TITLE: The Return of the Sorceress
AUTHOR: Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
95 pages, Subterranean Press, ISBN 9781645240303 (hardcover)
DESCRIPTION: (from the Goodreads page): Yalxi, the deposed Supreme Mistress of the Guild of Sorcerers, is on a desperate mission. Her lover and confidant seized her throne and stole the precious diamond heart, the jewel that is the engine of her power. Yalxi sets out to regain her magic and find a weapon capable of destroying the usurper. But this will mean turning to unlikely allies and opening herself up to unpleasant memories that have been suppressed for many years. For Yalxi is no great hero, but a cunning sorceress who once forged her path in blood – and must reckon with the consequences.
Set in a fantastical land where jewels and blood provide symbiotic magical powers to their wearers, The Return of the Sorceress evokes the energy of classic sword and sorcery, while building a thoroughly fresh and exciting adventure ripe for our era.
MY RATING: 4 out of 5 stars
MY THOUGHTS: They say that power corrupts, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. Is it even possible for someone who is handed massive power to not succumb to that power? In The Return of the Sorceress, Silvia Moreno-Garcia weaves a story that questions everything we believe about power, loyalty, friendship, and the subtle and obvious influence of mentors.
We meet Yalxi “in media res,” already on the run from those who betrayed her and usurped her position as the head of the Sorcerer’s Guild. Moreno-Garcia beautifully sets the tone on the first pages: our main character injured, stumbling through buildings devoid of color on a dark night, remembering how this part of the city looked so different when she’d first arrived as a girl of seventeen. The mix of current peril and past carefreeness in this scene permeates the entire book, reminding us that it is highly likely we can never go back to who we were once a taste of power changes us. As the book progresses, we get to see how Yalxi changed from that “callow girl from the provinces” into the feared Mistress Yalxi. We get to see how she dethroned her predecessor, intent on being a better head of the House of Sorcery, and how she wielded the power she took on. And of course, we get to see how she was dethroned in turn, and how she plans to get her power back.
I don’t want to give away the twists and turns of that journey. There were several wonderful “Oh, wow, THAT happened” moments that I think readers should experience without knowing what’s coming. I will say that the loyalty of childhood friends, both human and supernatural, plays heavily into the proceedings. People change as they get older even when great power isn’t at stake – so how much more will they change if power is the prize? Loyalties shift, intentions change, people get hurt. Sometimes, the most reliable ally ends up being the person you thought would leave you in a heartbeat if a better offer came along. And sometimes, we hurt someone proactively to avoid being hurt in turn later. Regret also plays its part, and fear of losing what one most loved.
This is a fantasy, so the power at stake, and the source of it, is magical. The chase and fight scenes are thrilling, fueled as they are by the blood-based and jewel-based magics being wielded, but the blood-based magic also infuses the scenes of introspection and intimacy that give Yalxi and the reader a momentary respite as the story barrels towards its surprising, but totally appropriate, ending.
This story could have been told in much longer fashion, either charting Yalxi’s rise to power, betrayal, and quest to regain her power chronologically or by interspersing detailed flashbacks between the present-day scenes. Anyone who has read any of Moreno-Garcia’s novels knows she can fill several hundred pages with exciting story beats and deep characterization that keep you reading even if you know you should have long since gone to sleep or taken the dog for a walk or prepared dinner. I’m happy to report that the author is as adept at the novella form as she is the novel. She keeps the story moving forward, giving us just enough of the characters’ background to understand where things stand and why the current situation is untenable when it’s appropriate that Yalxi’s thoughts turn to her own past.
The Return of the Sorceress is a complete and deeply satisfying tale of one woman’s quest to regain what was stolen from her and correct a mistake she made long in her past. Even though this tale is done, I do hope Moreno-Garcia will give us more adventures in this world. I don’t think Yalxi’s story is completely done.
I received an electronic Advance Reading Copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The book was released in hardcover in June 2021.