'The war between Assassins and Templars wreaks havoc in the Victorian era, in this breakneck thriller which opens up a whole new chapter of the Assassin’s Creed universe
'London, 1851 – When Pierrette, a daring acrobat performing at the Great Exhibition, rescues the mathematician Ada Lovelace from a gang of thugs, she becomes immersed in an ancient feud between Assassins and Templars. But Lovelace is gravely ill, and shares her secrets with Pierrette, sending the acrobat in search of a terrible weapon which she’d been developing for a shadowy figure known as “the Magus”. Pierrette’s only ally is Simeon Price, Lovelace’s childhood friend, who belongs to a Brotherhood devoted to free will. With Simeon’s aid, they uncover a startling web of political assassinations destabilising Europe. As they race to foil the Templars’ deadly plot, murders and bombs are everywhere they look, but hope is nowhere in sight.'
Whilst I haven't played every game in the Assassin's Creed series, there seems to be too many games and not enough time anymore, I did play and complete Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, a game set in Victorian Era London. I have a soft spot for stories set in that time period, perhaps coming from my love for Sherlock Holmes, and getting to play a game set around that time where you can do all of the fun things you come to expect from this series was just delightful for me. As such, when I saw that Aconyte Books were bringing out a new, original Assassin's Creed novel set in a similar era (beginning less than two decades before the game), I knew it was one that I wanted to check out.
Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy introduces readers to two new characters, Pierette and Simeon Price. When we meet Simeon he's a soldier on board a British ship off the coast of Africa. When disaster strikes and the ship begins to sink Simeon meets a mysterious, hooded figure on board, whom he helps to rescue trapped soldiers from below decks. The mystery man tells Simeon about a secret brotherhood, one that may offer him a better life than the army, if he only has the will to discover it. The ship sinks, and Simeon is counted amongst the dead and missing.
Simeon spends the next few months making his way across the world to Vienna, where he manages to find a man who's part of this secret brotherhood of assassins. Simeon learns about the deadly conflict that has been raging in secret for centuries, and begins his training to become an assassin.
In England, we are introduced to Pierette, a talented young circus performer. During one of her performances Pierette notices a woman being perused by a group of dangerous looking men, and steps in to help the lady. Escaping from the men, the woman introduces herself as Ada Lovelace, and invited Pierette to come and see her at her home. The two of them soon strike up a friendship, and Pierette and Ada become incredibly close. Unfortunately, Ada's heath deteriorates, and she eventually passes away.
However, on her deathbed she tells Pierette of a mysterious man called the Magus, who had Ada develop a new form of technology for him. Realising that the Magus would turn her invention into a weapon, Ada hid her notebook from him. With the Magus and his men after her work, and knowing it could lead to terrible things, she makes Pierette promise her that she will take her notes and deliver them to her long lost friend Simeon Price, who will know of a way of stopping the Magus.
The set-up for The Magus Conspiracy is a pretty basic kind of plot, the villain wants the secret plans. It's nicely succinct, and simple, with everyone's motivations easy to see. But where this book really shines is how it takes this simple set-up and turns it into a layered and complex mystery that spans multiple countries and years as our two heroes find their lives being drawn inexorably closer and closer to this shadowy figure.
There are sections of this book that don't really deal much with the main plot, and it takes a while for Pierette and Simeon to even meet for the first time. During these sections of the book we get to spend time getting to know them, watching as they're set on this important path. Pierette's story here is the more basic of the two, as she realises that she needs to deliver these documents to a missing man, and develops a pretty interesting way of contacting him as she and her circus travels across Europe. Simeon's story is much more eventful, however, as we get to watch him being inducted into the Assassin order, learning the skills that most of the characters in this franchise take for granted, and we get to explore Vienna and this part of history with him.
These moments are quite nice, and make for enjoyable character and world building. By the time the two characters do actually meet you've almost forgotten that their stories were due to connect, and you'd fallen into reading about these two people and their lives rather than the big story.
However, this isn't just a story of two people and their journeys around Europe, as there's something important that they need to stop. The central plot, the Magus and his plans, is one of the more enjoyable Assassin's Creed stories for sure, and like all good tales set in this universe it touches upon real world events, and features some appearances from notable figures. I won't go into who the Magus is or what they want, because I don't want to give any clues away to the big mystery, but I really enjoyed them as a character. They made for an interesting opponent for Pierette and Simeon, always being one step ahead, always knowing what moves their enemies were going to make. The Magus uses their intelligence more than physical violence in order to achieve their goals, and this makes them incredibly dangerous.
As you'd expect from an Assassin's Creed book, there's ample action and moments of adventure spread throughout the story too, and there are some interesting moments where you're not sure if your heroes are going to make it out alive or not.
Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy was a wonderful read. It had some great characters who we are given enough time to get to know and to like, the story takes you across the world, interacting with events and people that you don't expect, and it's set in one of my favourite literary periods. How could I not come away from this book not loving it?
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