Second books in a series are actually way more important for a series than the first book. Sure, the first book is what hooks the reader, but it’s the second book that shows whether the long term commitment to a series is worth it. Second books are also difficult because they have to be better than the first while still doing everything the first book does. It has to introduce the characters again, the world again, and be an intriguing story again but, you know, better. It’s a tall order for an author and worth recognizing when it’s pulled off well. In Kakistocracy by Alex Shvartsman, the second book in the Conradverse Chronicles ups the ante on the first book and delivers a good story while developing characters and the world. It puts this series as a must read for me.
Disclaimer: The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Any and all opinions that follow are mine alone.
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TL;DR
Kakistocracy by Alex Shvartsman is a fun sequel to The Middling Affliction. Conrad Brent is back and as snarky as ever. Highly recommended.
From the Publisher
If you do it well, lying is every bit as effective as magic.
Conrad Brent has no innate magic, so he bluffs a lot and uses a myriad of magical items to protect Brooklyn from monsters and arcane threats. As a member of the Watch, the group that protects the mundane humans from such dangers, he risks his life on a regular basis. Sometimes twice before lunch. Sometimes during lunch, when he dares order his food from a street cart.
After regaining his position in the Watch which he’d temporarily lost due to the machinations of a variety of evil-doers, Conrad doesn’t want to take any risks he doesn’t have to. But now his boss is missing, there’s a totalitarian new regime in City Hall oppressing all magic users, and the mayor has aligned himself with a diabolical villain.
In order to save the day, Conrad must team up with a recovering necromancer to mediate a dispute between two ancient enemy factions, solve a mystery of a warded house adjacent to a cemetery, and stand with his friends against tyranny.
That is, if the interdimensional fae assassins don’t get him first.
Review: Kakistocracy by Alex Shvartsman
New York’s favorite middling is back in this sequel to Alex Shvartsman’s The Middling Affliction. Conrad Brent is back protecting the mundanes from the monsters and arcane specialists who would prey on them. Conrad is still a middling, a person of the arcane world but without his own innate magic. He can and does use magical items all while bluffing his enemies and allies. Middlings are despised in Conrad’s world, and most magic users believe they should be put to death. After the events of The Middling Affliction, a few close to him know of Conrad’s true nature, but he’s still lying to most everyone else. At the beginning of Kakistocracy, he’s hunting down a supernatural serial killer preying on the mundanes of New York. This leads him to the fae realm and a delayed death sentence by fae assassins. Upon returning to New York, Conrad finds himself up against City Hall as the incompetent, fascist real estate developer, against all conceivable odds, wins the mayoral election. Conrad finds fascism has come to New York, and that’s not the biggest of his problems.
Kakistocracy by Alex Shvartsman is the first person tale of Conrad Brent. It’s the second book in Shvartsman’s Conradverse Chronicles. It’s a fast-paced, action packed adventure. This was a fast and fun read. The writing and the story are a bit tighter in this book than the first one. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
Conrad Brent
In a first person book, it’s important to like the main character, and I do. Conrad Brent is a likable trickster in the mold of most urban fantasy protagonists. The key to good series characters is that they change over the course of novels. In the first book, he was very much a loner. His status as middling required it. In this book, more people know his secret – whether he wants them to or not. And he’s learning to live with it. He’s working more as a team and thinking more about the guardians. But he hasn’t lost that essential loner nature that makes him funny and seeking after the right thing.
Moral Calculus
In this book, Conrad is given a job offer that could promote him up into the arcane big leagues, but it would require him to give up his guardian position. His choice comes down to: does he defend the individual or does he protect the many? I enjoyed Conrad pondering it despite the fact that I knew the answer from the jump. I think the fact that he considered the question shows a change in Conrad from the first book as well. I imagine we’ll see more of this in future installments of the Conradverse Chronicles.
This moral calculus also foreshadows an interesting confrontation between Abbadon, Inc. and the Watch. Abbadon and its boss have large, cosmically large, concerns. It’s purpose – which we learn here – is immense and important. However, it’s a big picture organization. The Watch is down in the weeds, down among the everyday. Their moral calculus is quite different than the world spanning corporation. It’ll be interesting to see how this dynamic evolves in future installments.
I enjoy these types of questions in fiction because I like to see other answers than the one I would give. There is no objectively correct answer here; it’s simply correct based on the person. (Also, to be clear, we have to be careful to not mistake a character’s beliefs as an author’s belief.) Often, people will point to the Parable of the Lost Sheep as a definitive answer. Here, a shepherd notices that one of his sheep goes missing. To serve the many, he shouldn’t leave the flock to find the lone missing sheep. However, the shepherd so loves his flock that he cannot leave the lone sheep behind. This shows that the individual doesn’t matter more than the many. It’s a really good answer, assuming the main part of the flock are safe. If in leaving the many for the one, the many are stolen or eaten by wolves, did the shepherd do the right thing? Was saving 1 sheep at the cost of, say, 99 the right thing to do? Well, to the 1 sheep, yes, it was. To the 99, no it wasn’t. Correctness is a matter of perspective.
Kindness is an Investment
As I said, I like Conrad Brent. One of the reasons is because he uses kindness as an investment. Moira O’Leary returns as well, and she’s interested in a redemption arc. Conrad has many, many reasons to distrust her. But he gives her advice on how to go about being a better human being. And that’s not the only example. I loved these parts of the book. Series have the ability to let characters from all sides of the spectrum change sides, redeem themselves, or even fall. I enjoy seeing those changes over time, and Conrad makes surprisingly wise investments. In this book, we get to see some of those investments pay off, but I imagine there’s also long term plans for these characters, and I’m here for it.
Conclusion
Alex Shvartsman’s second book in the Conradverse Chronicles, Kakistocracy, is another fun, fast-paced adventure in an alternate New York City. Conrad Brent has grown but is still the irreverent contrarian that we loved from the first book. Kakistocracy deepens Conrad’s world and gives readers the feeling that Shvartsman’s story is just starting to hit its stride. Highly Recommended.