Published: February 14, 2023
Publisher: Tor Books
Series: The Five Penalties #2
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 464 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 4 Stars
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
The Cage of Dark Hours is the second novel in the epic fantasy trilogy from acclaimed author Marina Lostetter, where the defeat of a serial killer back from the dead has pulled the mask off the myths and magics of a fantastical city.
Krona and her Regulators survived their encounter with Charbon, the long-dead serial killer who returned to their city, but the illusions of their world were shattered forever.
Allied with an old friend they will battle the elite who have ruled their world with deception, cold steel, and tight control of the magic that could threaten their power, while also confronting beasts from beyond the foggy barrier that binds their world.
Now they must follow every thread to uncover the truth behind the Thalo, once thought of as only a children’s tale, who are the quiet, creeping puppet masters of their world.
So, the first book in this series was a super strange murder-mystery but the ending left me wondering just where the remainder of the series would go. Upon picking up The Cage of Dark Hours, I quickly realized that I was in for one *strange* story and it literally never let up.
The general plot of this is thus: Krona is grieving her sister and struggling to move forward and using unhealthy coping mechanisms, some of which are illegal. Remember, she’s a Regulator – a magical cop in scary armor – so doing illegal stuff is making her feel extra guilty. When the Thalo woman from the first book appears and warns her of an impending assassination of an unspecified noble twin that will be pinned on Krona, Krona goes to her superiors and reports that she’s received this threat. Enter Mandip Basu, noble twin and potential Grand Marquis candidate, who immediately gets tangled up with Krona’s less than reputable buddy Thibaut. Then there’s the vivacious and quite famous Le Maupin, a gorgeous opera singer who is more than just a pretty face. This cast of characters are in Lutador keeping things busy on that front. What really made this interesting was the nameless Thalo Child, a new point of view character who gives tremendous insight on how the Thalo live and many of their customs.
This is a story of multiple interwoven plot threads, oodles of strangeness, and a surprisingly breakneck pace at times. There was actually a ton of action in this book and while I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked by this, I nonetheless was (but in a good way). Like I said, I didn’t know what to expect from this or how things would continue on from the previous book, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn’t want to put this down. There’s a lot to keep up with between the two separate plots but as the story progresses you begin to see how they fit together and when they finally collide the impact is stunning! I’d like to just give a shout out to the magic of this world as well. It’s incredibly layered and complex and strikes a fine balance between being nebulous enough to allow for mystique and defined enough for the reader to begin to understand it. Everything about this book is so layered and filled with lore – I love it!
I really don’t know how to compare this to the first book since they are quite different, but I would say they’re on par with one another as far as quality and execution go. While this isn’t going down as a new favorite (it’s tough to make that category) this is a book that’s going to linger with me simply because it’s incomparable to pretty much anything else I’ve read.
Powder & Page 
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