A Conventicle of Magpies by L.M.R Clarke: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

A Conventicle of Magpies by L.M.R. Clarke

A Conventicle of Magpies is the first book in the Bloodskill duology by L.M.R. Clarke. It’s set in an industrial town of Stamchester in a unique world with factories, early automobiles, and even some telephones, but also magic called bloodskill that is available for all. The world is referred to as Victorian in the book description, but it’s not steampunk/gaslight punk—or very Victorian in general. Edwardian, maybe, if one absolutely has to utilise period descriptions from our world. I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stamchester is a hotspot of political tension. It has belonged to one set of people conquered by the Avanish, who have then brought in a different set of people, the Saosuíasei, to live there as cheap labour while they plunder the original country of the Saosuíasei. For some reason that isn’t given a very good explanation for, other than prejudice, the Avanish have now decided to empty Stamchester of the Saosuíasei, with violence if necessary.

Rook is a young Saosuíasei woman living in the slums where her people have been banished. She belongs to a gang of women led by Mama Magpie who steal to protect the Saosuíasei women. When the Avanish begin to move against the Saosuíasei, the women team up with another gang, Jaguars, to try to save their people.

The book took a while to get going, or decide what the story it wanted to tell was. Rook has a lot going on in her life. She has lost an older sister and father, and has to take care of her ten siblings practically alone. A serial killer haunts the slums, emptying the victims of blood to use it in blood magic—a storyline that never really moved the plot and seemed superfluous despite the importance of blood to all magic users. A childhood friend has chosen to side with the enemy, much to the sorrow of Rook and her adoptive sister Kestrel, another gang member. It isn’t until the gangs unite against the Avanish that the story finds a direction that holds until the end.

Rook is an interesting character who always tries to do the right thing despite the enormous pressure she is constantly under from every direction. She’s good with bloodskill and stealing, but not overly superior. She comes across as a bit aloof though, and apart from Kestrel, she doesn’t really connect with any of the side characters. And neither does the reader.

Side characters were the main weakness of the story. There were simply too many of them, and the focus never stayed in them long enough for the reader to form an attachment. At the beginning of the book there were one set of people with Rook, in the middle there was another, and then again a new set, none of which were properly introduced to the reader. They simply appear, do their part in that section of the plot, and then disappear.

The character most ill served by this was Kestrel, Rook’s stalwart companion and the main side character. She was clearly meant to give the book LBQT+ status, but she turned out to be a mere token. She’s a biological male presenting as a woman, but her main concern seemed to be her looks, and her only role was to save Rook from scrapes. I found it especially disappointing that she was pushed aside when the plot required infiltration to a women’s prison. The excuse was that she would have to strip, but that didn’t even happen to the women who eventually participated, publicly anyway.

It’s an author’s job to put their characters in difficult situations, and then extradite them whilst staying true to their characteristics, not push them aside when they become incovenient for the story. There would’ve been plenty of ways to include Kestrel, but she wasn’t. So, instead of being inclusive, the message here is that she isn’t good enough as she is to have agency or a proper role, even as a side character in a make-believe world. I hope this is done better in the next book.

The book ends when the war with the Avanish finally begins. I find it difficult to imagine how the Saosuíasei will save the day against the far superior enemy who have almost destroyed them already. But, despite the issues I had with this book, I’m definitely going to find out how the story ends.