Circle of Enemies

Twenty Palaces Series, Book 3

By: Harry Connolly

Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May

Former car thief Ray Lilly is now the expendable grunt of a sorcerer responsible for destroying extradimensional predators summoned to our world by power-hungry magicians.

Luckily, Ray has some magic of his own, and so far it's kept him alive. But when a friend from his former gang calls him back to his old stomping grounds in Los Angeles, Ray may have to face a threat even he can't handle.

A mysterious spell is killing Ray's former associates, and they blame him. Worse yet, the spell was cast by Wally King, the sorcerer who first dragged Ray into the brutal world of the Twenty Palace Society.

Now Ray will have to choose between the ties of the past and the responsibilities of the present, as he and the Society face not only Wally King but a bizarre new predator.

©2011 Harry Connolly (P)2020 Tantor

Ah, so that's where the story is going

So far, the series has been a compelling experience. Fascinating, Eldritch horror magic. relentless gritty darkness, brutality, and thematic horror. And through it all, a protagonist who has every incentive to be just as ruthless, but still has a heart, a conscience, and suffers terribly because he won't shed his humanity in the face of the things he is obligated to do to literally save the world. Wildly compelling stuff. Ray Lilly, with all his flaws, is a great character.

The pllt is still a dense, horror-mystery-thriller mix with lots of characters and lots of action that are a bit hard to remember by name, but somehow are easy to keep straight in the reading. The tone is dark, bleak even. It's a tone that the first two books shared, but which doesn't really get old. The thing that makes it work is that Ray is really struggling to accept the harsh reality of not only what is, but what needs to be for the good of everyone. he suffers and struggles to process his trauma, and his struggle totally draws you in.

Then you come to this book, and the plot revolves around friends from Ray's past getting caught up into his world, and him being pulled back into their lives, trying to save them. It ends with a surprising twist that blows the whole Twenty Palaces world open, and sets up what is looking to be like an incredibly compelling second half of the series. I'm definitely looking forward to the last books.

Great Urban Fantasy

Binged the entire series up to this point and have thoroughly enjoyed it as a whole. The narrator does an excellent job with one caveat. I'm not a fan of the voice he uses for Annalise.

To be fair, the voice fits the description though. I came to the series late, but see that the author had a (relatively) recent Kickstarter for more books, and it did well, so I'm excited to see what the future has in store for Raymond Lily, Annalise, and the society

If you're considering this book, then you're either caught up in the series, or you pick books in a weird manner (no judgment). Either way, I highly suggest that you stick with the Twenty Palaces story through to the end. Whether that is this book, or further in the future makes no difference. Well worth the read/listen.

Really good

In the long run this my be better than the dresden files the author has really found his voice!!!

Not bad.

These books aren't bad. Braincandy mostly but a pretty good take on magic and magic societies.

Original story line but a shame it’s the last

The writing, the plot, the magic system and the character development were all excellent. It’s very disappointing that this was the last book so much story still to be told I hope the author and the publisher reconsider and continue the series.