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The Streets of Maradaine #3
The Fenmere Job
Mixing urban and high fantasy, the third Streets of Maradaine novel follows the crew of outlaws led by the Rynax brothers as they struggle to save Holver Alley from a new threat.
An uneasy calm has filled the neighborhood of North Seleth, as the survivors of the Holver Alley fire return to normal, honest lives. But Asti and Verci Rynax and the rest of the Holver Alley Crew know the peace won't last. Josie Holt, once an ally to the Rynaxes, is now working her own agenda with the mage circle that has moved into the neighborhood.
Asti learns that Josie plans to smuggle the drug efhân through North Seleth, which can only mean she is in league with the Fenmere cartel. The Rynax brothers want to wait for the right moment to strike at Josie, but they and the rest of the crew agree that they have to stop the efhân shipment, keep the drugs out of their neighborhood, and stop Fenmere from getting a toehold on the neighborhood.
One more problem: The Thorn. The vigilante from Fenmere's part of town has come to North Seleth, looking to burn Fenmere's whole empire down to ashes. When the Thorn's strike collides with the crew's operation, the delicate peace in the neighborhood crumbles, and an all-out war between mages, gangs, thieves, and the Thorn might fill the streets of Maradaine.
An uneasy calm has filled the neighborhood of North Seleth, as the survivors of the Holver Alley fire return to normal, honest lives. But Asti and Verci Rynax and the rest of the Holver Alley Crew know the peace won't last. Josie Holt, once an ally to the Rynaxes, is now working her own agenda with the mage circle that has moved into the neighborhood.
Asti learns that Josie plans to smuggle the drug efhân through North Seleth, which can only mean she is in league with the Fenmere cartel. The Rynax brothers want to wait for the right moment to strike at Josie, but they and the rest of the crew agree that they have to stop the efhân shipment, keep the drugs out of their neighborhood, and stop Fenmere from getting a toehold on the neighborhood.
One more problem: The Thorn. The vigilante from Fenmere's part of town has come to North Seleth, looking to burn Fenmere's whole empire down to ashes. When the Thorn's strike collides with the crew's operation, the delicate peace in the neighborhood crumbles, and an all-out war between mages, gangs, thieves, and the Thorn might fill the streets of Maradaine.
382 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 25, 2020
12 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
About the author
Marshall Ryan Maresca
23 books344 followersMarshall 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.
For more information, visit Marshall’s website at www.mrmaresca.com.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 27, 2020
*copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*
The Fenmere Job is the latest in Marshall Ryan Maresca’s expansive Maradaine sequence. A sequel to Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe, which I said a lot of very nice things about a little while ago, it focuses on the further adventures of the Rynax brothers. Thieves, conmen, killers, and, surprisingly, general good sorts. This time around, the Rynaxes and their crew of loveable miscreants are doing their best to make an honest living – making bread, selling cheese, and staying out of trouble. It can’t last, of course, and they’re swiftly up to their necks in more trouble than ever. From there it’s a rip-roaring ride into an adventure involving drug smugglers, sinister conspiracies, mysterious allies, explosive magery, and some good old fashioned con games.
As usual, I need to take a minute and talk about the setting. Maradaine is a city at the centre of a federated kingdom, a melting pot where various ethnicities, religions, political groups and nationalities all come together in the hope of making a good life – or at least making some money. By now, the teeming streets of the city are an old friend, the blend of river and spice and sweat that marks out the Rynax’s home neighbourhood of North Seleth strangely familiar. The gang rivalries in street with no police presence have the authenticity of long standing, and the patina of the neighbourhoods is gently established. Passers by are just trying to get to their job on the docks, or open their small business, and you can see the character of a neighbourhood on the edge of something new. Whether that’s a descent back into gang warfare and decay, or a shift toward more gentility and gentrification Is another matter. But I’ll say this – North Seleth lives and breathes as much as its characters do, a vividly imagined backdrop for its citizens to live and work and scheme and fight and, yes, die in.
Which brings us to the Rynax brothers. I love these two. Asti, the fighter, the killer, the man fighting desperately to put aside the traumatic pieces of a shattered past, is driven by demons he can’t seem to exorcise. His pain is virulent and fierce, and looking through his eyes you can see that he’s holding himself together with both hands. While, also, yes, planning complicated heists and trickery and the odd on-the-spot escape plan. But there’ real emotional depth here, and growth, as Asti tries to come to terms with who he is now. This does, admittedly, have a tendency to display as a complex for sacrificing himself to save his friend, the ones he wants to have the normal life he feels he can never have. Though they tend to swiftly snap him out of it, this drive, this desire, this condition – it keeps him real to us. Asti isn’t just his pain, but also his love for his friends and his family, his courage and general decency. He’s a person, and we live his tragedies as much as his triumphs.
And then there’s Verci. Inventor, savant inventor and family man. Verci has a penchant for elaborate traps, and exciting gadgets with the potential to explode, or spray acid, or vent poisonous gas. Or maybe this time it’s a lock which doesn’t use a key, but some combination of spinning tumblers. Who knows? In his field, he’s as brilliant as Asti, if not quite as fluid-thinking on his feet. But his relationship with his wife grounds him; their day to day gentle affection, and the tension that arises when he steps off the straight path to respectability every so often in aid of a good cause, are an absolute delight. They’re instantly recognisable, emotionally honest, relatable, and real. Twinned with Verci’s obvious love for his brother, and deep affection for the band of good-hearted scoundrels they’ve put together, it gives the story a real emotional heart, one that makes us care about the brothers, about their crew, and about their goals.
The crew are multifarious, and growing outward in their own ways. Some are getting an education, and thinking about leaving the crew and crime life of the neighbourhood behind. Others are finding romance in unexpected places, or finally getting the chance to do what they’ve always wanted for themselves. There’s a sense that the crew, like the neighbourhood, is on the cusp of something new, creating the wave of potential but not yet quite sure which way it’ll break. Still, all your old friends are here. I have a particular soft spot for Helene, expert sharpshooter and now successful charcuterie owner, and her brother Julien, who can throw men around like rag dolls, but really just wants to talk to customers about the different kinds of cheese. But they’re all here – faces, spotters, fast talkers, muscle, wonder-workers. You’ll know them all, and if you have a favourite, I’m sure you’ll be as delighted to see them as I was.
It’s also worth mentioning the Thorn, who has a series of his own in the Maradaine univesre. He pops up here, in this grimier world of street crime and neighbourhood grudges, and adds a dash of colour. Watching the not-entirely-honest crew from Holver Alley getting to grips with a vigilante who has a rather stricter interpretation of the law than they do, as well as magical powers and a smart mouth, is a delight, and arguably worth the price of admission on its own. I won’t go into detail for the sake of spoiler, but the sections with the Thorn involved were a great deal of fun to read.
The story is, to sum up, a page turner. It’s filled with the trademark Rynax plans, which have a tendency to work like clockwork, right up until the point where they spring a gear, and everything falls into chaos. It has duels, and some genuinely impressive magic. It has narrative tension drawn as taut as a garotte, as well as revelations which will make you gasp in delighted surprise (well, I did, anyway!). It’s a con game, and a fight for survival, and a crime story, and a tale of a family looking out for its neighbours, and I devoured it whole over the course of an evening, utterly unwilling to put it down. I suspect, if you’re this deep into the world of Maradaine, you’ll feel the same way. This one is great, fellow fans of Maradaine. It’s absolutely worth your time, and I encourage you to stop reading this review, and go pick up a coy right away.
The Fenmere Job is the latest in Marshall Ryan Maresca’s expansive Maradaine sequence. A sequel to Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe, which I said a lot of very nice things about a little while ago, it focuses on the further adventures of the Rynax brothers. Thieves, conmen, killers, and, surprisingly, general good sorts. This time around, the Rynaxes and their crew of loveable miscreants are doing their best to make an honest living – making bread, selling cheese, and staying out of trouble. It can’t last, of course, and they’re swiftly up to their necks in more trouble than ever. From there it’s a rip-roaring ride into an adventure involving drug smugglers, sinister conspiracies, mysterious allies, explosive magery, and some good old fashioned con games.
As usual, I need to take a minute and talk about the setting. Maradaine is a city at the centre of a federated kingdom, a melting pot where various ethnicities, religions, political groups and nationalities all come together in the hope of making a good life – or at least making some money. By now, the teeming streets of the city are an old friend, the blend of river and spice and sweat that marks out the Rynax’s home neighbourhood of North Seleth strangely familiar. The gang rivalries in street with no police presence have the authenticity of long standing, and the patina of the neighbourhoods is gently established. Passers by are just trying to get to their job on the docks, or open their small business, and you can see the character of a neighbourhood on the edge of something new. Whether that’s a descent back into gang warfare and decay, or a shift toward more gentility and gentrification Is another matter. But I’ll say this – North Seleth lives and breathes as much as its characters do, a vividly imagined backdrop for its citizens to live and work and scheme and fight and, yes, die in.
Which brings us to the Rynax brothers. I love these two. Asti, the fighter, the killer, the man fighting desperately to put aside the traumatic pieces of a shattered past, is driven by demons he can’t seem to exorcise. His pain is virulent and fierce, and looking through his eyes you can see that he’s holding himself together with both hands. While, also, yes, planning complicated heists and trickery and the odd on-the-spot escape plan. But there’ real emotional depth here, and growth, as Asti tries to come to terms with who he is now. This does, admittedly, have a tendency to display as a complex for sacrificing himself to save his friend, the ones he wants to have the normal life he feels he can never have. Though they tend to swiftly snap him out of it, this drive, this desire, this condition – it keeps him real to us. Asti isn’t just his pain, but also his love for his friends and his family, his courage and general decency. He’s a person, and we live his tragedies as much as his triumphs.
And then there’s Verci. Inventor, savant inventor and family man. Verci has a penchant for elaborate traps, and exciting gadgets with the potential to explode, or spray acid, or vent poisonous gas. Or maybe this time it’s a lock which doesn’t use a key, but some combination of spinning tumblers. Who knows? In his field, he’s as brilliant as Asti, if not quite as fluid-thinking on his feet. But his relationship with his wife grounds him; their day to day gentle affection, and the tension that arises when he steps off the straight path to respectability every so often in aid of a good cause, are an absolute delight. They’re instantly recognisable, emotionally honest, relatable, and real. Twinned with Verci’s obvious love for his brother, and deep affection for the band of good-hearted scoundrels they’ve put together, it gives the story a real emotional heart, one that makes us care about the brothers, about their crew, and about their goals.
The crew are multifarious, and growing outward in their own ways. Some are getting an education, and thinking about leaving the crew and crime life of the neighbourhood behind. Others are finding romance in unexpected places, or finally getting the chance to do what they’ve always wanted for themselves. There’s a sense that the crew, like the neighbourhood, is on the cusp of something new, creating the wave of potential but not yet quite sure which way it’ll break. Still, all your old friends are here. I have a particular soft spot for Helene, expert sharpshooter and now successful charcuterie owner, and her brother Julien, who can throw men around like rag dolls, but really just wants to talk to customers about the different kinds of cheese. But they’re all here – faces, spotters, fast talkers, muscle, wonder-workers. You’ll know them all, and if you have a favourite, I’m sure you’ll be as delighted to see them as I was.
It’s also worth mentioning the Thorn, who has a series of his own in the Maradaine univesre. He pops up here, in this grimier world of street crime and neighbourhood grudges, and adds a dash of colour. Watching the not-entirely-honest crew from Holver Alley getting to grips with a vigilante who has a rather stricter interpretation of the law than they do, as well as magical powers and a smart mouth, is a delight, and arguably worth the price of admission on its own. I won’t go into detail for the sake of spoiler, but the sections with the Thorn involved were a great deal of fun to read.
The story is, to sum up, a page turner. It’s filled with the trademark Rynax plans, which have a tendency to work like clockwork, right up until the point where they spring a gear, and everything falls into chaos. It has duels, and some genuinely impressive magic. It has narrative tension drawn as taut as a garotte, as well as revelations which will make you gasp in delighted surprise (well, I did, anyway!). It’s a con game, and a fight for survival, and a crime story, and a tale of a family looking out for its neighbours, and I devoured it whole over the course of an evening, utterly unwilling to put it down. I suspect, if you’re this deep into the world of Maradaine, you’ll feel the same way. This one is great, fellow fans of Maradaine. It’s absolutely worth your time, and I encourage you to stop reading this review, and go pick up a coy right away.
February 19, 2020
*Source* Publisher
*Genre* Fantasy
*Rating* 4.0
*Thoughts*
The Fenmere Job is the third installment in author Marshall Ryan Maresca's Streets of Maradaine series. It has been several months of peace for the residents of North Seleth after a fire tore through Seleth causing many deaths and untold damage that can never be repaired or replaced. The Holver Alley crew (Asti & Verci Rynax, Helene Kesser, Julien, Mila Kimber, Kennith, & Almer) have a sort of peace agreement with Josie Holt, the crime queen of Seleth. They don't mess with her operations, she leaves them alone. For the crew itself, things are becoming interesting.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
*Genre* Fantasy
*Rating* 4.0
*Thoughts*
The Fenmere Job is the third installment in author Marshall Ryan Maresca's Streets of Maradaine series. It has been several months of peace for the residents of North Seleth after a fire tore through Seleth causing many deaths and untold damage that can never be repaired or replaced. The Holver Alley crew (Asti & Verci Rynax, Helene Kesser, Julien, Mila Kimber, Kennith, & Almer) have a sort of peace agreement with Josie Holt, the crime queen of Seleth. They don't mess with her operations, she leaves them alone. For the crew itself, things are becoming interesting.
*Full Review @ Gizmos Reviews*
https://gizmosreviews.blogspot.com/20...
December 4, 2019
I was lucky enough to get an advanced reader copy and oh boy this one is great! We see the return of the Holver Alley Crew and this time they are joined by the Thorn of Dentonhill. This book never slows down. You start with this fun "pass the point of view" scene where we follow multiple characters to complete a scene and from there it just gets going. The stakes are high this time with even the noncombatants seeing some action. Maresca pulls a couple of fun trope subversions (which I won't spoil here because they'd give away the scene) and even fits in a side romance plot which is my new favorite ship of the series. There's action, intrigue, and a lot of moving pieces in this one. Once the book hits about the halfway point, there is NO SLOWING DOWN. Every amps up until a fantastic climax, and as usual, there's a small tease at what's coming next in the series. If you haven't started the Maradaine novels yet, I recommend picking them up. You only have till February 25th and you don't want to miss this one!
March 2, 2020
Another cracking good read from Maresca! The heist crew from Holver Alley is back, defending their territory -- and their world is colliding with the thread that started the whole Maradaine saga, that of the Thorn of Dentonhill. Maresca does marvelous work not only keeping track of so many moving pieces in a way the reader can follow, but also making you care about so many different characters. It makes for heart-pounding terror when they're in peril -- which they are, a lot, as this book is as action-packed as all the others. I was kept awake late into the night, needing to be assured that my faves were gonna make it through. I am so excited to see everything come to a head in The People of the City later this year!
March 3, 2020
I literally giggled out loud with anticipation at several points.
March 30, 2020
A definite triumph. This series concludes in rambunctious fashion as Maresca ties another one of his interlocking threads into the mix. Bringing in the Thorn makes a tremendous amount of sense (it is called The Fenmere Job, after all), but there's a risk in throwing Fantasy Batman into what is still supposed to be a story about the ad hoc street gang the Rynax Brothers have put together to get revenge for getting burned out of Holver Alley. A character like that can easily eat the entire plot, but Maresca deftly weaves the Thorn in and out of the scam, making him an unlikely ally, a problematic wildcard, and an excellent counter to the mages that have come into play.
It's still primarily Asti & Verci's story, which I'm more than fine with: they're great characters. Both of them long in some ways for a straight life, but neither really thinks they can get it. Asti doesn't think he deserves one because he's too broken, and Verci (not wrongly) knows they still have a target on their backs that could pop up at any time. It's interesting to see Verci's temper come to the fore in this book too; he and Asti are similar in many ways, and he can be just as scary.
Helene and Mila get excellent focuses as well and remain critical members of the crew. Mila is definitely a junior schemer, soaking up all the illicit knowledge she can grab from Asti in particular but also from every other member of the gang. Maresca does a nice job showing her desire to move on with a new life at university, but also the fears of moving on and regrets for things left behind. I could read an entire Mila book.
While this wraps things a bit for the Streets crew, there's still plenty left for these characters and I hope Maresca comes back around with them again.
It's still primarily Asti & Verci's story, which I'm more than fine with: they're great characters. Both of them long in some ways for a straight life, but neither really thinks they can get it. Asti doesn't think he deserves one because he's too broken, and Verci (not wrongly) knows they still have a target on their backs that could pop up at any time. It's interesting to see Verci's temper come to the fore in this book too; he and Asti are similar in many ways, and he can be just as scary.
Helene and Mila get excellent focuses as well and remain critical members of the crew. Mila is definitely a junior schemer, soaking up all the illicit knowledge she can grab from Asti in particular but also from every other member of the gang. Maresca does a nice job showing her desire to move on with a new life at university, but also the fears of moving on and regrets for things left behind. I could read an entire Mila book.
While this wraps things a bit for the Streets crew, there's still plenty left for these characters and I hope Maresca comes back around with them again.
April 16, 2025
Maresca has created a complex world filled with intrigue, magic, crime and politics centered upon the city of Maradaine where he has several series going on. This is in the series of the Streets of Maradaine that centers on a group of Holver Alley. Now this is the first I have read in this series so while I came to understand what was going on I was a bit lost because there are a number of characters and this follows a continuing storyline. Plus, this book intersects with another series featuring Thorn, a vigilante trying to clear the city of a particularly nasty drug. It definitely would have helped if I had read the books earlier in the series.
Saying all that, I did enjoy the book and it is easy to tell that there is a lot more to come with more secrets revealed and wrinkles to be exposed. I also can see that this series and the one featuring Thorn will probably crossover again.
Saying all that, I did enjoy the book and it is easy to tell that there is a lot more to come with more secrets revealed and wrinkles to be exposed. I also can see that this series and the one featuring Thorn will probably crossover again.
April 7, 2020
At this rate I'm going to blow through my Goodreads challenge target before the summer.
The Fenmere Job continues Maresca's light sword and sorcery tribute to the art of the con. I will admit that I don't read all of his inter-connected books, I started on the Thorn (superheros) but haven't continued with it, I haven't followed up on his constabulary (cops and robbers) and haven't even started his shield to state what genre it is... but this series is still readable without all that... and I have to say, it was good light fun which is what I'm looking for.
The Fenmere Job continues Maresca's light sword and sorcery tribute to the art of the con. I will admit that I don't read all of his inter-connected books, I started on the Thorn (superheros) but haven't continued with it, I haven't followed up on his constabulary (cops and robbers) and haven't even started his shield to state what genre it is... but this series is still readable without all that... and I have to say, it was good light fun which is what I'm looking for.
June 2, 2020
Definitely the most fast-paced in the series so far, maybe a little too much. The crossover was nice, and the overall plot is basically fully revealed now. I thought Mila was around 15 or 16 so her scenes felt weird this book. Maybe I'm remembering her age wrong. It also feels like there's too many loose threads to tie up with only one book left in the series, so I have some trepidation about that.
May 16, 2020
Another thrilling installment in the Holver Alley Crew series! I loved that they teamed up with the Thorn (my favorite character) from the author's first book set in the same world of Maradine.
I also loved how Verci's wife took more of an active role in this one.
I can't wait to read the next book and see how everything ties together.
I also loved how Verci's wife took more of an active role in this one.
I can't wait to read the next book and see how everything ties together.
June 21, 2020
I’ll be genuinely sorry to finish the last book this author writes in this world. It’s been such good fun to read everything.
May 20, 2021
really enjoying this series and especially the character of Mila. The new characters in this installment were great!
July 4, 2021
This book started to get a bit overstuffed with references to previous books, but it's nice to see the stories coming together.
May 27, 2020
One of the best Maradaine novels for sure. Great heist, great tie-ins with the other books. I love what happens with all of the characters here, as there are many developments that feel organic. Verci turns a corner in his sense of responsibility towards his wife and son, Mila is on her way to University, which allows for some great connections to the Thorn plotline without the latter being all about magical superheroes. From the mains on down, heck, even Lian’s husband gets a moment or two.
Well done! I can’t wait to see how this will all come together as the larger series comes to a close.
** I received a Review Copy of this book via NetGalley **
Well done! I can’t wait to see how this will all come together as the larger series comes to a close.
** I received a Review Copy of this book via NetGalley **
March 2, 2020
First off, why does goodreads make it so hard to review in their app? Second off, I JUST READ THE SYNOPSIS FOR THIS ON MARESCA'S WEBSITE AND I'M SO EXCITED THAT THE THORN IS GONNA BE IN THIS ONE!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I CANT WAIT!!! 😭 Luckily, I still have Way of the Shield to get through and I just got A Parliament of Bodies in the mail. BUT I WANT THIS ONE!!!!
February 5, 2023
More capers, and another popcorn-like read. I think it's going to be very hard for the last book in these interconnected series to wrap things up properly and explain what the heck all the plots are, but I am looking forward to seeing if it pulls it off.
November 17, 2020
Maresca starts to bring his various series protagonists together to foil plots against Maradaine.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews