*A Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this. This is my honest and unbiased review*

Hello Fellow Readers,

I am going to just be honest up front, while I did enjoy Paper & Blood, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first book. This one just sort of dragged on a bit and had a different feel than the first one did. I think it had to do with the Iron Druid being very prominent in this book, him, along with a couple of other characters made an appearance. I felt this took away from Al & his crew being the center focus.

The pacing was also a little slow as well, this book also included a couple of small stories sprinkled in through out the book taken from other POVs. This to me just seemed like a page filler and took away from my immersion with the story. That's not to say I didn't like the book, because I did. The actual main story was pretty interesting, and I always like Buck Foi. We also got to go into a little about Gladys who has seen some shite and who is also Canadian.

Overall, not as strong as the first book but I am still interesting to see where this goes. ( )

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

I enjoyed Paper & Blood, although, not as much as the first book and I still have a few mixed feelings about it. I didn’t quite expect as much of the action to take place in Australia as it did. Normally books have at least a bit of preamble before they hotfoot it to the main destination named in the synopsis so I was expecting some wonderful Glasgow action again, and instead, it felt a bit like an afterthought. I just hope that’s not how the rest of the series is going to be because as much as I love the characters, I love a series based in Glasgow much more.

As I mentioned in my first impressions, you can take a Glaswegian out of Scotland… etcetera. and Buck Foi, Al’s trusty hobgoblin was on hand to bring some much-needed Scots to the conversations. It was interesting to have Scots and Australian slang bouncing off each other and the new character that was introduced was absolutely wonderful. It was great to learn more about sigil agents through that character and from a new perspective to what we have already seen.

While I was previously excited about seeing Atticus, Oberon and Starbuck again I found the excitement wearing off as the book reached its conclusion and it became obvious that this was less of a sigil agent and Al MacBharrais book, and more an Iron Druid book with the sigil agents playing side roles. I know that sounds a bit harsh, however, Paper & Blood felt more like a wrap up of the Iron Druid Chronicles series than it did a second book in a spin-off series.

That’s not to say it wasn’t a good book, it was just a bit disappointing (and a tad frustrating) to see Al, Nadia and the whole Glasgow cast have their stories put on hold just to finish a left open thread from Scourged, the last book in the Iron Druid Chronicles series. I’m going to hazard a guess that Hearne was only contracted for nine books and had more of a story to say, and this was the way he managed to do it. Like with the trip to Australia, I’m ok with it as long as book three gets back on track.

Paper & Blood wasn’t a complete waste of time when it came to Al’s story; we find out more about his curses, we find out some very scary stuff about a certain person in his life and umm… someone has come to join him in Scotland and YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHO IT IS. There is also a whole bunch of hobgoblin lore and I loved the role Hearne has given them in the Ink & Sigil/Iron Druid Chronicles universe; it’s not what you probably expect, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. There is also a hobgoblin story in the middle of the book that Buck tells everyone which is just fabulous.

Paper & Blood wasn’t quite what I expected or what I wanted, but it was still an enjoyable second book in the series. Hopefully book three will return us to Glasgow again and the storyline with Al’s curses will progress a bit further. He picked up a few clues in this book and had headed to the Mitchell Library at the end, suggesting that the next book could start with something he has found in his research.

There’s bound to be plenty of hijinks with Glasgow’s latest resident, and there are a few other things from this book that are going to come up at some point. We saw some of Nadia but things were a bit hectic and she was busy using her Battle Seer skills to save the day. There’s a long-overdue chat about some of that and her friendship with the new resident is going to be both beautiful and hilarious. I almost feel sorry for Al! :D

My Other Book Reviews! // GeekDis: A discussion on disability representation in pop culture in September 2021! // ( )

Book 1 in this series was one of my top 10 reads from 2020, so when I received an email that book 2 was available to ARC, I squealed! This installment did not disappoint.

From Gladys Who Has Seen Some Shite to Buck Foi, the ragtag band of hilarious characters is back to take out another problem that landed at their doorstep uninvited. It's one wizard van ride you aren't going to want to miss, unless you don't want to see some shite. Probably don't read this book, as it's full of shite to be seen.

Kevin does a fantastic job at name dropping covid to keep the book solidly in current society, without wasting words to describe the situation. I mean we've been living it right? He also, yet again, painted a picture of the setting so perfectly I felt like I was in the bush with the characters. I love his attention to detail without info dumping.

The development of Gladys Who Has Seen Some Shite as a character was unexpected but exactly what the world building needed. Her hilarious appearances made my anticipation for book 3 unbearable! So many questions, not enough answers with this one. I need to know, do Canadians really put maple syrup in their tea?!

This mystery takes us deeper into the world of sigil agents, meeting & exploring the work space of an Australian apprentice, gave so much more depth to the life of an agent, and what Al is missing out on by his apprentices continually dying. It also gives a lot more information on the other worldly creatures/people/beings that Al & gang know of. This really gives weight to how expansive the world building is, and leaves me pondering over all the potential for future books.

Many of the questions from book 1 are answered, but there are a few series long questions that will still linger after finishing book 2. I don't feel cheated by this, but glad that they will hopefully get their own book, and the attention they deserved, instead of being answered as a side quest.

Every character in the book is well crafted, and has multiple layers to their being. I love that there aren't clear evil and good lines, but a lot gray and switching of sides potential. It gives more realistic traits to those of a different plane. He does a great job of showing that no two people are the same, and the world is full of variety without beating you over the head with it.

The sigil magic system is masterful, this book builds on book 1 and gives more rules, and short comings of its uses. I love the way it is described during battles, and pretty much everything about how it operates. The thought of parts of it being able to die out with an agents death was terrifying! (great nod to the death of a language.)

This series is riddled with life lessons, and deeper meanings. It shines light on the fact that we are all going through something, and have choices with potential to grow or wallow. I love the introspective nature of the characters, and the open communication. It is always refreshing when books don't use "if only they spoke to each other" as a way to create intense drama.

Overall, you'll love this series if you love humorous fantasy with a wide range of fantastical characters. And good dugs, they were very good dugs, and I feel it would be a disservice if I didn't mention them in the review.

Favorite Quotes without Spoilers:

"It's like the Spanish Inquisition, nobody expects a turtle dragon spider."

"Oi, there's a metaphor for evil, eh, MacBharrais? Industrial polluters are shitting demons in the creek. Clearcutting forests? Also shitting demons in the creek. And if ye put almond milk in ma coffee, ye're definitely shitting demons in the creek."

"Ye might as well say, I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling Scots!" ( )

The second book to follow what happens in Al MacBharrais life. He is a sigil master, one of six that cover the globe doing some magics with special inks and papers. Most of the time they are writing contracts for deity visits to this earthy plane or hiding such visits from mortal eyes. Al gets a call from an apprentice in Australia that her master has disappeared after checking out a spot where there was a magical flare. By the time Al gets there as fast as he can with his hobgoblin employee a second signal master is also missing. Things come to a head he finds out it was a trap in order to lure a certain someone in. Al does find out more about the curse he is living under during this book and hopefully by the next one he can find out just who laid the curse on him that prevents him from speaking to anyone without them hating him and never speaking to him again. Overall a good story and I liked how they dealt with modern technology and how it can tip off authorities about how they can travel around so easily.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss
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I think that I might like this series more than the Iron Druid Chronicles. Looking forward to more! ( )