The Sorcerer and the Necromancer

I adore the fantasy genre and as someone who reads it a lot, I have seen the ebbs and flows in the genre over the years. There have always been outliers, but there is a certain style of fantasy that dominated for each of the decades. Until recently, I have read a lot of Low Fantasy, a genre low on magic and high on violence. Increasingly, I am seeing Cosy Fantasy, lower stakes in a fantasy world, but to me this is a repackaging of one of the golden ages. An age of the likes of Hickman and Weis, Eddings and more. Tales of death and destruction but told in a way that almost any reader would find palatable. The Sorcerer and the Necromancer by Susan Ann Walker is a throwback in some ways, but a joy nonetheless. 

Daric arrives at Torrenbeck with no magical powers but does have a skillset in sword and shield. As a bodyguard he is earning a good reputation, until the headaches start. The overwhelming magic in the city seems to be affecting his wellbeing. Has it something to do with what all the Seers in the city are experiencing? They are witnessing the city on fire and a raging battle between good and evil. Is Daric the good or the evil? 

Sorcerer is the third in a series of books in the A Tale from the City of Magic series, but I have not read any of the others. This did not prove to be an issue, as this is a standalone title that focuses in the main on Daric, but also a young wannabe Mage called Thander. I have the impression that many of the characters that Daric meets in the story are the focus of earlier tales, but here they play a good role of enriching the story. You get the sense that the city of Torrenbeck is already established and that this story just slips in. 

It has many of the classic features of a fantasy title, especially of the 80s. A young man coming into his power, a coming-of-age story set in a fantasy world. In this case, this is happening to two men at the same time, but their paths are vastly different. The pace of the book is not breakneck, instead it has a gentle pace that allows the characters and city to breathe. Even if Daric’s training is sped up, there is still a decent chunk of the book that reads like an extended training montage. 

What I did enjoy about these slower paced sections is the development in character relationships. Walker is invested in people and makes sure that Daric is surrounded by allies and, in some cases, enemies. This reminded me of the classic fantasy of my youth, but also them modern Cosy style of fantasy. A style of fantasy where people are as important as action. I have always felt that building character development if nothing new but focusing on it more makes the action and consequences more meaningful. 

Although Sorcerer has some cosy elements, it is also high stakes. There is a killer in the city who is murdering rich lonely people and emptying their safes without any damage. The culprits are a combination of banned magics that could shake the very foundations of the city. 

In an age in which I often pick a fantasy novel and must gird my loins before embarking on a harrowing tale of death and destruction, it is important to offer different voices within the genre. Walker offers what I consider to be a High Fantasy voice which harks back to one of the Golden Eras of the genre (the late 70s/80s). It has plenty of tropes and is gentle in places but is very readable and most importantly enjoyable. I would consider it true fantasy and not in the Cosy subgenre, but it has much of the character development and warmth of those titles.