Grey is no stranger to danger. Not only is she a soldier fighting a brutal war, she’s been hiding from people who would use her for her power for more than a decade. The only person who knows her secrets is Kier, the mage she serves with and her childhood friend. V.L. Bovalino’s engaging novel, The Second Death of Locke, begins just as Grey and Kier are about to receive orders for a mission that will shatter the status quo and change their lives forever.
On Locke and its neighboring continent, magic is provided by wells and wielded by mages. Grey is Kier’s well. She also serves as a bodyguard, since mages aren’t always able to prevent enemies from stabbing them or bashing their heads in when they get caught up in magic. The pair have been in their country’s army for years—and their country has been at war for almost as long as the two have been alive. Locke’s neighbors have been fighting each other ever since the island of Locke was destroyed. Because Locke was the source of the continent’s magic, everyone has been fighting for supremacy. As the army’s most adept mage and well, they are given the task of intercepting an enemy convoy that, it is believed, is escorting a possible lost heir to Locke. Their mission is to retrieve the heir. Except, Grey and Kier know that there’s no way that their enemy’s prisoner is the real heir.
Bovalino doles out the secrets of Grey’s origins slowly as she and Kier embark on their mission and the chaos that follow, though savvy readers will probably figure out what’s going on long before the last details are revealed. When Grey and Kier recover the “missing heir,” things almost immediately start to go awry. The potential power of the lost heir is incalculable and everyone and their army want to get their hands on that heir. Their small squad of soldiers and the “heir” are hunted across the countryside. The fighting gets so desperate that Grey’s secret leaks out.
Most of what follows in The Second Death of Locke is a political scramble, punctuated by betrayals, assassins, reversals, and plots as Grey tries to preserve her freedom and the lives of the people she’s come to love. All of this plot was catnip to me, and I deeply appreciated the emotional depth Bovalino builds into the story. At one point, I had to put down my copy of the book because I was so worried about what was going to happen to the characters after yet another near-death scene—also because it was getting really late, I had work the next morning, and their were too many pages left to read if I wanted to get any sleep. Once I had a few hours free, I devoured the rest of The Second Death of Locke because I had to know what happened next. Bovalino isn’t afraid to injure or even kill off characters to further the plot. Also, the word death is right there in the title. My heart was in my throat at the possibility that one of the main characters might get their mortal coils shuffled off.
The Second Death of Locke was an incredible read. My only quibble is that Kier is too perfect as Grey’s partner. I wish he had had a bit more personality. What really makes this book sing is its twisty plot and original take on magic and warring states. Fellow fantasy readers will appreciate its originality and the cleverness of the plot twists, especially those of us who like all that political wrangling.