In McPherson’s fantasy sequel, a new king, his queen, and their guard confront the threat of mages who seek to make magic a “part of everyday life.”

This second book in the Heart-Mage Trilogy begins after King Beauregard’s elimination of the Watchers, an anti-magic organization of spies, fighters, and other operatives. Elias Batesian, the king’s guard and lover, survived the process of turning into a revenant to kill the group, but he lost part of his soul to a vicious god and his free will to Beauregard’s magical bonds. Beauregard is abducted by the Destiny Riders, who seek to return the Twelve gods to the world and make magic available to everyone. The narrative follows Queen Victoire and Elias’ search for the king, and King Beauregard’s unflagging attempts at escape. But Victoire is in danger, too; she’s pregnant with a mage-child who’s draining her lifeforce. Also, friends from Elias’ Watcher days destroy his enchantment, and his distinct personality, as a result; he reverts to his former identity as a spy named Aleixos Habiza and must forge a new life from the pieces of his old one. When the truth about the gods, the Watchers’ mission, and the Destiny Riders’ threat is uncovered, the king, queen, and guard must find a way to protect the kingdom—and come to terms with Elias’ erasure—before it’s too late.

McPherson’s vivid and emotionally devastating tale addresses themes of self-sacrifice and true-believer righteousness. The well-developed characters, from the main trio to a minor page named Theo, provide the narrative with a strong backbone, and there’s engaging action throughout. What sets the novel apart from many of its contemporaries, though, is its representation of diverse sexualities and relationship types. The excellent pacing and delicious tension make the central polyamorous, LGBTQ+ relationship especially satisfying.

An absorbing novel with deftly drawn characters, heart-stopping action, and genuinely felt romance.

The potent second entry in McPherson’s Heart-Mage Trilogy blends emotive magic, tense fantasy kingdom politics, smart questions about the nature of power, and enticing queer and polyamorous romance into an intoxicating concoction. At its heart is Elias Batesian, a warrior who has died and seen his soul “stripped from his body” while protecting his king Beauregard, or Beau, who enjoys Elias’s love as part of a spirited poly relationship with Lady Victoire "Penny" Penamour. Elias is wrenched back to life through necromancy and a bargain with Vensharice, a scene-stealing demon. (Calling Elias “morsel,” Vensharice stirs serious squirms.) Elias’s troubles persist in the mortal realm, as he discovers that Beau is a mage and that Elias himself is his “thrall,” magically tethered to Beau’s heart-mage abilities in a bond that obliterates autonomy while intensifying devotion.

Beau, too, is shocked by this, as he did not impose thralldom upon this “mundane.” McPherson wrings tense and resonant drama from the men’s efforts to negotiate tricky issues of consent and connection, plus the deadly risks of breaking the bond, all as the kingdom of Granvallée faces exciting fantasy troubles, described here with rare elan: an assassin protected by an artifact called a Notice-Me-Not; an old adversary who can wear Elias’s visage “as a film of Face”; and mages set on summoning gods and destroying the world.

The emotional devastation of the royal romance is matched by scenes of blasted wastes as the kingdom suffers, but McPherson always keeps the pages turning with a dash of magic, wit (“‘Not every problem can be solved by lying about one’s genitals,’ Duchess said dryly”), or “a ribbon of that ginger-and-mango taste [Beau] recognized as lust.” As these quotes suggest, McPherson’s prose has quicksilver power, alive with heat and heart. Plotting, too, is strong, as a compelling cast is tested in inventive ways, achieving some hard-won victories but with much danger to come in later books. Lovers of romantic fantasy will relish this.

Takeaway: Morally complex fantasy of devotion and the cost of resurrection.