A Clap of Thunder by Nazri Noor

Narrated by Zachary Johnson

A Clap of Thunder, book six in Nazri Noor’s richly imagined Arcane Hearts series, hits the ground running and doesn’t let up until the very end. Secrets are uncovered, old enemies return and a king is awakened, as Jackson and Xander, now happily engaged and continuing to try to track down the origins of the Chrysanthemist and the Fractures which have been terrorising the Black Market, enter the Verdance in an attempt to prevent an all-out war between humans and the fae. Back home, construction of the new Halls of Making continues apace and the second AI prepares to come back online. There’s a lot going on in this story and the author juggles it expertly, keeping things moving at a fast clip without any sacrifice of clarity or characterisation.

As this is a same-couple series with an overarching plot, there will be spoilers for previous books in this review.

When the story opens, we find Jackson and Xander on one of their regular hunting and harvesting trips, this one to the Philippines to help Bruna Hernandez (who will be familiar to readers/listeners of the Wild Hearts series) gather the reagents she needs to make a spectacular potion. Back in the Black Market, a visit to Elixir – the guild of alchemists and potion makers – reveals something truly disturbing. The guild members are working hard to produce thousands of phials of healing potions, ones specifically designed to replace the arcane essence lost by mages in battle, as well as other augmentation and protective potions. And their customer is none other than Madame Catherine Grayhaven, headmistress of the elite academy that trains mages and spellcasters, of which both Xander and Reza Arshad are graduates. After the assault on Grayhaven by the fae in the previous book, Madame Cathee vowed revenge on the fae for daring to attack her home and her students – but the large numbers of potions being produced would indicate she’s planning something much more than an act of retaliation. She’s planning a full-on invasion. Total war.

Jackson and Xander make their way to Grayhaven to meet with Madame Cathee to discuss her plans. Neither of them like where things appear to be headed; an attack on the fae could threaten the safety of the whole of the arcane underground. When they arrive at the academy, it’s to witness scores of Grayhaven students clad in their distinctive pale grey uniforms calling out spell words and hurling bolts of elemental magic across the room under Madame Cathee’s direction and supervision. And only then does the fact of what Grayhaven really is click into place for Jackson. It’s a Military academy – and he’s looking at an army.

Back at the site of the Halls of Making, the reconstruction is going really well. Rather than trying to rebuild using traditional materials, the Master of the Garland – the guild of plants and flowers – had offered Jackson a plant called Lobelia’s Ladder, a great, twisting plant that will grow quickly and can be shaped and trained above and below ground to form foundations and whatever structure is required. The plant is now fully grown – all that is required now is for the structure to be hollowed out so it can be used as a thriving, living building, and for its exterior to be strengthened by the application of a particular potion – the speciality of one Bruna Hernandez.

And while all of this is going on, Xander has been using a newly-learned healing spell to try to repair the second AI discovered among the ruins of the old Halls, hoping that perhaps it will be able to provide them with information about the accident that destroyed the place and killed all the artificers within, including Jackson’s parents.

I can’t say much more about the plot without going into spoiler territory, but the description I’ve given above is just a taster of what’s going on in this story and there’s a lot more to go! There are some terrific action scenes, a revelation I did NOT see coming (but which makes perfect sense) and the tying up of some plotlines – although with two books still to go, there are still questions to be answered. I’m really enjoying the way the various guilds and guild masters are beginning to co-operate – there was a sense, at the beginning of the series, that they were generally adversarial – and especially at how they have rallied round to help Jackson to rebuild the Halls of Making. I like the idea of Jackson as a kind of unifying force. I also like that Jackson and Xander are always looking for ways to help and mend, to heal rather than kill; this comes across very strongly in this story where they make an important discovery that should affect Madame Cathee’s approach to war with the fae – but which she dismisses in her desire for war. The author doesn’t go in for overt political statements, but I think that idea – that we should all get along and help one another rather than look for ways to break things – is one we can all get behind.

For all the complexity of this fast-paced, action-packed story, there is still time for Jackson and Xander to share a few intimate moments (in bed and out of it!) that continue to show how right they are for each other. While Nazri Noor has written a number of fantasy series prior to this, Arcane Hearts is the first one with a romantic pairing at its centre, and he’s doing a terrific job of writing a healthy, established relationship in which the characters communicate effectively and resolve any disputes in a mature way.

The introduction of Whitby – the other AI – brings closer the possibility of Jackson learning the truth about what happened to his parents, and Lore going all ‘big brother’ and taking him under his wing is just so cute. The worldbuilding in this series is fabulous – the concept of the constantly moving Black Market, the different guilds, the magical academies with their different magical focuses and spells – it’s all superbly done – and I like how a new guild is introduced in each book. I love watching Jackson’s growing confidence as he discovers his own strengths and abilities – and I may have given a little cheer when, in this story, he comes up with a very marketable idea which should finally make him some real money. I continue to be impressed with the author’s attention to detail and with the way he so deftly handles what has become a fairly large ensemble cast.

Kudos, also, to narrator Zachary Johnson on that score, as he very adeptly portrays said cast, giving each character a clear and identifiable voice and differentiating effectively between them all using a variety of tone and accent. His interpretation of Jackson is spot on, as always, expertly conveying his sense of fun, his warmth, his determination and loyalty, and the vulnerability he tries to hide behind a façade of bluster. The depth of the affection between Jackson and Xander is clear in their every interaction, and I love the sense of camaraderie he brings to the group scenes. Mr. Johnson is great at ratcheting up the tension in the action scenes and does some really scary fae voices! – and his expressive, animated performance is an absolute pleasure to listen to.

A Clap of Thunder is the best instalment yet in this inventive and entertaining series, and I’m eagerly anticipating the audio release of book seven, The Claws of Winter.

Caz

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