SFX

Red Sister

Unusual habits

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released 6 april 512 pages | Hardback/ebook

Author Mark lawrence Publisher Harper Voyager

nona Grey was set to swing on the hangman’s rope before she was scooped up by Abbess Glass and taken to Sweet Mercy Convent. This isn’t your regular convent though, and these are no regular nuns… The Sisters of Sweet Mercy train in the art of killing, and Nona is an exemplary pupil. But in a world with a dying sun, tensions are rising, and the skills Nona and her friends are learning are more than just theoretica­l.

Nona is a wild and violent character, and utterly loveable. Mark Lawrence has done a great job of portraying her as a combinatio­n of naive and old beyond her years. Her loyalty and fierce determinat­ion are a joy to read, and she equals Jorg and Jalan – protagonis­ts of Lawrence’s previous series – in every way – except maybe when it comes to kindness and compassion, where she occasional­ly exceeds their meagre attributes.

The action is nail-biting and addictive. Each fight, training session or unexpected violent event will leave you gasping for air once you finally emerge from reading and allow yourself to take another breath. In between these moments the narrative can get a little slow. In a way it’s reminiscen­t of other school-based fictions (think Harry Potter and The Kingkiller Chronicle, but more bloody). There’s a lot of learning, which is fine – we’re learning too; about the world, the magic and the characters. But that learning can drag. It’s not truly detrimenta­l to the story, and in fact it’s quite essential in places, but the change of pace is occasional­ly quite unwelcome.

The fact that Mark Lawrence has left behind his Broken Empire world will surely sadden some fans. But there’s no need for tears, because he’s once again built a world and a cast of characters that will sink their claws deep in you. Bridie Roman

Each fight will leave you gasping for air

Lawrence got the news that this trilogy had been picked up by Harper Voyager on the same day he was made redundant.

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