Her first novel, Enchantment of Ravens, disappointed me at first because I had expected an epic fantasy when it was a romance novel, but quickly became one of my favorite comfort reads due to the relationship, the lead's cleverness, and description of the world. Sorcery of Thorns, which is an entirely different novel, is the epic fantasy I wanted, and even more clearly displays Rogerson's strength in creating complex characters and relationships.
Sorcery of Thorns follows Elisabeth, who has been raised in the system of Great Libraries where sorcerer-created grimoires are kept under control. She's been led to believe that sorcerers are evil, because sorcerers must tie themselves to a demon in order to use magic. When the Libraries fall under attack, Elisabeth finds herself in the heart of the conspiracy, and the novel is about her fighting this threat.
The official blurb makes it seem like Elisabeth and the sorcerer Nathaniel team up to face the threat, but the truth is that her journey takes many twists and turns and Nathaniel has a smaller role than I would have expected in a typical YA novel, something I appreciated. This journey is about Elisabeth, and I thoroughly enjoyed her strength. I loved her realization that the information she'd grown up on may have been biased, and I admired her willingness to keep an open mind and make her own opinions. One thing in particular that stood out to me in Sorcery of Thorns was that Elisabeth is often first on the scene and the first to act. I didn't realize how common it is for a female lead to follow another character into action until I read one scene where Elisabeth is there first, Nathaniel and his demon Silas following behind her.
And this brings me to Silas, Nathaniel's demon. As stand-out of a female lead as Elisabeth was, Silas really stole this show. I think he's made it onto my personal list of best characters. Every scene with him was a treat; honestly, there may have been more scenes between Elisabeth and Silas than Elisabeth and Nathaniel. The slow discovery of Silas's character was as enjoyable as, and probably aided, Elisabeth's self-discovery. Silas was a mystery, and I never really knew where he stood or if he could be trusted, and that made reading about him so exciting.
I've read other reviews for Sorcery of Thorns that mentioned pacing was too fast. For me, there was a point about 30% of the way in that actually felt too slow because Elisabeth was isolated, but otherwise Elisabeth is a very proactive character always looking for the next step. I can understand why others may think the ending wrapped up too quickly, but I don't feel the same way. Everything that needed to happen and should have happened, happened. In fact, the last sentence really packed a punch. It was honestly the best ending I've read in a while and probably the best scene in the book.
Sorcery of Thorns has a stronger-than-usual female lead, a world book-lovers will enjoy, a background romance, and an interesting demon. Not sure what more I could ask for in a YA fantasy. Please give it a try ASAP.
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