The Tower's Alchemist is a Fantasy novel which recreates the experience of the Second World War. Nazi warlock vampires are just one of the terrifying obstacles that lay in the path of Isabella George, part of the resistance fighting the Germans.

As a trained alchemist, I found her to be a strong and resourceful character with a good measure of independence. She is a true heroine and provides a terrific role model for young girls.

Isabella finds death and betrayal wherever she turns as she works with the British forces to try and put an end to chemical weaponry that is costing people their lives. Secrets involving her supposedly dead father are just another diversion she faces in this tale.

Set between Denmark and France, The Tower's Alchemist made for a thrilling read. The characters were lively and worked well to drive the story forward. Themes of mortality and loss were prevalent throughout and there was no shortage of awesome fight scenes. I found the start of the book to be rather intense as we dove straight into the first action sequence. It immediately captured my attention as a reader and made me question how the heroes were going to survive.

If you want a read that flows well, makes great use of humour, and leaves you guessing, then might I suggest The Tower's Alchemist, by Alesha. L. Escobar.

4/5 stars. ( )

Like most young women her age, Isabella would be happy to spend her time having fun with friends, reading brides’ magazines and planning a future with the man she loves. But the world is at war and the good guys need her for her unique and particular talents. She is an alchemist and can bend natural forces to her will. This makes her an ideal adversary to go up against Nazis who count wizards, vampires and terrifying Black Wolves among their numbers. Vowing to retire, the brave young woman takes on one last mission: to stop the Nazis from deploying a monstrously deadly bio-weapon. I cheered Isabella for her persistence and her commitment to the cause, and liked the way the details of the secret service she works for and biowarfare were inspired by actual WWII events. It made the story that much more believable. ( )

Note: This was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Pros of this work:
1. I really like the abstract look of the cover. For me, it adds to the mystery component.

2. I will give lots of points for the attempt to put out something “out of the box”. Spies, wizards, World War II—so many different elements in one story. It does take a lot of gumption to try and have all of that within one work. That is worthy of some finger snaps.

3. There are a few characters that I really liked. Renee really stood out. I admired her wisdom and her quiet spirit. Ken was a character that really caught my attention along with the intriguing make up of Father Gabriel. The support and tenacity of Otto also warmed my heart and made me smile whenever he was mentioned.

Opportunities for improvement:
1. In The Tower’s Alchemist, new individuals were introduced in practically every chapter. Sometimes, up to five new people. All before we even get to the main ingredient in the recipe, as they say. Not only are they placed in the chapters, but it’s done in a way that’s a bit nonchalant and we don’t know what purpose the person serves until much later, if not at all. Maybe it was to keep the whole element of suspense going but there is a way of bringing new people in without it feeling overwhelming. From a reader’s perspective, there are way too many characters thrown into the mix.

2. The first four chapters of The Tower’s Alchemist was action, action, action with no clear indicators of the cause. Once Chapter Five arrived, the author slowed down the pace and began to drop in more narrative. However, those eye drops felt more like cement bricks, and even worse, they were placed in strange spots. Certain elements that were placed on one chapter were better suited to go along with the action that related to the back story in another chapter.

3. The Tower’s Alchemist is supposed to be set during the time of World War II. The thing which threw me off was that some of the dialogue didn’t quite fit the setting. Whether this a true detriment actually depends on the reader. For those who don’t weigh in heavily on dialogue matching history, this obvious glitch may not even register. For those who thinks that dialogue matching the proper times makes a story even better, this will stick out like a swollen thumb.

4. Isabella being an effective spy is NOT believable at all. What type of spy reacts to the bad guys calling her by her non-spy name? Don’t they give classes on maintaining your poker face and not blowing your cover? Yet on more than one occasion, and through one-on-one dialogue at that, the moment someone she thought she could trust says her actual name, it’s like all of that goes out the window and she is like, “How do you know about me? How do you know my real name?” Multiple times she gets herself in jams where she should know better, or where other people have to come in at just the right moments to save the day. I’m not saying Isabella can’t make mistakes but you would think she would learn after the first couple of times to put up a more effective guard, and even more so, rather than go into an operation all rogue, you employ back up in case somebody goes flip mode.

5. The length of the chapters were all over the place. A few were about ten to fifteen pages while a few were closer to thirty pages. Chapters 13, 16, 17, and 21 really stood out because the action in the chapters, rather than utilizing scene separations, should have just been another chapter instead.

6. In addition to her spy swag being less than mediocre (aka atrocious), I’m not a fan of Isabella's overall disposition. Isabella stays stuck in this rut and she comes off as pretentious and insensitive. Perhaps Isabella will gain more likability as the series continues but as it stands right now, I don’t find myself caring about what happens to her.

7. Through this entire story, the spy angle and the element angle seemed more in competition that flattering each other. Part of it is how the alchemist information was placed in this work--almost like an afterthought or some type of commercial break. This is a shame because the usage of the magic is what I found the most enjoyable. I could have easily done without the added layer of Isabella being a spy because I wanted to experience what she could do with her magic. The information involving the different stones and symbols could have been better served as a glossary at the beginning of the book as opposed to the lackluster interlink attempts in the gargantuan blocks of narrative.

Verdict: 2 out of 5 Stars

Despite the ambitious aim of this work, The Tower’s Alchemist does too much in its goal to be out of the box. Too many characters, lack of a tidied resolution, major fail of Isabella as a credible and engaging main character, and the disproportion of narration, conflict, information, and historically accurate dialogue really hurt the star power of this undertaking. ( )

Note: This was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Pros of this work:
1. I really like the abstract look of the cover. For me, it adds to the mystery component.

2. I will give lots of points for the attempt to put out something “out of the box”. Spies, wizards, World War II—so many different elements in one story. It does take a lot of gumption to try and have all of that within one work. That is worthy of some finger snaps.

3. There are a few characters that I really liked. Renee really stood out. I admired her wisdom and her quiet spirit. Ken was a character that really caught my attention along with the intriguing make up of Father Gabriel. The support and tenacity of Otto also warmed my heart and made me smile whenever he was mentioned.

Opportunities for improvement:
1. In The Tower’s Alchemist, new individuals were introduced in practically every chapter. Sometimes, up to five new people. All before we even get to the main ingredient in the recipe, as they say. Not only are they placed in the chapters, but it’s done in a way that’s a bit nonchalant and we don’t know what purpose the person serves until much later, if not at all. Maybe it was to keep the whole element of suspense going but there is a way of bringing new people in without it feeling overwhelming. From a reader’s perspective, there are way too many characters thrown into the mix.

2. The first four chapters of The Tower’s Alchemist was action, action, action with no clear indicators of the cause. Once Chapter Five arrived, the author slowed down the pace and began to drop in more narrative. However, those eye drops felt more like cement bricks, and even worse, they were placed in strange spots. Certain elements that were placed on one chapter were better suited to go along with the action that related to the back story in another chapter.

3. The Tower’s Alchemist is supposed to be set during the time of World War II. The thing which threw me off was that some of the dialogue didn’t quite fit the setting. Whether this a true detriment actually depends on the reader. For those who don’t weigh in heavily on dialogue matching history, this obvious glitch may not even register. For those who thinks that dialogue matching the proper times makes a story even better, this will stick out like a swollen thumb.

4. Isabella being an effective spy is NOT believable at all. What type of spy reacts to the bad guys calling her by her non-spy name? Don’t they give classes on maintaining your poker face and not blowing your cover? Yet on more than one occasion, and through one-on-one dialogue at that, the moment someone she thought she could trust says her actual name, it’s like all of that goes out the window and she is like, “How do you know about me? How do you know my real name?” Multiple times she gets herself in jams where she should know better, or where other people have to come in at just the right moments to save the day. I’m not saying Isabella can’t make mistakes but you would think she would learn after the first couple of times to put up a more effective guard, and even more so, rather than go into an operation all rogue, you employ back up in case somebody goes flip mode.

5. The length of the chapters were all over the place. A few were about ten to fifteen pages while a few were closer to thirty pages. Chapters 13, 16, 17, and 21 really stood out because the action in the chapters, rather than utilizing scene separations, should have just been another chapter instead.

6. In addition to her spy swag being less than mediocre (aka atrocious), I’m not a fan of Isabella's overall disposition. Isabella stays stuck in this rut and she comes off as pretentious and insensitive. Perhaps Isabella will gain more likability as the series continues but as it stands right now, I don’t find myself caring about what happens to her.

7. Through this entire story, the spy angle and the element angle seemed more in competition that flattering each other. Part of it is how the alchemist information was placed in this work--almost like an afterthought or some type of commercial break. This is a shame because the usage of the magic is what I found the most enjoyable. I could have easily done without the added layer of Isabella being a spy because I wanted to experience what she could do with her magic. The information involving the different stones and symbols could have been better served as a glossary at the beginning of the book as opposed to the lackluster interlink attempts in the gargantuan blocks of narrative.

Despite the ambitious aim of this work, The Tower’s Alchemist does too much in its goal to be out of the box. Too many characters, lack of a tidied resolution, major fail of Isabella as a credible and engaging main character, and the disproportion of narration, conflict, information, and historically accurate dialogue really hurt the star power of this undertaking. ( )

Honestly, I was intrigued by Escobar's book because it seemed so unlikely a read. That is, I could not fathom an author combining wizardry, alchemy, Nazi Germany, espionage, time travel and vampires into something intelligible. Boy, I was WRONG. And I've never enjoyed being wrong more. This book is not only intelligible, it is smart, sometimes funny, heartbreaking, thrilling, relate-able, and expertly paced.
Escobar seems to effortless combine all of these interesting fantasy and sci-fi tropes without completely overwhelming her characters, the plot or her reader. In fact, I, like so many of her characters, felt that it was only natural that Miss George, the main character, used her alchemy to fend of vampires and Nazis alike.
Indeed, the only reason this book would not receive a perfect rating (I would give it a 4.8) is that I wanted more of an outsider's view on the fantastical side of Nazi fighting resistance. I was left wondering how all of these magical and paranormal intrigues were kept at bay from the normal masses, but I have not read the next two books, though I fully intend to do so just after writing this review, so my wondering may yet be answered.
This book is made more wonderful because of the main character. So many strong female characters are written as unfeminine, off-putting or violent, and, while Miss George is sometimes forced to act similarly, at times, it is clear that she also craves normalcy, love, and long term stability. She is feminine and a arguably, feminist, by simply allowing herself to be feminine and strong simultaneously. I loved her p.o.v. I loved her complexity, the friends she meets along the way and her ferocious and frightening enemies. And, like Miss George, I'm always in skeptic mode, wondering which friend or enemy will reveal him/herself to be other.
The well paced plot, the effortless dialogue, the expertly edited and refined text, and the vivid imagination of Escobar all create a story that is quickly consumed but that leaves you thinking about it long after you've finished. Add Escobar to your MUST READ list. ( )