This is the second in a series and contains minor spoilers.

 

Well, I liked this book a bit better than the last one, City of Dark Magic. It wasn’t as all over the place with 50 different things going on at once.

 

Sarah has traveled back to Prague to help Pollina. Pols, the 13 year old blind musical prodigy is dying. She has a rare infection that only one person can possibly cure, a Czech doctor named Bettina.

 

She is immediately plunged into mystery involving alchemy (again) and history and drugs and music and science. It starts with a brief meeting with the doctor at a ball in Vienna followed by mysterious text message from Bettina asking Sarah to do something that almost gets her arrested. Followed by another mysterious text message that ends up with Sarah handling a stolen artifact from the British Museum and a drug that makes her orgasm spontaneously (go ahead, laugh. I did)

 

Meanwhile, since him and Sarah broke up, Max has been sleeping with a somewhat famous British historian that, clearly, has bad intentions. Pollina doesn’t like her, which should be a sign not to date a person since Pollina is the smartest, most sensible character in the book.

 

Nico is also searching for a cure but also searching for a cure for his immortality. Someone is beating him to the ingredients (he refers to this person as his Moriarty. As much as I love Nico, he is no Sherlock).

 

During all this, Sarah stills finds the time to bang some guy in a horse stable, because ya know, priorities and all.

 

There are weird breaks into different points of view, which is a bit annoying at times but I guess it gives better insight.

 

You have to suspend your belief a lot with this book. The historical part of it is amazing. That’s really what drew me into the second book. Someday I shall visit Vienna and Prague! But other than that? Meh. I don’t really like Sarah. Some of her choices make no sense to me. She tends to be obnoxious and pretentious yet really stupid at times.

 

Max not really in this one much and when he is it’s usually a sex scene but he’s still kinda lackluster. He doesn’t really have a personality, which is a terrible waste of a character.

 

Pollina, the thirteen year old, is by far the most mature of the bunch. Though I really don’t understand her parents. She’s blind and dying and they don’t live with her? Like…wth? They just leave her in Prague with a nanny and a man they barely know (Max)? That just doesn’t make sense!

 

Alessandro is a doctor, graduated from an American school but can barely speak proper English? I don’t think so.

 

Anyways, the book has some beautiful descriptions and some great imagination. It moves along pretty fast, some decent action. The ending was…really weird.

 

This was an okay book. Not great but decent enough I suppose. If there is another book I’ll probably read it because I’m already two books in.

 

 

City of Lost Dreams (City of Dark Magic,... For this review and more please visit my blog - Zemfirka Blogs.

“I'm sorry to bother you but it's an emergency," she told Alessandro. "I need a drug test.” City of Lost Dreams (p. 86).

What a trip this novel is! I’m pleasantly surprised and happy I gave Magnus Flyte another chance as City of Lost Dreams is a much improved, fast-paced and exciting novel. The returning cast of characters gain needed dimension as they continue on in their quest to find the Golden Fleece and in increasingly desperate attempt try save life of the young, blind, music prodigy – Pollina, whose health has deteriorated drastically since last time we saw her. What lies ahead is a web of elements that somehow balance together to create this unconventional, drug-infused, time-traveling journey through time and history, with a sprinkle of magic, questions of immortality, drive, passion and more. So buckle up and prepare for an outside the box tour of Prague and Vienna with Sarah Weston and friends.

“This was always the way things were in Prague: mysterious, watery, elusive. It was like the minute you got off the plane here, all firm ground dissolved. And you did crazy things. Like falling in love.” City of Lost Dreams (p. 19).

This time around Sarah returns to Prague to help find cure for Pollina’s illness, but as fate would have it, Prague is surrounded by mysterious forces and nothing goes as planned. At dinner with Nico and Max a strange event takes place and Sarah somehow ends up in the middle of it all. But no time to investigate as Sarah is off to Vienna to track down the brilliant yet recalcitrant biochemist – Bettina Müller who might be able to help Pollina, while Nico and Max continue their own search. Yet, as they pursue further only more mysteries seem to amount and time is quickly running out…

“We’ve got to try everything, no matter how crazy it sounds. I wasn’t ready before, but I am now. I’m ready for the fucking witchcraft, you know. Bring on the witchcraft.” City of Lost Dreams (p. 191).

City of Lost Dreams is a crazy yet exhilarating journey. It’s not perfect. There are way too many elements, events and characters throughout the novel that it is cumbersome to keep them all straight, but at the same time they add richness and dimension. I wished we got to see them explored further but alas there wasn’t time – things were moving so fast. I also missed seeing Sarah and Max together as they spent most of the novel apart from each other – an unfortunate circumstance in my opinion. While Nico and Pollina were the stars with plenty of wisdom and advice to offer our heroine.  However, what really made this novel shine was its maniacally devious villain, whose reveal was quite predictable and in turn less satisfying, yet I couldn’t help but be fascinated with him/her. Not to give anything further away, I’ll just say that aside all of its stumbles I really enjoyed this novel and hope to see more of Sarah, Max, Nico, and Pollina as they continue their adventures.

Recommended

3.5 Stars

There are many things I really liked but also quite a few things that annoyed me

Review:
This left me quite divided. There were aspects in this novel I totally adore and others that simply pissed me off, to put it bluntly. I felt the same about the first novel, by the way.
I think this is very cleverly constructed, but I also felt that it's lacking at times. After reading this, I wanted to know who Magnus Flyte was more than anything else. Because for starters, he got so much right when it comes to describing music and the feeling Prague or Vienna evokes. But on the other hand, he also got so much wrong when it comes to Vienna especially. I was convinced that he didn't live in Vienna or Prague at the end of this. He had to live in the USA in my mind. I also felt he had to have some background in music or possibly history...
Well, I was not so wrong on some level. But Magnus Flyte is a pseudonym for the writing duo of Meg Howrey and Christina Lynch.

The plot, just like in City of Dark Magic is fun. It takes you on a wild goose chaise through history and two fabulous European cities (Prague and Vienna) and end with a mythical fantasy big bash at the end.
I enjoy the murder mysteries this time as much as the last time. And it took me a while to guess who the perpetrator was.

The character building is fabulous for some character and extremely cliche for others.
About a third into this book I suddenly realised that a source of irritation was Sara. I really don't like Sara. I didn't particularly fancy her in the first book, but in this, she downright annoyed me. I found her so opinionated. So ignorant on one level. Then when it comes to her talking music- just wow! it's one of my favorite parts of the book.
I wasn't a fan of Max either, but I didn't mind him. He is a bit all over the place and terribly clueless- quite frankly a bit of a twat. But he didn't annoy me.
Both of them where a bit cliche American actually. Which is one of the things that made me wonder who the author really is. I found it hard to reconcile their obvious great education and good intellects with their totally immature and insensitive behavior. The most annoying bit is definitely their love lives. Who could be that removed of their feelings and so very objective about their sex life?
I think Nico put it just right;
"Did you see Sarah in Vienna?" "Of course." "How is she?" "Same as you,"said Nico. "Tall and stupid"
Nico was my favorite character- he is the flamboyant good hearted fun portion of the book. And added sever really interesting thoughts to the mix.
Pols is simply beautiful. I think she was the most convincing and most moving character. I believed what drove her but also understood her fears and feelings. Amazingly and inspiring written character.

The world building is so very well done! The mix of fantasy and history so cleverly blended, that I had to think hard if certain characters actually existed. In fact I did google Elizabeth Weston, since I had never heard of her. And yes, she did live in Prague in the 16th century and was the stepdaughter of Kelly. I am definitely going to look for her poetry.
I love how Howrey and Lynch brought a historical era back to life. It was one of my favorite bit in the first book. But while the first book was mainly focused on Beethoven. This book went even further in added different historical times and quite a few more characters to the story.  It's done so well, not only are many of the historical facts well research and really accurate.  Flyte managed to paint moments in time so well that they felt real and tangible.

The prose is witty and beautiful at times.
"No eggs should cost that much unless they came with the actual chickens and a handsome farmer who would rub your feet while you ate."
But also the prose was one of my biggest issues in the book.
While in Austria there were many German sentences and terms added, which I really didn't like. First it kind disrupted the flow.
"After Sarah had explained to the polizei what she was doing in the lab and the officers had holstered their guns, an officer had been dispatched to collect Alessandro from the platz."
By the way I speak fluently German, being born in Switzerland. So it wasn't the fact that I did feel i missed something. I just didn't like how it changed the pace. Then and even worse. There were terrible grammatical faults in the German. I hope these will be corrected in the published issue. Because honestly they were atrocious! We talking basic German grammar. Like "mein lieber Pferd"instead of "mein liebes Pferd"
I found Alessandro's English really annoying, the guys graduated at a good American university. Is supposedly a brain and a half. But cant speak basic English? REALLY? I found that not only hard to believe, I found his English so lacking I wanted to take a red marker to it. Honestly, many people take up English as a second language and most of them are capable within a few short month to form decent sentences. Especially if they study or live in English speaking countries.

While I am at it. I found that while some parts of Vienna were so adequately described others were totally off the marker. No Austrian would claim not to understand German- they do speak German. A Swiss on the other hand could have reacted like that.... well, we don't really speak German. We speak Swiss which is basically Aleman.
While I loved the way that Prague was described - in both books. I think they got Austria a wee bit wrong. But not that wrong that any one other than someone who spent their childhood in the neighborhood would pick up on it.  But that slightly too cliche description of Austria, was what made me think- Flyte was possibly never there. And if he was only as a tourist. Which lead me to investigate the authors.

The best part about this novel is the thoughts that I was left with afterwards. In my opinion if a book does manage to reach you, make you think about it, inspires interesting in other topics... that's certainly a good book. And City of Lost Dreams certainly has left me with many things that I've been pondering for the last few days. Immortality, history, medicine, alchemy, love, muscic, healing, Phillipine Welser and their connections are just a few of them.

"This is how it goes," Nico said, softly. "This is the worst part. When you love someone." "Don't say it," said Sarah. "I don't want to you to say it." "The price of love is loss."

"The modern idea that one particular formula should work for multiple bodies isn't medicine, it's commerce."

An interesting book that fuses several genre expertly. It brings history back to life in a very unique way. Will inspire music lover and make you think about health, love and life.

ARC was provided by Publishers through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review

City of Lost Dreams is not as sexy or crazy as its predecessor. However, given just how insane, almost hyperactive, the first book is, this is not necessarily a bad thing. While it may be a fun read, it takes a lot of patience for a reader to get through its zaniness. The characters are foreign and mysterious, the supernatural elements are bizarre and confusing, and the sex is a bit too random for most readers. City of Lost Dreams is like an athlete after the season – the bone structure is still there but the muscles are less clearly defined and there is a spring missing from the athlete’s step. This second novel of Magnus Flyte maintains many of the original features with makes the first story so enjoyable, the shock factor is not as high, and there is now greater mass appeal specifically because everything about the story is calmer and less extreme.

This does not mean that City of Lost Dreams is in any way tame. There are still immortal dwarves, time-bending drugs, and alchemy, as well as plenty of history and danger, and yes, Sarah’s libido is still unusually active, although she is improving her ability to control herself. Interestingly enough, the stakes feel higher this time around precisely because readers know and understand the characters. They understand Sarah’s natural skepticism, Nico’s desperation, Pol’s talents and yearnings, and Max’s self-doubts. Mr. Flyte uses the reader’s pre-existing sympathies to heighten the tension of Sarah’s and Nico’s increasingly desperate search for Pol’s cure.

While the first novel requires a large effort in suspension of disbelief from readers with its strange use of time-altering drugs made from some very unusual – and frankly disgusting – ingredients, Mr. Flyte grounds the more fantastic elements of City of Lost Dreams in the unknown powers of the human mind. In particular, the details of Mesmer’s research and medical practice shared with readers provide enough legitimacy to remove the crazy from the story and replace it with the possible. No one knows just what the brain is capable of accomplishing, and the story capitalizes on this unknown potential. The possible cure becomes less fanciful and more plausible especially when compared to Sarah’s drug-fueled abilities to move back and forth through time. This hint of believability enhances the story and renders the conclusion much more emotional.

Just as in the first novel, City of Lost Dreams is very much a hybrid of genres. The alchemical discussions are first-rate and give readers tremendous insight into just what alchemists were trying to accomplish. The history lessons about Vienna and Prague remain fascinating. The human interaction is no less poignant because it involves a person rendered immortal through an alchemical experiment. The action is fast-paced and intense. The entire story remains an adrenaline-filled historical and fantasy trip through some of the most beautiful cities in Europe.