Lord of Leaves by Nazri Noor

Narrated by Greg Boudreaux

Lord of Leaves, book two in Nazri Noor’s Wild Hearts series of fantasy romances, picks up about a week after the end of Prince of Flowers, and, like its predecessor, is a fun, inventive and light-hearted adventure romp through the magical worlds of the Black Market, the Wispwood and the Verdance in the company of our hero, newly-minted summoner Lochlann Wilde, and Sylvain, the gorgeous fae prince he summoned by accident and then fell for.

When the book begins, Locke and Sylvain are making their way through the Black Market to the Convent of Infinite Sorrow, where Locke is at last going to claim the inheritance left him by his father, Grand Summoner Baylor Wilde. With any luck, said inheritance will be a pile of fabulous riches, and he’s optimistic as he arrives at the convent – which has to be one of the strangest banks in existence and is run by a most unusual order of nuns.

After presenting his credentials, Locke and Sylvain are taken to Baylor Wilde’s vault and find that it is, indeed crammed full of an incredible collection of treasures, and all of it now belongs to Locke. He’s rich beyond his wildest dreams and is trying to take it all in, when the sister who accompanied them mentions that there are a couple of caveats. The first is that Locke should prioritise the contents of the small chest resting on a marble pedestal in the middle of the room, its placement alone suggesting something extremely valuable. Locke isn’t at all sure what he expects to find… but it probably wasn’t a glass ‘room’ in which a tiny man lays asleep on a bed. A tiny man who, when he awakens, proves to be a very angry tiny man at having had to wait Seven. Long. Years for Locke to come and wake him up! Sylvain recognises him as a pixie from the Verdance, and is clearly delighted at encountering someone from his homeland.

As it turns out, the pixie – Master Satchel – was Baylor Wilde’s familiar, and he’s part of Locke’s inheritance. Locke had no idea his father had a familiar, but he, Locke, doesn’t do familiars – he’s a summoner, Eidolons are his thing, and he isn’t quite sure what he’s going to do with Satchel. Before he can think too much about it, Sylvain points out that inheriting the pixie is only one of the caveats, as for the other… yeah, no, nobody mentioned the dragon.

With his debts mounting – taking years longer to gain his summoner’s crest than any other student, means he hasn’t actually been able to earn a living – Locke needs to be able to access his new fortune sooner rather than later. But first, he needs to defeat the dragon, and to do that, he needs a fireproofing potion, and to get that he needs money, and to get money, he needs to slay the dragon… or get a job. His professor at the Academy, Dr. Euclidia Fang, has just the thing. Locke and Sylvain procured some Blood of the Earth from their trip to the Oriel of Earth, so now they should travel to the Oriel of Air and bring back some Breath of the Wind – and voilà! Locke begins a career as a professional acquirer of elemental essence, the finest of stones. It’s potentially very lucrative. It might not directly help with the dragon problem, but it will give Locke a chance to strengthen his summoning abilities and perhaps summon some more eidolons who will be able to help him to defeat the dragon.

And on top of all this, Locke and Sylvain are still trying to find out more about the mysterious Withering, the desiccating and unnatural dryness that causes living things to wither to dust in seconds that is affecting the Verdance and for which Sylvain originally came to the Wispwood to seek a cure. Locke and Sylvain discovered that the Withering had already spread to the Oriel of Earth – and now there are signs it has begun to affect the other dimensions, too.

The story is well-paced with plenty of humour and snark – Satchel is a great addition to the team! – interesting storylines, well rounded-out secondary characters and really inventive world-building. The scenes set at the Convent of Infinite Sorrow are some of my favourites – the author’s dry humour and strong sense of irony are out in full force as he describes the over-the-top ostentation of the ‘convent’ and the sisters’ dedication to carrying the weight of wealth and excess so the rest of the world doesn’t have to while Locke sees it for the complete contradiction that it is:

“The only real sorrow the Sisters of Infinite Sorrow seemed to experience was running out of caviar and mimosas.”

Locke’s quest to gain his inheritance is the principal storyline, but the author also uses it to create situations which incorporate more details about the series’ overarching plotlines, revealing just a little more about where things might be headed. My main criticism about Prince of Flowers was how often we were told about Sylvain’s gorgeousness and that Locke spent most of the time in a fog of lust, so I was pleased to hear that has been toned down here, and there’s a more balanced approach to their relationship. Locke is steadily gaining in confidence and that’s putting them on more of an equal footing; he sees and accepts Sylvan’s faults (his vanity and tendency to exaggerate), and Sylvain seems to know this and to even like that Locke doesn’t let him get away with anything.

Greg Boudreaux is such a pleasure to listen to; he always gets right to the heart of the stories and characters he narrates and makes the listener feel as though they’re eavesdropping on actual conversations and thoughts and not listening to an interpretation of something written down. Not only has he found the perfect voice for each character here, he communicates a real sense of camaraderie between them and delivers both narrative and dialogue with a very light touch and great sense of fun. As with the previous book, his portrayal of the two leads is terrific – Sylvain might be a brat (according to Locke) but the deep drawl Mr. Boudreaux gives him makes him sound like a very sexy brat – and Locke’s lighter tones and good-natured snark are nicely contrasted. The performance is expressive and well-paced, with excellent comic timing and a terrific array of secondary character portrayals, from Satchel’s waspishness and the warbly-serenity of Sister Dolores, to Evander Skink’s sing-song delivery and the gravelly-tones of a disgruntled dragon. It’s a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging performance that really brings the story to life.

Lord of Leaves is fun, fast-paced and entertaining, with likeable lead characters, a nicely-rounded ensemble cast and fabulous narration. It’s a solid addition to the Wild Hearts series, and I’m looking forward to book three.

Caz

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