The Edinburgh Nights Series
In The Legacy of Arniston House, T.L. Huchu presents the fourth instalment in his ‘Edinburgh Nights‘ series. As in the three previous books we follow ghost talker -magician in training- Ropa Moyo as she delves deeper into the mysteries surrounding Scottish Magic. While she ventured into some deep shadows in the series’ three previous books, each of those adventures, no matter how dangerous, was merely the precursor to the dangerous paths she now walks.
In the previous books we saw how Ropa struggled to find a home in the world of Scottish magic. How her refusal to play nice with the establishment resulted in her being chucked out. Turns out England has use for her even if Scotland doesn’t and the Sorcerer Royal of England take her under his wing.
However, just when things are looking up for Ropa, life always has a way of turning everything upside down. After performing a particularly difficult piece of ghost talking – convincing an incredibly horrible spirit to stop possession of a young woman living in Arniston House – her new mentor offers to take her whole family down to London and give them a life far away from the rundown caravan where they currently live.
Sounds great – unfortunately things go steadily down hill from there. First Ropa’s grandmother is murdered and second, she’s framed for the killing. Instead of trying to help her out, the Sorcerer Royal dumps her as soon as he finds out she’s under suspicion. The only way Ropa has of clearing her name is to find out who really killed her grandmother and bring them to justice.
Since the first book of ‘Edinburgh Nights’ series, on top of whatever situation Ropa had been investigating, she has also been stumbling across hints and rumours of something else, even more dangerous, afoot. Now in The Legacy of Arniston House it all comes boiling to the surface.
The Scotland Huchu created for us is one completely under the sway of the British king. While that has always been a factor in Ropa’s life, we’ve never really known exactly how it happened. Now Huchu lays out the details for us and how the currents of evil Ropa has been dealing with in the previous books can all trace their roots back to when England came down hard on Scotland.
A group of fanatical Scottish magic practitioners have been looking for the means to raise the dead spirit of the former head of Scottish magic who they believe will lead them to independence from England. They don’t care who gets in their way and have no trouble trampling over innocents to get what they want.
So what’s a teenage street kid magician supposed to do against forces like that. She gathers her forces – her best friend, healer and magician Priya – and members of the street gang she used to run with during her housebreaking days, and hits the pavement running.
Ropa is one of the best teenage fantasy heroines you’ll ever meet. Foul mouthed child of the Edinburgh streets she may steal the odd trinket, but her heart is true. If she’s your friend you know she’ll have your back and if you mess with her she’ll take you down. She respects ability and judges people on their merits, not their status, and won’t be pushed around by anybody.
Watching her parade through the pages of four books, and the amazing environments Huchu has created for her, has been an exciting and exhilarating experience. A warning though – read the previous three books before cracking the spine of The Legacy of Arniston House, as you’ll not really understand what is going on with the information they will provide.
Given the cliff hanger The Legacy of Arniston House ends on we know there will be another book in the series. More Ropa, more Edinburgh Nights and more magic. Who could ask for more.
This post was originally published on here
