This is the fourth book in the Collegium series. Mags and his friends are really settling into life at the Collegium. Healer Bear has been able to do an operation that’s given their friend Amily the ability to walk again, and it’s absolutely changed her life, as well as deepening her relationship with Mags.
Mags is helping Herald Nikolas with his spying around Haven, when they run into a curious watcher that seems to be tracking Mags. They end up ignoring it when it does nothing, figuring it’ll go away, but one day, Mags wakes up after having been knocked out on the way home from the pawnshop they use as a front. He’s been drugged, and is all the way in Karse before he’s able to stay lucid.
The whole situation in Karse is a somewhat interesting ret-conning of the situation with the true priesthood and the Fire Cats down there. It seems like we should have known that at least the Heralds know there’s more going on in Karse than meets the eye in the earlier books (set in later times), but that’s ok. It’s nice to see the Fire Cats make reappearance.
It also turns out the kidnappers know something about Mags’ heritage, and while it’s only touched on in this book, I hope there’s more in the next, because it’s an interesting tease.
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