The worldbuilding in Pyre is extensive and impressive (to the surprise of no one), and there is a lot I could cover, but I’ll focus here on some of the history and geography, and a sliver of the residents of the Downside.

The first and most obvious worldbuilding element in this first book of the Powder Mage series is the titular powder mages, also known as the Marked. They are interesting because they are the outliers. There is magic in this world, and it is visible through the use of any magic user’s third eye, which shows the presence of sorcery, but …

The worldbuilding in Lies of Locke Lamora is quite subtle at first, but it becomes more and more prevalent as the story carries on. The core rules of the world function mostly the same, save for three major deviations: The  magic of the so-called Bondsmages (and based on the descriptions, there was once other magic as well), the existence of …

What grabbed me most about the Stillness (as the world is called) is how shaped and sculpted everything seemed given the kind of world it was. From the pyramid-shaped homes and the use castes and the runny packs. The “magic system” of the setting seemed very much like a sort of inherent part of the world; just a segment of …