Fall of the Argosi

Argosi trilogy #2

by Sebastien de Castell

A brilliant story of adventure, wit, and philosophy from the origins of the Spellslinger series to enrapture devotees as well as newcomers alike.

New to the ways of the Argosi, the tribe of wandering philosophers who seek to defeat evil by wit and guile, Ferius Parfax encounters a hideous plague—the Red Scream. Highly contagious, caught by the hearing of a deadly verse, it turns its victims into mindless monsters that destroy all human life they come into contact with. With the help of a deaf boy whom she has saved from two horrifying victims of the plague, she sets out to find the source of the Red Scream and overcome its terrifying power. Along the way she is joined by another Argosi, Rosie, who purports to be so much wiser and more adept than Ferius, but who turns out to have her own dark secrets.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Audiobook, Fiction, LGBT, High Fantasy, Magic

355 pages, Paperback

First published October 14, 2021

About the author

Hi Folks!

My eighteenth novel, MALEVOLENT EIGHT is now available. Cade Ombra and his misfit band of mercenary war mages are determined to prevent a cataclysmic war between supernatural beings. But peace at any price might mean killing an awful lot of people. The Malevolent Seven might be heroes, but they'll be the good guys . . .

My seventeenth novel is titled PLAY OF SHADOWS. A swashbuckling fantasy set in the world of mystical theatre where exalted actors can channel the spirits of the historical figures they portray on stage. But Damelas Chademantaigne seems to be summoning the spirit of a notorious villain whose secrets could unleash a civil war!

My sixteenth novel is CRUCIBLE OF CHAOS. Estevar Borros is my favourite swashbuckling investigator of the supernatural, so come investigate alongside him and his dauntless mule, Imperious inside a mysterious abbey where the gods seem to be driving the monks mad!

My fifteenth novel is FATE OF THE ARGOSI. The Argosi series is one of my favourites and I hope you'll come along for Ferius Parfax's adventures!

You can get a pair of free stories here.

The best way to stay up to date is at www.decastell.com, but I'm also on that Facebook thing. Also that Twitter thing. One day I'll even remember to get on that Instagram thing.

As to who I am? Well . . .

Sebastien de Castell had just finished a degree in Archaeology when he started work on his first dig. Four hours later he realized how much he actually hated archaeology and left to pursue a very focused career as a musician, ombudsman, interaction designer, fight choreographer, teacher, project manager, actor, and product strategist. His only defence against the charge of unbridled dilettantism is that he genuinely likes doing these things and that, in one way or another, each of these fields plays a role in his writing. He sternly resists the accusation of being a Renaissance Man in the hopes that more people will label him that way.

Sebastien's acclaimed swashbuckling fantasy series, The Greatcoats. was shortlisted for both the 2014 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy. the Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Debut, the Prix Imaginales for Best Foreign Work, and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His YA fantasy series, Spellslinger, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and is published in more than a dozen languages.

Sebastien lives in Vancouver, Canada with his lovely wife and two belligerent cats. You can reach him at www.decastell.com

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a gifted copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review as part of the book tour hosted by Kaleidoscopic book tours.

Fall of the Argosi is the second book in the origins spin off from the Spellslinger series by Sebastien De Castell and I flew through this book in 24 hours - I could not put it down!
In this book we follow Ferius Parfax on her journey. Ferius is one of the main characters from the Spellslingerseries and I'm enjoying learning about her and her journey so much. I've even bought Spellslinger to read after this book as I'm hooked!
We follow Ferius through a plague called the Scarlet Verses which destroys your humanity and releases something called the Red Screem. This is not a lighthearted series of events and is quite graphically gruesome I places. This book is quite dark in comparison to Rise of the Argosi and Ferius faces even more devastating times.
I love the humour within this series so much! The writing style makes me feel that I'm there with these characters and would make an amazing series of films! (think Quentin Tarentino style).
My heart breaks for Ferius on so many occasions. This series is absolutely amazing and if you've not started it yet - what are you waiting for!!!

[Bec (becklebooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars!

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

“About three miles back I saw it. A truly massive serpent, winding its way down the path towards us, its crimson scales composed of dozens upon dozens of red habits, the glittering lines between them formed by lattices of slender silver chains. The nuns were coming for us.”

Ferius Parfax is 17 now, and roaming again when she encounters 9 year old Binta. He is deaf, mute and running for his life from monsters created by a plague called the Red Scream. This is the second book of a trilogy, and you definitely need to read the first book before reading this one.

This book has a lot of Argosi philosophizing, a creepy villain and some clever misdirection. It was just as enjoyable as the first book, but left me a little sad. 4.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a terrific read- just as compelling as the others in this fabulous must-read fantasy series. There is still the presence of de Castell’s humour but to mind this and the previous Argosi books have been slightly darker. The whole Argosi path is very cleverly conceived. I thought I would miss the presence of Kelley and squirrel cat, but this wasn’t the case. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

l wanted to like this book as much as the previous Spellslinger books l've read. But due to a lot of drudgery through the middle of the book I just didn't.

Ferius is wandering again, due to something that happened but doesn't get explained until later in the book. She encountered a mind plague that turns its victims into feral murderous beasts.

The rest of the book is a combo search for what or who is behind it and avoiding more of the victims.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark and brilliant. Fergus is just a great character

[Markéta Forejtová · Rating 4 out of 5]

YES! Jak mě první díl o Ferius totálně zklamal, tohle mě totálně nadchlo!
Všechno, co de Castell umí, tady umí fakt skvěle: postavy, vztahy, budování světa, zápletky, citáty a zajímavý myšlenky. Tahle kniha má všechno a rozhodně je minimálně stejně dobrá jako moje oblíbený díly Divotvůrce. Tleskám.
4,5/5*

[Miriam Michalak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody loved this! Ferius Parfax was a favourite character of mine from Spellslinger, adore her even more now!

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I am finished, this book is technically 368 pages. Wish I knew how to change that. Anyways on to the review.

Fall of the Argosi was way better and more my speed then Way of the Argosi. Not that Way of the Argosi was bad, it just felt off. The Argosi prequels follow my favorite character from the Spellslinger series, Ferius Parfax, and how she came to be the woman who is in that series. In Way of the Argosi I went in thinking I was going to get that same character and was fooled because that wasn't the case. Also the books storyline, for me, was kind of all over the place.

In Fall of the Argosi the storyline is much more focused. Ferius Parfax is starting to shape into more of the character I fell in love with in Spellslinger. This book had a very nice balance of action and growth. There were many scenes that shined a light into Ferius' background which I really appreciated. But that is not all, Fall of the Argosi actually shined some light on another character from Spellslinger who I will not mention for spoiler reasons. It also gave me one of my new favorite side characters in Bluebird or Binta as he is referred to as both names. Binta is a nine year old boy who speaks in nothing but sign language. It is handled extremely well. The relationship between Ferius and Binta made this book so much more special in the end.

In Fall of the Argosi Ferius is chasing after the Red Scream. A curse that is causing everybody to go mad. It is a fun, action packed story with a lot of heart. Where this story falls flat for me, which seems to be a running theme for me lately, was how the ending was handled. It was over in the blink of an eye. I was reading the climax one minute and then turning the final pages the next. A little to rushed for my liking.

I am not sure if De Castell is going to do anymore stories in this playground, but if he does I will gladly play another round. This world has been such a blast. I am sad to have no more books. If memory serves though De Castell is about to revisit the world of the Greatcoats for his next book and I for one am so excited. Please do yourself a favor and give the Spellslinger series a try.

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rep: lesbian mc with PTSD, lesbian side character, mute side character

CWs: violence, gore, child death, past adult-minor relationship

[Kristel Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sent a copy of this book for review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
Ferius Parfax has a home, adopted parents (Enna and Durral) and is learning the Ways of the Argosi. Ferius' past childhood trauma and internal rage lead to a devastating event, she is forced to seek refuge elsewhere. She finds a boy in the desert fleeing two mindlessly violent people and saved his life. Ferius realises he is deaf and she must learn this fingertongue language. As the boy explains what happened, she discovers that one of the attackers was his father and that they had all lived in a monastery that was infected with a terrifying plague called the Red Scream. This turns anyone in earshot of its deadly verses being spoken into murdering zombies.

After naming the boy Binta she promises to find him a home in a nearby village. At first, greeted with hospitality everything goes wrong when the townsfolk start reciting the deadly verses and attack them. Just as all hope is lost they are saved by the invention of another more experienced Argosi called Rosie. Rosie tracked the path of The Traveller who created the Red Scream curse and has a lead on where to go next. Ferius struggles with her Argosi training, trusting her new ally's motivations and providing protection for Binta. The shocking revelations that await Ferius on this dangerous journey will affect her forever but will she master herself and her skills in time to save the Seven Sands from this ultimate threat?

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟. Having loved the Way of the Argosi I found this book provided more adventure, emotional upheaval and beautifully complex character development than its predecessor. Ferius has grown up a great deal but she is by no means secure in herself or control of her feelings. She is as snarky and sassy as ever with a few of Durral's mannerisms thrown in but her ongoing journey of discovery and acceptance was riveting to read. I loved her connection to Binta and how the two of them helped each other deal with the trauma they were facing. Thought-provoking while grippingly entertaining, it was a book I just couldn’t put down.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa.

I've read the entire Spellslinger series and the first book in this duology, but this is by far the best book out of all of them. Maybe I like it so much because I've always liked Ferius the most, and in this book you really see her come into her own, but I also think it just has a really strong story.

Everything about this book was amazing. I had a hard time putting it down, honestly. The antagonist is incredibly threatening and there's a dark atmosphere in the whole book. But unlike the first one, I didn't think it ever went too dark. I still mostly remember being miserable reading the first book in this duology because everything was so terrible for Ferius. I don't think I'm very likely to reread it because of that reason, and I don't have the same feelings about this book at all.

The relationship between Ferius and Rosie is SO GOOD. It almost makes me want to reread the spellslinger series to see their interactions as adults in a new light. So. Good. I loved them so much. I also love how explicit it was made, as I feel like a lot of the fans of the original series ignored or didn't notice the romance between them. Now it's impossible to miss.

All in all, honestly a masterpiece IMO.

[Annette Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first fell in love with the character of Ferius Parfax in Sebastien de Castell's Spellslinger series where we meet her as a wise, no nonsense and surprisingly funny mentor to Kellan, a young mage who is living in exile with his life under constant threat. If you have not already read that series, I highly recommend them, but reading them is not essential for your enjoyment of this book and its predecessor, Way of the Argosi.
In de Castell's world, the Argosi are wise and mysterious, and a lot of their charm as characters lies in their unique ways of viewing the world and its challenges, so I was keen to see how these books, which tell the story of how Ferius embarked on her path, would explain the teachings of the Argosi ways, and I was not disappointed.
This was an absolute page turner of a book, not just because of my love for Ferius as a character, but also because of how chilling and devastating the threat she faces is. Forced to leave her home following a terrible tragedy, Ferius soon encounters a threat that could destroy the entire world- the Red Scream, a contagious plague of madness that is spread by hearing a specific combination of words and phrases. She knows she must stop the spread, and so is forced into a desperate chase , racing against time to prevent the spread of the sickness.
This is a genuinely dark and disturbing book, much darker in tone than the others in the series, but it does still have some of the author's trademark moments of humour, It was fun to see some familiar faces , and get more of the backgrounds of some of the characters from the original series.
This is yet another very strong entry for one of my favourite series of recent years , and I certainly recommend it for those who enjoyed the Spelllslinger books.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

[Jude (NovelReader13) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐

Would've loved seeing a bit more of one particular character and a bit less of another, but other than that I found the plot really interesting and the writing vivid. And needless to say, I love Ferius!

[Rachael Mills · Rating 5 out of 5]

{AD|GIFTED} FALL OF THE ARGOSI is the second book in the prequel series to SPELLSLINGER. The prequels reward long-time fans whilst also luring new fans into this fantastic world. The Argosi were always one of the most fascinating elements of the original series so learning more about their philosophical ways and the development of Ferius Parfax is wonderful.

This is a beautiful book questioning the world and encouraging the reader to face up to their truth. Ferius is a bundle of shame, guilt and rage, which makes her an intriguing character and one the reader can't help but root for. Witnessing her journey to the woman she becomes in the later series feels like a privilege.

The plot revolves around a plague called the Scarlet Verses which destroy a person's humanity and unleashes the Red Scream. There are some particularly gory scenes and descriptions of graphic violence so I'd categorise this as at the upper end of YA. The author has a playful and witty writing style and there are plenty of twists and fast-paced action scenes. If you're looking for a new fantasy series with rich world-building and complex characters, then I'd definitely recommend this book.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sebastien de Castell is pretty much at the top of the list of my favourite authors, so for me to give a barely achieved 2-star rating to one of his novels is unprecedented and a little worrying.

Unfortunately for me, I found it almost impossible to relate to the events in this story. Perhaps it was the stretchy credibility of Ferius being able to learn sign language almost instantly, or the detailed explanations of the various artas at the beginning of each chapter. I found myself not caring over much what happened to Ferius or any other character and I skipped large parts just to get to the end as I really, really did not want to DNF this book.

Strange, as I really enjoyed The Way of the Argosi!

[Jay Wagemans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het tempo van de tweede helft was me wat te traag, maar net zoals alle andere Spellslinger- / Argosi-boeken heb ik weer enorm genoten. Een aanrader voor fans van "milde" body horror (in vergelijking met Andrew Joseph White). Erg creepy en de personages kruipen moeiteloos in je hart op een niet-creepy manier. Het "magiesysteem" van dit boek viel me wel een beetje tegen, maar het werkte.

Extra leuk: dit boek is superqueer. Ferius kust een meisje 'on screen' en we krijgen zelfs een fade to black wanneer ze de nacht doorbrengen. Twee andere vrouwen hebben ook een soort relatie gehad. En alle Mahdek mensen zijn non-binair tot ze 13 jaar oud worden! Hoe gaaf is dat?

Daarnaast bevat dit boek een interessante discussie over wat het woord 'moeder' inhoudt. Ik kan me voorstellen dat sommige mensen ervan zouden flippen, maar ik vond het zelf erg boeiend. Als jij iemand bent die 'moeder' als een nogal beschermde term ziet, gaat dit boek een trigger voor je zijn. Fair warning.

[Knihomolka Šárka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tohle je jednoduše úžasný závěr duologie o Ferius Parfax. Autor je dokonalý v popisování vývoje charakterů a i tady tak opět sledujeme obrovskou cestu, v jejímž závěru vidíme tu osobu, kterou známe z Divotvůrce. Pro mě je Ferius osobně jednou z nejlepších vedlejších postav a miluji její charakter. Tady se konečně dočkala příběhů, který jsem jí tak přála a neskutečně jsem si tak celé čtení užívala. Kniha má dobrý děj, zajímavé zvraty a dobře propracovanou zápletku. Navíc se tady konečně dočkáváme mé vysněné lovestory, nad kterou jsem se slastí rozplývala. 🥰

Příběh jsem si užila a mrzí mě, že už skončil. Zároveň si však s jistotou troufám tvrdit, že jsem tuto knihu a ani celou sérii Divotvůrce nečetla naposledy a ráda se k ní v budoucnu vrátím. 🧡

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally made it through the first couple chapters and put it down because I couldn't get into it. Five weeks later, gave it another shot and was glad I did. I haven't read anything else in the Spellslinger series yet but this was a nice jumping-off point. Novel spin off the (magical) zombie genre and an interesting take on linguistic relativity in YA. A lot of great imagery which balances out the occasional tell-not-show expositional worldbuilding. The plot picked up steam and intricacy around the 30% mark (though honestly it took me until almost halfway through the book to really absorb the fact that Ferius is a girl).

Ended up enjoying, would read more. Another!

[Lire-une-passion · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je viens tout juste de le terminer et malheureusement, je suis hyper mitigée... Contrairement au tome 1 que j'ai adoré, ici, je n'ai pas réussi à m'attacher aux personnages, si ce n'est Binta, qui m'a beaucoup fait rire. J'ai trouvé ce tome 2 assez long et je me suis parfois ennuyée. J'ai pourtant continué, parce que j'étais curieuse. Je ne sais pas encore si je lirais le tome 3, mais je suis déçue d'être mitigée...

[Apple · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was 17 when I started reading the Spellslinger series in 2019. Now I have finished the prologue doulogy. Since I have started reading this book to now me finishing it, I probably read around 20 other books. It is not a bad story, but I think I've outgrown my interest in YA stories and my personal identification with 17-year old protagonists.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Live, laugh, love, lesbians

[Marie Chalupová (Levitara) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I love the character of Ferius . Even though she is flawed she is strong and determined

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this one just as I liked the others. De Castell is a magician on paper and you can't help falling in love with the world's he creates.

[Alex Z (azeebooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this and am currently obsessed. This was an easy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ loved seeing Ferius come into her own and the zombie curse was just so creepy and excellent 👌 it makes me sad that this duology is over but I'm so glad we got a glimpse into Ferius' backstory!

[Amelia :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so in love with this world

[Sean Little · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sebastien de Castell's great gift to writing is that he somehow crafts those heroic moments, those "Avengers Assemble" moments that raise the hair on the back of your neck and make tears prick at the corners of your eyes because you know the hero is likely standing up to a fate they cannot possibly beat.

And then he somehow figures out a way to let the hero win that you did not see coming.

He did it repeatedly through his Greatcoats series. He did it with his Spellslinger series. And now, with the inscrutable Ferius Parfax, we get to see one of her great hero moments where she stands up to the world as it crumbles around her and says, "What else you got?"

de Castell writes the books I wish I could write. He crafts the heroes I want to read. His work lies hard in the same veins as Dumas, Thorndike, and Sabatini, and he understands the brazen hero who laughs at the oncoming storm. For that, I will always enjoy his books.

[Shelly Parfax · Rating 5 out of 5]

שום מילים שאני אשים פה לא יעבירו את המחשבות שלי לגבי הספר אז רק אגיד שהספר הזה כנראה יישאר איתי לעוד הרבה הרבה זמן

[S.J. Higbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It turns out that I’ve missed out on the first book charting Ferius’s adventures – Way of the Argosi – something I’ll need to rectify soon, as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the Spellslinger novels so far. But I didn’t flounder too much as Ferius is an old friend. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of reading the Spellingslinger books, I don’t really think it matters. As this adventure takes place well before Kellen comes onto the scene, you certainly won’t have any trouble working out what is going on. And for those of you who do know the series, then there are all sorts of little gifts along the way – mostly to do with Ferius’s mannerisms that drive her pupil crazy a lot later on.

Back to this adventure – I absolutely loved it. The author knows the protagonist inside and out and it shows. There is a heady mix of major danger, huge emotional stakes and snarky humorous dialogue to lighten the load. I also enjoyed the constant references to the principles of the Argosi way of life, as well as the difficulty in attaining them. It provided an interesting philosophical backdrop to the ongoing drama – where someone who thinks they’re doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, up until they fall off a moral ledge and plunge into terrible evil. Given the stakes, I enjoyed the ongoing discussion throughout the book as to what is the right way to cope with evil.

I’m conscious that I may have given the impression that this book gets caught up in major questions of Right and Wrong – but there’s so much more going on. The story cracks along at a fair pace, so that I kept waiting for the action to ease up a tad, allowing me to put it down and get some sleep. And I didn’t… One of the main reasons why this book is such a page turner, is that we don’t just have one strong female character, but two. Given what a vivid, arresting personality Ferius is, I was also impressed at just how much Rose jumped off the page. She could so easily have been a thoroughly wicked character, instead of the interestingly nuanced, flawed personality that was depicted. Add to the cast list a mute child who only signs in an archaic language, and a stubborn horse – and the adventure has the same quirky humour that I’d come to expect from de Castell’s Spellslinger series, despite the very high body count and bloody action.

I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Ferius and learning more about this infuriating, enigmatic character who dominated so much of the early Spellslinger books. And whether you’ve read them or not – this fantasy adventure comes highly recommended. While I obtained the arc of Fall of the Argosi from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
9/10