Path of Smoke
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
In Wascana Park, they’re ordinary university students. But after midnight, when the park transforms into the magical kingdom of Anfractus, they become warriors, bards, and archers in a real-life role-playing game…
The company of heroes has thwarted the plan of the power-hungry basilissa to conquer Anfractus, but not without a cost. Andrew’s character, Roldan, died, leaving him cut off from the mystical realm without any memory of its existence. If the others reveal the park’s magical nature to Andrew, his banishment will become permanent. So they must hide their nighttime adventures—and hope that his memory returns.
Pursued by the basilissa’s forces, the rest of the group keeps a low profile in Anfractus until they uncover an unholy alliance between their enemy and the silenoi, satyrlike creatures who hunt humans—an alliance that threatens to cross the barrier into the real world.
And while his friends struggle to prevent an invasion in both worlds, Andrew receives a visitor determined to restore his memory of Anfractus by leading him down a very dark path…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An urban park by day becomes a fantasy kingdom by night, but the aimless grad students who revel in their second lives as fighters and bards are troubled to find that their magical world is blending into reality. Cunningham fails to provide enough clues for readers who missed Pile of Bones to make sense of the story until it's far too late, which dulls the impact of the danger headed for the cast of characters. This sense of confusion is made worse by the overuse of multiple points of view, which undermines the humor, danger, relationships, and intrigue. It doesn't help that in both reality and the game-like fantasy world, the main characters aren't interesting; for example, nominal protagonist Carl (aka the musician Babieca) spends the entire book drinking, mooching, and waffling between competence and apathy. This blatant attempt to appeal to gamers adds little to a genre that already echoes with the rattling of 20-sided dice.
