Three short stories set in the world of The Assassin's Curse, which I really enjoyed. The stories focus on minor characters and expand on their stories a little bit, so as such this is a book I would highly recommend to fans of the series, but I wouldn't say it's a good place to start with Clarke's work. I loved the peek into the backstories of the world.

Story collection set in a different world with mythological animals. Written so that you feel as if you are there.
Stories with a moral, think before you act.

4 stars. A tantalizing teaser. Ms. Clarke weaves mysteries into a solidly-built fantasy world. She draws complex characters whom I genuinely want to hear more about. I especially loved the second story, “The Automaton’s Treasure.” I love automatons, and this one was adorable! And I can’t help but having a soft spot for banished daughters (not to mention mysterious, creepy pirates).

One issue I had with this book was confusion as to its intended audience. I saw the book labeled as YA. The first story, with talking animals and a spoiled teenage protagonist, seems almost geared to middle-grade readers. The other two stories, however—especially the third—seem more adult. The third story is very dark, reminding me a bit of Gene Wolfe’s “Shadow of the Torturer.”

Content warnings (tailored for Catholics; may not be exhaustive): occasional vulgar language, especially in “The Automaton’s Treasure”; magic associated with the occult (blood magic, spirit painting), especially in “The Witch’s Betrayal”; at least one implied homosexual relationship in “The Automaton’s Treasure”; a non-marital sexual relationship in “The Witch’s Betrayal.” Note that the stories present magic in an ambiguous light; magic often has dangerous consequences.

In sum, this was a quick, fun read, with unexpectedly rich character development.

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is actually a collection of stories in companion to another book. Little novellas, short and sweet. You absolutely need to read the first book in order to understand these stories. They build up the characters and who they are beyond what you get in the first book. The world building is top notch. A solid 5. And as long as you've read The Assassin's Curse, you will absolutely love these stories.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

I haven't read any Cassandra Rose Clarke before, so this was a bit of an introduction. The stories were so fantastical- I loved the premises and the character styles, and I thought it was very inventive. However, I didn't gel well with Clarke's writing style, and I found I could never quite immerse myself in the story. This could possibly be because of my aforementioned in experience with her work - I was very aware that perhaps these stories continued or were more fleshed out in her novels, and so it always felt like I was missing something.

Still, a fun little collection to while away a day with.

I'm happy I requested this ARC because I discovered a new to me exciting series.
This is an excellent book with an interesting world building and fleshed out characters.
The stories are engrossing and entertaining.
I had some issues because I didn't read the other book in this series and I think missed something.
It was a good reading experience, recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This was absolutely wonderful! I loved each and every story and the author crafts mythical creatures so well! I would love to see more!

My Review: Last year I read the Assassin's Curse series but I didn't manage to read any of the novellas, which this book has now combined into one collection. Having already known the characters from the book it was a pleasure to go back and get to know some of their back story. The first story, Manticore's Vow follows Ongraygeeomryn, who I ended up loving in the series, as she decides to travel from her world to the human world and all that befalls her, landing her on an island far away from all she knows. The second story Automaton's Treasure was probably my favorite of this book. We find out a bit of Marjani's backstory, but Safin, a steamworks little crocodile thing, really takes the spotlight! I loved their hunt and discovery of the Great Treasure! The final story Witch's Betrayal follows Naji before he meets Ananna and in his early years in the Order. In this story we discovered the origins of his scars and some of his anger and distrust, it really gives us a lot of insight into his character and where his values came from. All in all I like that we get all these novellas combined into one book and they really do add to the main books in the series!

My Rating: I really enjoyed getting the backstory on some of my favorite main characters of the Assassin's Curse series, I do think that these should be read after the series as some of it may spoil some of the mysteries. I give this one a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag!

The Manticore's Vow and Other Stories by Cassandra Rose Clarke contains three short stories set in the world of The Assassin's Curse books, recently repackaged as The Magic of Blood and Sea. Although I have read both of the novels in this world, it was several years ago and my memory of them is quite hazy. This means that I was effectively coming to these stories from a stand-alone perspective.

A vain assassin takes an assignment with dire consequences. An aristocratic lady fleeing her past is besieged by pirates. And a manticore princess sets out on a life-changing adventure . . .

The Manticore’s Vow collects three stories set in the world of Magic of Blood and Sea, all exploring the origins of some of its most memorable characters: Naji, the scarred assassin, Marjani, the pirate queen, and Ongraygeeomryn, the man-eating manticore. Explore a world of dangerous magic and thrilling adventures with this trio of gorgeous, swashbuckling tales.

Overall, I found these stories stood alone fine, especially the first two. My favourite story was, without a doubt, “The Automaton’s Treasure”, which hooked me most quickly and kept my attention the best, even though there were times when very little was happening in the story (granted the boring parts of the long sea voyage were skipped over). For the other two stories, I didn’t connect with the protagonists as well and hence did not find myself especially invested in them. My thoughts on each story are given at the end of this review, as per usual.

This book works well as a companion to the longer works set in the same universe while also working alone well. In fact, I suspect a reader unfamiliar with the larger world might not immediately realise that the stories are connected to each other since they take place in different regions of the world. This collection serves as a sampler of the author’s work, but not exactly a good introduction to the novels, since they are about tangential characters. I think it will appeal most to readers who want more from the world after having read the novels.

~

The Manticore’s Vow — Narrated in first person by a manticore, this story follows a young manticore, her human servant and some friends as she misadventures in her father’s kingdom. I enjoyed it well enough, particularly towards the end of the story.

The Automaton’s Treasure — A sea voyage interrupted by pirates and a sentient automaton made this story quite the exciting adventure. I enjoyed it more than the first story in its collection.

The Witch’s Betrayal — An assassin with a difficult kill and an obstruction from someone he had considered a friend. It was OK but nothing special. I think the most strongly linked to the novels in the same world (based on my vague memories).

3.5 / 5 stars

First published: June 2019, Interstellar Flight Press
Series: Same world as The Assassin's Curse books / The Magic of Blood and Sea
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Thanks to NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

So, this book is a collection of short stories meant to be companions to The Assassin’s Curse series. Overall, the collection was short and sweet, and it was a little hit or miss, but it did provide some more background into the characters in the series that I really wanted more from.

✦ The Manticore’s Vow ✦
★★☆☆☆

I actually expected to like this one more than I did, because the manticore was my favorite character. But it really ended up raising more questions than it answered, which was a bit annoying.

The biggest question I had was, how old is the manticore supposed to be in this, anyway? She acted extremely young, like around what we humans might consider a five-year-old.

The peek behind the scenes of the island the manticores lived on and a little into their social structure and life was interesting, but fairly shallow. I wanted to know more. She goes on a bit of an adventure with another manticore, but I don’t really know anything about him. And they do end up finding something at the end of their quest, but it's never explained what it is or does, and then it's just completely forgotten. The whole story revolves around this little “quest,” so the fact that it didn’t pan out to anything was a bit disappointing.

What I did like was that we got to see the wizard and how the manticore ended up with him.

✦ The Automaton’s Treasure ✦
★★★☆☆

This story felt like it started too late and ended too early. Let me explain.

The Automatron’s Treasure picks up right after Marjani’s exile, so we don’t actually get to see the exile happen. Would’ve loved to have seen it play out, but fine. Post-exile Marjani was interesting, too, because she was a noble who suddenly found herself disowned and sent away.

If you’re wondering how Marjani becomes a pirate, this short story answers it for you … sort of. This is where it gets into the idea that it ended too early. It felt like the tale wasn’t fully told. There’s a little quest going on, which was cute and neat, but there was all this danger and warnings, and then … it ended. Like it was all no big deal. Except that at the point where it ends, Marjani is still in danger. So rather than wrap up, I felt more like it just stopped.

✦ The Witch’s Betrayal ✦
★★★☆☆

WE FIND OUT HOW NAJI RECEIVED HIS SCARS. YES, PLEASE. I was dying to know this throughout the series, since it played such a freaking big role in the way Naji viewed himself.

Confession: I have absolutely no idea why Naji fell in love with Leila except that she's beautiful. That’s quite literally all she has going for her. There's no chemistry between them other than being FWB. Emphasis on the benefits part, and less on the friends. Maybe more like acquaintances with benefits?

The actual how behind Naji’s scars makes sense, and I thought that was pretty well done. There’s also a little bit more background about assassins and what it means to Naji, at least, to be an assassin. I still don’t know much about his history (and I do sort of want to know more about how he came to be in the Order), but this nicely filled in a few things I was pretty curious about.

I did not go into this book reading any of Clarke's previous work so I'm sure that played a big part in my enjoyment of this book.

This book started out slower and I did feel like I was missing something at points. It was hard to always connect with the characters, but that being said, I did enjoy the larger fantasy elements of this story and some of the characters were well written and left me wanting to know more. Because of this collection, I will probably track down Clarke's original series and go that a go!

I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantasy and adventure book so I would strongly recommend this to readers who like those genres because this read represents the best of them!

It's got worldbuilding that is out of this world with obstacles and that a charismatic protagonist prevails over.

It's a unique premise that is executed amazingly well because the author has a whimsical style of writing that captures both prose and action scenes.

The thrilling action sequences are combined with characters that you can't help but root for to prevail.

It's exciting and original, with fantasy and adventure, this read will keep your eyes glued to the page.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.