Falcondance by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

A Fairly Spoiler-Free Reread Review

So... Falcondance... honestly, entirely middling and actually a bit confusing. The main plot isn't really that confusing, though it does have some twists and turns, the confusing part is the magic system. Nicias is used and abused pretty much throughout the book, poor thing, really. He definitely wasn't aware or prepared for the kind of machinations going on in the court of Ahnmik... if you can even call it a court.

The magic system has a large focus here, though it is still not very concrete in the way things are explained. Nicias' magic wakes and he must learn to use it, though that use is pretty much glossed over. If this were a movie, Nicias' training sessions would have been montages where light flashed back and forth and nothing was explained. The spells are described as bands of light, eyes change color, and that's more-or-less it. We get some overview of how Ahnmik and Anhamirak's magics used to intertwine and more explanation of Ecl, but it's still all quite vague. Basically the backdrop to explaining why the Falcons did what they did and why the Serpiente and Avians will never and must never become one again.

The world-building aspect of Nicias' visit to the island city of Ahnmik was kind of neat and actually quite horrifying. The class structure is... problematic at best. More-or-less determined by how your magic decides to wake in you at the tender age of FOUR. I don't think I liked it on my first read and I definitely don't like it now. The way magic has permeated the island was the neat part. I kind of enjoy the idea of a semi-sentient city.

Remembering what I do about Wolfcry and Wyvernhail, Falcondance is undeniably setup and explanation for the events in those books.