Mercurial by Naomi Hughes is set in the Alloyed Empire. It might look similar to the setting of Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings – mountain ranges, forests and a bit of scorched Earth. I think it could be set in the Victorian era. There are trains and magic but no dragons.

Review

Tal has been ordered by his God to protect The Destroyer. Everyone thinks the order is odd. Why would The Destroyer need protection from anyone? She has literally destroyed villages with her firepower. Imagine an adult version of Firestarter. So Tal pledges an oath to The Destroyer to protect her at all costs. After the pledge, Tal is linked to The Destroyer until the end of their lives.

The Destroyer’s sister is the empress. The Destroyer does the bidding of the empress. Whatever or whoever the empress wants to be set on fire, The Destroyer does it. She doesn’t have too many feelings or regrets about all of the death and destruction.

Nyx, Tal’s sister, is on a mission to find Tal and bring him home. Part of her mission is to destroy The Destroyer because it may be the only way to release Tal from his oath.

After an incident at a train station, Tal and The Destroyer escape. The Destroyer has lost her memory and her powers. Now she was just a regular girl named Elodie. She still had a powerful sister and a lot of angry people looking for her. Well, they didn’t know the nice, powerless Elodie. They were searching for The Destroyer to either end her life or capture her power. Of course, no one but Tal and Elodie knows that she doesn’t have powers anymore.

It kind of puts a wrench in Tal’s plan to kill The Destroyer. He likes Elodie and cannot end her life. Nyx is still on their trail and has no qualms about killing The Destroyer/Elodie. There are a few more twists that I won’t tell you about because that would be wrong.

Recommendation

If you like fantasy adventure stories, then you will probably enjoy reading Mercurial. I enjoyed it quite a bit and didn’t find it to be boring or anything.

People who can relate to Grima Wormtongue or any other slimy, lying villain will not appreciate Mercurial quite as much as they should.

• I received this ebook from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Obviously.

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