Notorious Sorcerer

By: Davinia Evans

Narrated by: Kirsten Foster

In a city filled with dangerous yet heavily regulated alchemical magic, a man from the slums discovers he may be its only hope to survive certain destruction in this wickedly entertaining fantasy.

Welcome to Bezim, where sword-slinging bravi race through the night and rich and idle alchemists make magic out of mixing and measuring the four planes of reality.

Siyon Velo, Dockside brat turned petty alchemist, scrapes a living hopping between the planes to harvest ingredients for the city’s alchemists. But when Siyon accidentally commits an act of impossible magic, he’s catapulted into the limelight—which is a bad place to be when the planes start lurching out of alignment, threatening to send Bezim into the sea.

It will take a miracle to save the city. Good thing Siyon has pulled off the impossible before. Now he just has to master it.

A dazzling fantasy bursting with wild magic, chaotic sword-fighting street gangs, brazen flirting, malevolent harpies, and one defiant alchemist.

"From the razor-sharp social climbing to the glimmering alchemist's library to the hidden realms beneath it all, I loved getting lost in this dazzling debut." —Shannon Chakraborty

Critic reviews

"Very rarely do I read a fantasy city so wondrously realized as Bezim. From the razor-sharp social climbing to the glimmering alchemist's library to the hidden realms beneath it all, I loved getting lost in this dazzling debut." —Shannon Chakraborty, author of The City of Brass

"A delightful and fast-paced ride full of flashy swordplay, high society, and thrilling magic. Reading Notorious Sorcerer made me feel like I was ten years old again and discovering adventure fantasy for the first time. Sheer, glorious fun!"—Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light

"A brilliant alchemical recipe! Notorious Sorcerer is a delicious melange of my favourite things, remixing historical magic with class consciousness. I couldn't put it down."—Olivia Atwater, author of Half A Soul

“Notorious Sorcerer feels like a dream you don’t want to wake from, with beautiful and broken people chasing elusive magic along a knife’s edge in a beautiful and broken city. I devoured it and want more!"—Melissa Caruso, author of The Tethered Mage

"Notorious Sorcerer has everything I want in a fantasy novel: a picaresque hero to make my heart sing, a refreshingly new kind of magic, and a waggish sense of humor. If you like a healthy dollop of rollicking fun with your epic fantasy, this is the book for you."—Megan Bannen, author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

"Notorious Sorcerer is a real delight, with compelling characters and wonderful worldbuilding that sucks the reader in and keeps them engaged from beginning to end."—Mike Brooks, author of The Black Coast

“Notorious Sorcerer is a firework of a fantasy novel: vibrant, explosive, deliciously dangerous, and impossibly fun. A must-read debut.”—Tasha Suri, author of The Jasmine Throne

"[An] energetic epic fantasy debut...Evans trusts readers to untangle the rules of her expansive world with minimal exposition...the witty prose, endearing characters, and sense of playful whimsy throughout keep the pages turning. This is a charmer." —Publishers Weekly

"Intricate and fascinating — I would eagerly read more tales of the city of Bezim."—Marie Brennan, author of The Memoirs of Lady Trent series

Very Entertaining

All the characters are distinct in voice and personality, it is very easy to love each and every one of them at least a little.

The story itself was very compelling and fun.

Overall a good listen!

Excellent Listen!

First book I’ve chosen in while purely off of its cover art; and then the book flap summary was intriguing, too.

The narrator also does a really good job with accents which made it enjoyable and some characters more engaging.

Took 13hrs for me to realise it’s also a love story, so, well done there as it fits seamlessly into the larger narrative. And characters were distinct with their own personalities and stories that wove in well.

5 stars.

Fun listen

I enjoyed the world building in this story a lot. it is all done within the story, no long info dumps. I like that it is a good mix of women and men and the women are not portrayed as weak and run around with swords if they want to. the magic system is interesting although it doesn't get too much into technical details I liked that there were strange ingredients. there is a tiny bit of romance in the story but it is not the main storyline and not explicit. can't wait to read the next book.

the narrator was pleasant and did a good job distinguishing between voices.