The Quarrygate Gambit

The Streets of Maradaine #4

by Marshall Ryan Maresca

The Rynax Family is strongest when they are together. Torn apart by a nefarious plot, they each face their hardest trials alone.

 

After having thwarted some of the forces responsible for ruining their lives, reformed thieves Asti and Verci Rynax and the rest of the Holver Alley Crew had mostly settled back into sedate lives as upright citizens of Maradaine. But when they are suddenly arrested in mysterious circumstances, they find themselves in Quarrygate Prison, which tests the limits of their cunning and skill. While Verci struggles to keep their friends alive and safe in the prison, Asti gets pulled into a mysterious scheme in the underbelly of the prison, teaming him up with some of the most dangerous people in Maradaine. The cracks in Asti's tenuous sanity get torn open as he is thrown into a cat-and-mouse game with one of the city's most infamous killers.

 

Meanwhile back in their neighborhood, Verci's wife Raych is desperate to help him and Asti and get them home. When her attempts to go through proper channels fail, she accepts a ludicrous deal from the local crime Verci and Asti's freedom in exchange for her pulling off a daring, nigh-impossible heist that would challenge even seasoned thieves. Raych doesn't know how a simple baker like her could hope to succeed at such a task, but she will use every trick and wild idea she has to help her family. None of the Rynaxes will rest until they are free from Quarrygate and together at home again, no matter the risk, no matter the cost.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 8, 2022

About the author

Marshall Ryan Maresca is a fantasy and science-fiction writer, author of sixteen novels, most of which are part of the Maradaine Saga: Four braided series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. He is also the author of the standalone dieselpunk fantasy, The Velocity of Revolution. He is a four-time Hugo finalist as the co-host of the podcast Worldbuilding for Masochists, and has been a playwright, an actor and an amateur chef. He lives in Austin, Texas with his family.
For more information, visit Marshall’s website at www.mrmaresca.com.

Reviews

[Shelley]

*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Fantasy
*Rating* 4.0

*Thoughts*

The Quarrygate Gambit is the fourth installment in author Marshall Ryan Maresca's The Streets of Maradaine series. After having thwarted some of the forces responsible for ruining their lives, reformed thieves Asti and Verci Rynax and the rest of the Holver Alley Crew had mostly settled back into sedate lives as upright citizens of Maradaine. But on the day they are ready to celebrate dual engagements of friends, they are suddenly arrested, and charged with numerous charges.

*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*

https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...

[Jacey]

Asti and Verci Rynax and friends have been taken into custody under false names with no legal charge. While they work out how to escape, their friends/wife/potential lover are given a job by Josie Holt, which they can’t possibly achieve – but it’s their only chance to get Josie’s help to rescue the ‘boys.’ While this is happening Asti and Verci and their friends have been split up in Quarrygate prison, still not knowing why they are there. It turns out that there is a deeper plot and Asti is inveigled into leading a team of dubious criminals to track down enemies of the state. Unfortunately the real villain of the piece is even nastier than the group they were sent after. This is twisty and gripping. Unfortunately the Maradaine novels (which I love) are not very easy to get hold of in the UK for reading on Kindle, so I’ve only read #1 (The Holver Alley Crew) and this is #4, so I’m missing the backstories of some of the characters. It didn’t spoil it for me because Maresca covers the essentials, but I do like to read a series in order. (Some of them now appear to be on audiobook only.) Asti and Verci are great characters, brought up by an unashamedly criminally clever father they have been well trained in the arts of subterfuge ad they can hold their own in any criminal company. Verci is particularly talented at gadget-making (which comes in very handy in this book). Asti, though lethal, has been broken by torture in his former career as a spy. Sometimes he can barely hold it together, knowing that if he lets that other Asti loose there will be terrible consequences. Both men are vulnerable in different ways, which makes for very interesting reading. Highly recommended, but start from the beginning of the sequence if you can.

[Rebecca]

I admit, I didn’t even read the synopsis for this before accepting the review copy that was offered. I enjoy the Maradaine books so thoroughly that I don’t need to - the quality and entertainment value never wavers, plus I knew this featured Asti, Verci, and the gang and they're some of my favorites. The Quarrygate Gambit is somewhat different from previous books in that it switches main POVs throughout to show what’s happening to the characters who have been split up and all the events are happening more or less simultaneously. After the initial action, Raych Rynax gets a section, Asti gets a section, and Verci gets a section. It was unexpected (because you know, I didn't read the synopsis) and quite cool!

As this is now the fourth book in the Streets of Maradaine series, I’ve already shared my love for this particular cast of characters that are basically an unorthodox family unit. Their bravery, loyalty, and general shenanigans always make for an interesting read. I’m sure I could re-iterate all my praise, but you would be better served by checking out my review for The Holver Alley Crew, where their stories began.

This time around, the Rynax brothers and numerous other members of the Holver Alley Crew have been rounded up and thrown into Quarrygate prison under charges of terrorism. Instead of immediately focusing on their assessment of this bizarre and frankly alarming situation, the scene cuts to Raych. She, Jhoqull, Kimber, and Helene put their heads together but when legal methods get them nowhere, they turn to Josie who can help but not without a price. This is the first of three heists (or heist-adjacent) misadventures that occur during the course of The Quarrygate Gambit. Verci is doing what he can to take care of the crew that remained with him in prison, but it’s a rough place with rougher punishments. Asti and Almer Cort have the truly interesting stuff going on because Druth Intelligence can never truly let Asti go. They’ve been pulled into a strange crew with the worst of Quarrygate and set on a mission that has them up against a familiar enemy. I shan’t spoil that as it was quite a surprising turn and felt almost like the evil Avengers uniting. 

I really enjoyed this and it was a fine way to spend my free time for a couple days because I really devoured this. I loved that Raych and the other women got their chance to shine and show off their myriad skills and I also loved Asti’s segment, which was both exciting and extremely dangerous. Maresca also throws in some fear, heartbreak, triumph, and moments of tenderness and leaves readers with one hell of a story.

[Annie]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

The Quarrygate Gambit is the 4th Streets of Maradaine tie-in adventure by prolific fantasist Marshall Ryan Maresca. Released 8th Nov 2022 by DAW, it's 390 pages and is available in ebook format. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an engaging and immersive high + urban fantasy mashup. The action driven plot never stops and despite the healthy page count, it is a fast read. The characterizations are detailed and the background world building is *massive* (many many thousands of pages of allied fiction and a huge cast of characters). Much of this book revisits previous characters and due to interrelationships and background histories (and complex settings), it doesn't work very well as a standalone work.

Due to the number of distinct works (spread over 4+ series) this would be a great choice for a massive binge / buddy read. The quality of the writing is high and the dialogue is rapid fire and often blackly humorous and sarcastic.

Four stars, nonstop action, magic and excitement; four and a half for current fans of the author.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

[Josh]

My favorite series of the sequence is the Streets. Fantasy Ocean's 11 is right up my alley, and I absolutely love the cast that make up the crew here. The Rynax Brothers are awesome characters: clever, loyal, resourceful, ruthless when need be, but still decent people at heart. Helene has grown so much over these books to be an outstanding character, and Mila, Almer, and all the rest are people I want to know more about, see them work and can't wait to read about them again.

But this book gives us Raych! Verci's loyal and delightful baker of a wife gets to really step forward and step into the family business when that bastard Grieson decides it's time to turn this series into the Dirty Dozen and make the Rynax Family sit at the heart of it. Yes, please. I'm in.

It's another triumph in a great series that I can happily revisit at any time. Smart, vicious, occasionally brutal, but also clever and funny. Seeing Raych have to be a Rynax and assemble her own crew (this is kind of the Ocean's 8 book) is awesome, even if she hates every minute of it and wants nothing more than to go back and raise her son and bake and live a quiet life.

Give me Book 5, please. Now.

[Nathan Woll]

It's hard to give this a 3. I love Maresca and Maradaine but this one just was too ambitious and failed to deliver.

Spoilers ahead:

The idea of Raych and Mila and Helene pulling off a job without the guys is super interesting. Great idea for a book.

The idea of a Maradaine suicide squad with some cameos of past villains and Asti forced to participate is fantastic. Great idea for a book.

But the combination just failed miserably.

The heist was fun and great to read but ultimately completely unnecessary and pointless.

The suicide squad was even more fun to read yet was crazy underdeveloped. The setup was so elaborate for no reason. Just threaten someone and make Asti be on the suicide squad. The only reason the whole convoluted plan was used was just to set up the heist.
Then the major villain is revealed and is easily captured (without Dayne even being there mind you, despite that being his big goal). Not to mention there is zero attempt to resolve the story and figure out the symphony and cult stuff.

Grieson and Pilsen dying were good. Griesen needed to pay for being so stupid and Pilsen's character had outgrown his usefulness.

It was almost a 2, but I really did enjoy parts of the book very much.

[Kathy]

Another excellent book in the Maradaine world! This one reads like three interconnected novellas: First- Ocean's Eight-or a heist with women; second-a prison escape movie; and third-Suicide Squad fantasy world style. All of them are gripping reads that you can't put down, but I was especially here for the Ocean's Eight story. Yay! More female heroes!

It constantly amazes me that this series (or rather four interconnected series) are not more well known. Maresca has created this extremely well-thought out creative fantasy world and keeps producing consistently good works in it. (The consistently here is the key, as anyone who follows authors who write the same thing for a long time will attest.) If you haven't picked up his works, give it a try. The first one is The Thorn of Dentonhill-which is best described as Spiderman fantasy style.

[Vic]

The novel starts with the men being arrested for a crime, they did not commit. The girls have to come together and figure out a way to get them out of Quarrygate.
This book is book from multiple perspectives Raych, Asti, and Verci.
The book took a while to get into the action of the storyline. Once it started it was entertaining to read starting with the women’s plan. It continues to stay interesting until the end of the book so it’s worth getting through the slower part at the beginning.
The ending is a perfect way to want the reader to get their hands on the next book to see how this series is going to end!

[Chris]

*copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*

I'm back, hand-selling the Maradaine Saga again. This sprawling epic is like the MCU of fantasy. Multiple different characters, all in the same setting, crossing paths, causing problems, solving problems, and occasionally uniting to take down the greater evils. There's a subseries for everyone - tales of vigilante justice, murder mysteries, heists. This is a story focused on the latter, via the Rynax brothers, Asti and Verci. Well, and this time, in The Quarrygate Gambit, with more than a little help from the women in their lives.

Because oh boy, have Asti and Verci got themselves into trouble. They've been packed off to Quarrygate, a prison that makes it a coin flip whether you'll ever see the outside again. And to add insult to injury, it wasn't even their own actions that got them there. Now they need to try and break out of maximum security, and find out whoi put them there and why - and then express some robust opinions on that topic. In parallel, Verci's wife, Raych, is putting together an unlikely band to figure out what happened to Verci, and perform a heist to pay for the help they need to pull him out of Quarrygate - if his own escape doesn't happen first.

That sounds like a lot, and you know what, it is. This is a book which isn't afraid to hit the ground at pace. The characters are moving fast enough that they don't often have time to catch their breath. The audience, likewise, is pulled along in their wake, "just one more page" turning into the wee hours of the morning. I want to take a moment to shout out the really tight story, which flips between viewpoints fluidly, and doesn't waste time on ten words where one will do. It pulls you in with some wonderfully crafted hooks, then won't let go; everything is connected, and details feed back into the larger story in a way that rewards close attention.

And the world, oh the world remains as meticulously planned and lavishly described as ever. Quarrygate is a hell, level on level on level of hard doors and harder men. Criminals of all stripes recidivists, alchemists, rogue mages, con-men, the occasional political. They're here, in between walls designed ot stop them causing any more trouble. The guards, with hard stares and brutally efficient security measures, are as much people as their charges. But the prison, the prison has a soul all its own, one built on years of screams in the dark, pleas of innocence and guilt, an institution grown uncaring in its lack of grace. It feels, not to put too fine a point on it, like a prison, like a place where you definitely don't want to end up. And in its institutional craftings, in its injustices unthinking, in its lights out times and checkpoints and deeper, quieter, deadlier sub-levels there's an echo of our own lives, too. In the way the institution eats people and disgorges them when it pleases, yes, that too. We can see an echo in ourselves. It's a wonderful bit of world-building.

It's shared by the wonderfully lavish art gallery and shopping areas that Raych and her team visit for their heist. Where Quarrygate is bare stone, these are ornate draperies and statuettes. Brutal guards are replaced with obsequious but hard-eyed security. Cell doors with drop-bars and alarms , prisoners with patrons. There's a fascinating duality here, that suggests these are two sides to the same coin, the sharper shards of prison life peeking through the velvet ropes. The cost bourne to let artists and artistes live uncomplicated lives. But anyway. These rich towers and their inhabitants are just as much institutions as Quarrygate, but with a shinier coat of paint; and the glitz and the glam dazzles evcn as it doesn't distract from the riches within.

We've talked about the Rynax brothers at length before, and what I've said there holds true again. They're smart, hard men, trying to put things behind them, put damage and risk behind them and live normal lives. But trouble just keeps on finding them. Watching them fight their pasts and their demons to win through remains a joy; but the unexpected star of the book is Raych, who takes the centre stage this time, not just a Rynax supporting spouse, but the mastermind behind a heist, put together with clockwork precision and a cool skill and ruthlessness her husband might envy. Raych fights out of love, and with that, all things are possible. Seeing her take steps to do what she feels must be done, finding things inside herself that she hasn't needed before, resources and talents dug up anew, it's a genuinely joyful experience. These are people, not players on a stage, their flawed humanity brought to bear to mirror our own.

Which is to say, it's a bloody good book. Greta characterisation. Great world-building. And prison breaks and heists and sword fights and espionage and double crosses and triple crosses and skulduggery and magic and, you know, general chaos. All that good stuff. Any Maradaine fan owes it to themselves to read this one, and if you're not a Maradaine fan, you should be.

[Tinkingbell]

I've been waiting for this to be released in Australia for so long - even to annoying the author about it! Finally got it in my hot little hands, and while I hated waiting, it is definitely worth it. Another multi layered twisty story of the Streets with the Rynax brothers.

Great story, well told and well developed characters. I am really looking forward to the next, because although many loose ends are tied up, we have a cliffhangers and teasers for the next!

[Annarella]

First book I read in this series and found it entertating. It's well plotted and kept me hooked.
I liked the characters and the world building.
It can be read as a stand alone but i want to read the rest of the series to appreciate this world.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

[Alysa H.]

Review ASAP.

[Noah]

Marshall Ryan Maresca writes a crew you desperately want to join.

[Corey]

A heist, but also a prison break, but also a suicide squad! Of all the characters in Maradaine, I love the Holver Alley Crew the most, and this book is a perfect exemplar as to why.

[Aldora]

Enjoyed the multiple POVs and seeing some old faces. Asti and Verci will always be some of my favourites. Can't wait for the next one.