"The Second Artificer" is one of the strangest books I've read, and I don't mean that in a disparaging way. The author pitched it as "H.P. Lovecraft meets Dr. Strange," and while I've never read any of Lovecraft's works, I can definitely see the Dr. Strange connection. The story is a heady mix of high fantasy and cosmic horror, with a splash of sci-fi around the edges.

It was a little slow to start, but once the main story got going, the pace never really let up. Unlike a lot of fantasy stories I've read, this book only has a handful of named characters, so it's very easy to keep track of who's who. The imagery definitely called to mind certain scenes from "Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness," and some of the concepts of branching timelines and paradoxes reminded me of the streaming series "Loki." At the same time, the author puts his own creative spin on them, so this is hardly a retread of existing storylines.

Unfortunately, I can't get into too much detail about the scene that resonated with me the most because it contains some pretty big spoilers. However, the general concept of the underworld as a necropolitan casino – where the house always wins, don’t you know it – was extremely novel to me.

Overall, the writing is very solid, with richly detailed prose. However, certain passages felt like the author was really trying to drive home how mind-bendingly strange everything was, and some descriptions felt dragged out or repetitive.

There were a couple of really fantastic twists in the story, but they were all very credible and it didn't feel like the author was just trying to fool the audience for the heck of it. Again, I can't get into too much detail here but the true origin of the Lich made absolute sense (and was also horrifying to consider).

I think this is the kind of book where a second read would be almost as entertaining as the first, because I suspect there are little teasers and breadcrumbs spread throughout that pay off after you know the final reveal. Definitely something to check out if you're fascinated by the concepts of time travel, multiverses, and the like and are willing to have your expectations subverted in a really good way.