Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing one of my most anticipated books of the spring, Court of Wanderers by Rin Chupeco. I enjoyed the first book in this duology, Silver Under Nightfall, because of its interesting take on vampires and the riveting tension of the polyamorous trio. I was excited to dive back into this world. Read on to find out if it lived up to my expectations!

Remy Pendergast and his royal vampire companions return to face an enemy that is terrifyingly close to home in Rin Chupeco’s queer, bloody Gothic epic fantasy series for fans of Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree and the adult animated series Castlevania.

Remy Pendergast, the vampire hunter, and his unexpected companions, Lord Zidan Malekh and Lady Xiaodan Song, are on the road through the kingdom of Aluria again after a hard-won first battle against the formidable Night Empress, who threatens to undo a fragile peace between humans and vampires. Xiaodan, severely injured, has lost her powers to vanquish the enemy’s new super breed of vampire, but if the trio can make it to Fata Morgana, the seat of Malehk’s court—dubbed “the Court of Wanderers”—there is hope of nursing her and bringing them back.

En-route to the Third Court, Remy crosses paths with his father, the arrogant, oftentimes cruel Lord of Valenbonne. He also begins to suffer strange dreams of the Night Empress, whom he has long suspected to be Ligaya Pendergast, his own mother. As his family history unfolds during these episodes, which are too realistic to be coincidence, he realizes that she is no ordinary vampire—and that he may end up having to choose between the respective legacies of his parents.

Posing as Malek and Xiaodan’s human familiar, Remy contends with Aluria’s intimidating vampire courts and a series of gruesome murders with their help—and more, as the three navigate their relationship. But those feelings and even their extraordinary collective strength will be put to the test as each of them unleashes new powers in combat at what may be proven to be the ultimate cost.

***Thank you to Saga Press for providing a copy of Court of Wanderers via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

I think a lot of people who enjoyed the monster hunter vibes of Silver Under Nightfall will be extremely disappointed with Court of Wanderers. There wasn’t nearly as much action in this book, and the mutated creatures that featured prominently in the first story did not have as much of a role to play in this one. Instead, the emphasis was on vampire court politics and the mysteries behind the return of the First Court. I enjoyed those aspects of the book, though, at least until we got the answers. It was all unnecessarily complex, and the slow pace throughout really took some work to muddle through.

That being said, I enjoyed the additions to the world-building in Court of Wanderers. I loved the history of the vampire courts and all of their political squabbling. The lack of depth to the courts was one of my main misgivings about the first book, and it was definitely remedied here. I also enjoyed how much perspective the additional information gave about the events of the first story. So much of the vampire lore was tangled up in Remy’s history in ways I didn’t expect. I just wish it had come together in a way that wasn’t so convoluted. I’m not sure if the lack of clarity was a product of bad writing, plot holes, or both.

Other than all the cool lore, my favorite thing about Court of Wanderers was the characters and their relationships. Remy’s arc of learning to accept being loved was given more depth, and the polyamorous trio were fantastic together. It was such a caring, loving relationship, and I adored all the scenes with them together. The tense dynamic from the first book blossomed into a truly beautiful and reciprocal relationship. Remy also had a bit of an identity crisis and had to make big decisions about his future. He learned a lot about his heritage and even had a reckoning with his father. The other characters didn’t have quite as much depth, but I still enjoyed them, too.

All in all, Court of Wanderers was a very different book from its predecessor. In some ways that was good, and in others it was not. The slow pace, decrease in action, and borderline incomprehensible resolution of the plot will likely put some people off. I was totally there for the vampire politics and the great polyamorous rep, though, and did enjoy those aspects of the book. I would love to get more stories in this world, and I will definitely be re-reading this duology to see if I can make a bit more sense of all the twists and how everything fits together. Therefore, I give Court of Wanderers a rating of 3.25 out of 5 stars.

Have you read Court of Wanderers? Did it live up to your expectations? Let me know down in the comments!