Servant Mage by Kate Elliott. MacMillan-Tor/Forge
Due to the takeover by the Liberationists, Fellion has become an indentured servant mage with little prospect of another life until she is freed by a group of Monarchists. They need her fire skills and there's a possibility of a real future. Along the way, their priority shifts so they are saving a very special baby from being killed before moving on to the original mission.
I must point out this is a novella rather than a full-length novel. I found this to be a super-easy and engaging read, finishing it in under three hours. The world-building is quite good and there are some really interesting characters along the way. I was really invested in the story. I was happily reading along and then towards the end, there's a bit of an information dump where it feels like there are openings for quite a bit of development in the story. However, it ends almost abruptly, leaving me quite unsatisfied with the overall story. It just didn't quite fulfill its promise in the end.
I'm giving this 3.5 stars because I enjoyed most of the read. I would like to thank Netgalley and MacMillan-Tor/Forge for providing this advanced reader copy for free. I have provided this review voluntarily.
