Malarkoi

Nathan Treeves, the hero of Pheby’s 2021 Mordew, is dead, but he still has the power to decide the outcome of the war between the Master of Mordew and the Mistress of Malarkoi in this epic saga of Victorian-esque city-states at war. While the Master has converted Alex’s physical essence into a superweapon, his psyche still “exists painfully in the immaterial realm, where he should not be, and from there he is summonable, if one knows the method.” Meanwhile, the Mistress manipulates the Master to unleash Nathan and revive the dead god that lies underneath Mordew, and her daughter, the presumed heir to Malarkoi, attempts to return home, aided by Nathan’s former street gang fellows, a trip that takes them through the alternate “heavens” created by the Mistress to reward the loyal. Upping the stakes further, the Women’s Vanguard of the Eighth Atheistic Crusade marches on both cities. Pheby again brings Dickensian sensibilities to bear in the novel’s tone, complex plot, and expansive cast. These intricacies, combined with the dense mysticism of the worldbuilding, occasionally make for slow going, but the central struggle of individuals working to determine their own identities remains gripping. Readers will feel their alliances shifting as they’re faced with choices over whom to root for, with the most humane characters often being the nonhumans. The middle installment of a trilogy, this sets things up nicely for the grand finale. (Oct.)