Corcoran Gray is an errant wizard, skilled at his trade, but at odds with his guild, who are themselves hamstrung by the king. When the guild arrest Gray’s grandfather for necromancy, Gray quests to find his grandfather and free him from the guild…

Lord of Secrets (2019. 328 pages) is a fantasy novel from American author, Breanna Teintze.

Fantasy, as a genre, contains many different voices and agendas, true, there is an over preponderance of hero journeys, but even with such a repetitive trope authors still find their own way to present it.

Secrets is not a deep and meaningful novel, Teintze seems to have set out to produce an entertaining romp and in this she has succeeded.

We follow the outlawed young wizard in his quest to rescue his grandfather. Along the way he picks up other travelling companions and the whole thing is brought to a satisfying conclusion. While all of this is fine and will probably work as a young adult novel, overall there is more missing here than you would expect.

The overall world building is scant, making it difficult for the reader to imagine Gray’s world. Likewise, there is little offered in the way of backstory or overall information about the characters themselves. This ultimately leads to a bit of a light read, ok, in and of itself, but you walk away feeling like you have had a pleasantly light treat and not a substantial meal.

6

Charles Packer