guard, Underworld, Dark City, Blade Runner, Equilibrium, Altered Carbon, and every classic heist movie. This is a story that feels lived in, that is both a chess game and slow-burn romance of the adversaries (or at least, reluctant acquaintances) to lovers variety. Among the characters, there are second chances, found family, and and betrayals that add up to a world that goes beyond Orphium, and political and social problems that are not yet over, but at least now have a name.

Thanks to the author for the ARC. All opinions are my own.